by ****1/2 (out of 5)
Lou Wall delivered one of my favorite shows at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. That she’s back with another spectacular hour so soon is a testament not only to her talents but also to her perseverance, as we now learn just how much turbulence was whirling through her life last year as she was putting that show together.
Despite landing her first regular TV gig in 2023 (as a presenter on ABC’s WTFAQ), Wall lived through a lot of downright awful, tragic and just plain troubling experiences in the past year, but she has decided to turn the old formula, tragedy + time = comedy, on its head, testing out her theory that there’s no such thing as “too soon.” Instead, she proved determined to make light or find the light in her darkest moments as they were happening or immediately afterward. What helped her through that, as well as helping her find a through line for this show, was jotting down a list of things that amused her and lifted her spirits. A gratitude for humor list, if you will.
What makes her stand out (apart from literally her height at 6-5) is how Wall takes the PowerPoint form of comedy that has been trendy across the British Commonwealth comedy scenes in the 2010, and cranked it up to 11. Whereas other comedians using this style seem content to draw up slides and talk about them, Wall’s style pushes the pace and hardly lets up, a high-octane blend of music video and video game. Dizzying at times. Dizzyingly funny throughout. Even in her most tragic moments.
