For some, the lifting of lockdowns and pandemic restrictions was like pressing play on a life that had been paused, jumping straight back into where things left off. Others, like Wil Anderson, re-entered the outside world with slow, cautious steps. The comedian reflects on his hesitations and observations in his new show, Wiluminate, which hits the stage at Canberra Theatre Centre on 25 March.
Last year, Anderson presented Wilogical, which he says is available to watch on ABC iView for anyone who wants to warm themselves up. The show covered how the comedian dealt with everything happening during the pandemic; Wiluminate picks up from there.
“This weird, post-pandemic but not really post-pandemic world that we live in. Where we’re trying to adjust to just getting on with things and having to go back outside again and discover what that means and how the world’s changed,” Anderson says.
Getting caught in multiple lockdowns, having people in his life who are immunocompromised, and other reasons, became factors in Anderson staying inside longer than most. He wanted to create a show about all aspects of the pandemic easing. He says people aren’t in the mood for a lecture, so if you want to make a point about something you need to do it in a fun way.
“Sometimes there’s more benefit in being allegorical in the way that you’re talking about things. This show very much is seven stories that all rotate around the theme of either being inside or outside or the challenge of going from inside to outside,” he says.
Anderson says often a comedian at this point in their career are expected to be doing shows titled unfiltered or cancelled, where they talk about the good old days when things were better. But that isn’t how Anderson sees the world; he wants to tell stories that are important to him – stories of people who went outside when they had every reason to stay in or acted outside the box when the world was being ‘rational’.
He also says it is important to recognise that not everyone is back outside yet; for some it is now more unsafe than it was during lockdowns.
“There are some people we’ve left behind and there some people we have left inside and their life looks very, very different. They have all the same impulses as the rest of us to want to get back out there and do things, but they can’t because the world has become even more unsafe for them.”
Flowing effortlessly from stage to television, podcasting and writing his first book, Anderson says his approach to each differs but they all bleed into one another. The book was meant to be a show before the pandemic hit; he says it essentially ended up being an 80,000-word show, with his stand-up storytelling style replicated in the book.
“Whereas the podcast stuff is really collaborative; so I always think of that as being I’m just about to make something with someone.”
If you’re wanting a glimpse into the real Wil Anderson, the best place is one of his stand-up shows, because when working on TV it’s almost like he is playing a role, such as in Gruen Transfer, where he’s required to make a joke to cut off Russel if he’s talking too much.
Anderson’s stand-up is where he shares more of himself, often as a way to process something that he is going through that he doesn’t want to talk about directly.
“This show is about struggling to go outside, I don’t actually tell people the real reason ever in the show that I’ve been struggling to go outside, but the show itself is hopefully like an analogy for those same feelings and those same emotions,” he says.
From the wild west to a business, comedy has changed since Anderson first came on the scene. He says it was like running away to the circus when he started; when he told people he was quitting journalism to do stand-up everyone thought it was a terrible idea.
“These days, if someone was saying I’m choosing between going into comedy versus going into journalism, I’d say to them comedy is a bigger industry, there are more opportunities, more career paths,” Anderson says.
Having spent a quarter-century in the industry, Anderson says the post-pandemic stuff feels like a bonus. He knows he is closer to the end of his career than the start and the pandemic has given him an opportunity to reflect on what it is he has done over the years.
He says comedians from his generation didn’t have high expectations. When he fell in love with the Melbourne Comedy Festival, he says it must have only been three or four years old. It felt like the biggest thing in the world, and to have a set there was his only aim. Now he holds the title of the most-watched act in its history, anything else on top of that is just gravy.
“I don’t think I’ve ever understood better what it is that I’m trying to do and how I can do it and I’ve certainly never had the drive and the passion for it. That pandemic time really made you think, if this is the last time that I get to say these things, what is it that I really want to say?”
Coming to Canberra isn’t an uncommon occurrence for Anderson, he visits for work and recreation, often popping by to visit friends and return to his old favourite haunts. He recalls his time at the University of Canberra fondly; leaving home for the first time, he was able to discover who he might be – and Canberra is the perfect size city for a country kid to do that.
One thing Anderson has noticed in the past 10 to 15 years is how far the café culture in the region has progressed. He says that the coffee class has emerged and caught up to the calibre of the high-end restaurants. A trip to Canberra for the comedian often sees him walking from one great café to another, stopping by for a cup of coffee.
See Wil Anderson on stage in Wiluminate at Canberra Theatre, Saturday 25 March 8.30pm; canberratheatrecentre.com.au
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