Dom Joly – The Astrolabe Theatre, Glastonbury Festival 2025
Dom Joly’s performance opening the Astrolabe Theatre is essentially an extension of his live show The Conspiracy Tour – a talk inspired by his recent book The Conspiracy Tourist in which he travels the world meeting conspiracy theorists and investigating their paranoias.
The creator of Trigger Happy TV is such a draw that the crowd is queued outside the venue well before doors open and before Joly then the tent is so packed that there is some manoeuvring of those seated on the floor closer together to allow some of the audience stuck outside to come in, while the sides of the tent are raised to provide a better view for those who don’t make it in.
You wonder how many are here because of Joly’s Trigger Happy TV fame and how many are here for his tales of trying to debunk conspiracy theories. Joly is aware of the difference between the two mediums, mentioning it early on to perhaps temper expectations.
But he still delivers an interesting hour that has fun moments, even if there isn’t out-and-out comedy – the humour coming, much like Jon Ronson or Louis Theroux’s work, from the absurdity of the theories. For example, perhaps the most ridiculous theory is that Finland doesn’t exist but is instead an invention by Russia and Japan to allow them to fish the waters that actually exist there without anyone knowing. Anyone who claims to be Finnish is, in fact, a paid actor from Sweden.
He wizzes through a few of his favourite theories, including Denver Airport and Flat Earther Before, aided by a PowerPoint presentation which, again, helps balance the information and entertainment balance.
Before he goes, he ponders doing a Trigger Happy Special for his next show on Saturday which clashes with ‘every band he loves,’ as the main music stages see Neil Young, Charli xcx, Doechii and Scissor Sisters all playing at the same time. He’s not trying to bribe us, he says, as he dangles a carrot in front of the Trigger Happy faithful before heading off to sign autographs and take pictures at the ad hoc merch table at the side of the stage.
