Interview: Dom Joly
Interview: Dom Joly
The comedian and writer on investigating conspiracy theories and travelling to the dark corners of the world
Photo credit: Spencer McPherson
In 2023, comedian and travel writer Dom Joly embarked on a tour of the world – with a twist. Rather than beaches and waterfalls, he was on the hunt for something far more abstract: conspiracy theories. He was writing a book, The Conspiracy Tourist, in which he takes the reader on a journey through his adventures, from taking a flat earther to the edge of the earth to investigating whether Finland is real.
He has now turned his book into a touring show, The Conspiracy Tour, which will be making its way into Epsom on the 3rd of October at the Epsom Playhouse and into Kingston at the Rose Theatre on the 13th of October. Throughout the show, he provides a hilarious and slightly anarchic guide to the wacky world of conspiracy theories. In the second half of the show, he brings on Dr Julian Northcote, a famous conspiracy theorist – who happens to look a little like Joly himself – to offer up the alternative perspective. Prepare for a heated debate or two.
It’s interesting subject matter – especially in today’s social landscape. Conspiracy theories don’t sit at the edge of society anymore the way they used to. In the past few years, they’ve entered mainstream consciousness at a rate one might call worrying. It’s certainly worrying to Joly, a self-described sceptic who, before recent years, paid little thought to the topic.
“I don’t really have a massive interest in conspiracy theories,” explains Joly. “It started during lockdown. I just noticed that conspiracy theories had kind of jumped from being quite fun and eccentric to being a bit more serious and mainstream. And I was arguing with a lot of people online because we were all stuck at home. So I just thought – I wonder if these people actually believe these things, or if they’re just doing it for clicks. So I decided to find out.”
He set about the world investigating various conspiracy theories, and meeting the people who came up with them. “I tried to go in with an open mind, because the whole point of the book is that I’m a tourist. I’m just having a look at what’s going on.”
Why is it that conspiracy theories have gained such sturdy feet in recent years, emerging from the fringes to dance across the world’s stage? In answering, Joly rather ruefully quotes himself: “There’s a quote from my book – in the old days, every village had an idiot, but then they all went online and met up. I think that’s been a real problem – people end up in echo chambers.”
“Humans hate chaos,” he adds. “We like order. Conspiracy theories give you that order – they give you patterns to look for, and that can be quite reassuring. It’s much nicer to think that there’s someone in control and there’s a reason for stuff, rather than just this total random nonsense.”
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This is not Joly’s first foray into the more unconventional pockets of the world. His 2010 travel book, The Dark Tourist, charts his investigation into dark holiday destinations, from North Korea to Chernobyl. It seems he’s drawn to the weird and wonderful parts of the world, the places others might avoid. He cites his childhood as a reason why.
“I grew up in Lebanon in the middle of a civil war. When I went to school in England and people would ask where I’d lived, I’d say Lebanon, and they’d say, ‘Oh my god. That must be awful.’ And it was, but Lebanon’s also one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It looks like the south of France. The food is amazing. So I thought, I wonder how many places that I only know through bad news are actually not nearly that bad. I was always fascinated by that.”
He also grew up looking up to many travel writers and loving travel – it seems he never tires of discovering new places. He’s “obsessed” with visiting Algeria. He just needs to find a way to fit it into his next book.
Is there anywhere he wouldn’t go back to? “Swindon,” he jokes, before recounting that when he went to Nigeria, the humidity was unbearable and he was offered to pay bribes at least seven times before he’d even left the airport. But even here, he’s generous in his opinion – he hates “slagging anywhere off,” and points out that he only spent two nights there, so “didn’t really give it the full go.”
A US show based on The Conspiracy Tourist has just been optioned for television. Joly is cautiously reticent about whether development will make it through, but he admits the book would make good TV. “There were bits that happened in my book where I thought, oh my god, I wish I was filming.”
“There was this time I took a flat earther to what he said was the edge of the flat earth. We went out in a fishing boat, and it obviously wasn’t the edge of the earth, and he just refused to believe it. He thought that the captain and I were in league and being paid by Bill Gates. And I just thought, if we’d filmed this, it would’ve been incredible.”
It would indeed – we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for that TV show. For now, fans of the book can get a seat at the show, where Joly recounts his adventures first-hand, with the help of what he calls “extreme PowerPoints,” and debates a conspiracy theorist in real time. It sounds like an anarchic and laugh-out-loud show – one of Joly’s chief gifts has always been pointing out the world’s absurdities, and making us laugh while he’s at it.
If it all sounds a little chaotic, never fear. Much like the conspiracy theorists, perhaps we should learn to be comfortable with a little chaos.
The Conspiracy Tour is coming to Epsom Playhouse on the 3rd October and to the Rose Theatre on the 13th October. Buy tickets here.
