Tom Clayton
Fast paced and gag packed, Lou Wall attacks their latest hour with the usual multimedia and rapid as they do with every show. With gags coming thick and fast, the pace they speak gives you no time breathe as one joke flies straight into the next.
Lou Wall’s signature use of slideshows is being used to full force as they go in search of a tall grandma. The search takes them to all the local grandma hangouts the Aldi at 7am, the wetherspoons and the public library. High and low (well mostly high) they search for that elusive tall grandma.
Setting the scene with a song to get us in the right frame of mind for the extensive research that Lou Wall is about to show us. The song tells us of their disbelief that they’ve never seen a tall grandma and that surely some must exist out that they just need to be found. This unique premise you think won’t get much mileage but as Lou get further into the show you realise just how much work they’ve put in but also what’s uncovered must be seen to be believed.
After last years show where the Lou challenged you into thinking what is truly real, you wondered how they’d follow that. But strangely this feels the perfect follow up shifting into more grounded topics while maintaining the unique style and approach that defines their performances, balancing this isn’t easy but Lou Wall has managed it perfectly. The more absurd and surreal remaining to counter the subject matter which ends up having a heavier undercurrent.
Closing out Lou Wall states that shouldn’t be afraid to take up space and embrace your differences, don’t allow others to define what they mean for you and decide how you want them to define you. Being at the fringe festival this feels especially important as this is a safe space to being your wildest and craziest ideas, and then to hopefully build the confidence to take them forward and build a place for you to be yourself and express to everyone who you are.
Chaotic and at times surreal Where Are All the Tall Grandmas? is show designed to make you ask the silly questions in life and see where they take you. You might just uncover something you never knew existed and makes you rethink so much. This show is brilliant in all the right ways, providing a fantastically funny and bonkers hour of comedy unlike anyone you’ll see at the festival right now.
Recommended Drink: A nice strong cup of tea to share with your tall grandma, once you’ve found her.
Performances of Lou Wall: Where Are All the Tall Grandmas? have now concluded at EdFringe 2026.
Bethany Ramsay
Ellen Leslie
