What do you do when COVID thwarts your planned tour of America? For Perth comedian Luke Bolland, it was simple.
"'Bubble Boy' came about because I was all lined up to do my first stand-up tour of the USA in 2021 and with closed borders obviously that plan was put on hold.
"So instead I dedicated the year to writing a brand-new comedy show just for my home town of Perth."
Luke is currently prepping his 'Bubble Boy' show for a bunch of performances at Fringe World – a stage he's very familiar with having received a five-star review for his 2020 show 'Luke Bolland Presents The Worst Show At Perth Fringe World 2020', not to mention winning the Overall Best Comedy Award at 2018 Fringe World.
"This show is for anyone who knows Perth!" Luke beams. "Anyone who has watched in frustration as the roadworks on the freeway take forever to be completed.
"Anyone who has decided on a fitness kick and got halfway up Jacob's Ladder and thought 'screw this for a joke'.
"Anyone who has looked out at the bell tower and thought 'yeah I guess it's ok'.
"Anyone who has wondered 'is it normal for the mayor of Perth to also be a TV sports reporter'; 'Luke Bolland: Bubble Boy' is for you."
With LOLs his main priority, Luke wants audiences to lean into their inner funny bone when attending 'Bubble Boy'.
"I just want to make people laugh," he says. "I know for most people it has been a rough two years and I hope this show will bring a lot of much-needed laughter and joy into people's lives.
"The show doesn't try to make fun of anyone or make anyone feel excluded, it's a love letter to my home town filled with lots of genuine laugh-out-loud moments."
While COVID has forced Fringe World to be a mostly all-WA affair in terms of acts performing, Luke sees plenty of upside to this.
"I love that once again it's mostly home-town heroes," he shares. "I am excited to be able to show off to Perth that we don't need to fly in people from interstate or overseas to have world-class shows in WA."
Luke Bolland's 'Bubble Boy' is on at The Parlour at The Pleasure Garden (Fringe World) 1-13 February.
