The Los Angeles edition of the Willy Wonka Experience was an absurdist fever dream

Standing outside a graffitied warehouse in Los Angeles’ Arts District, I didn’t know what to expect from a recreation of Glasgow’s disastrous Willy Wonka event. I had heard a lot about the bungled children’s experience, which included AI-generated characters, sparse and low-budget sets and costuming, and a sad Oompa Loompa who had become somewhat of a local celebrity since the event. Unlike what happened in Glasgow, this event was primarily marketed to grown adults, capitalising off of the meme and turning it into… well an incredibly meta and campy display of performance art.

Me and my fellow attendees were greeted with a spoof of the original Roald Dahl character, Grandpa Joe, bedridden on what seemed to be a heavy duty shopping trolley from Costco and resting against a cardboard headboard. He was wheeled out to the gate, crying out improvised phrases while wielding an unlit candle. Giggles erupted in the small group