Audiences at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival will soon discover a side of Wagga that many don’t see: The view from the back of a paddy wagon.
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Inspired by his arrest at Wagga Airport last year, comedian Wil Anderson’s Wilegal show will debut on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was arrested after he was allegedly “disruptive” during a Qantas flight from Sydney to Wagga on June 17.
At a sold-out show that night, he told the audience he had a bad back – which was strapped due to complications from osteoarthritis – and was told he had to move from the emergency row because he couldn’t move the 40-kilogram escape hatch should an emergency occur.
He also asked if anyone could give him a lift back to Sydney.
While being placed in a paddy wagon “was like a hot tub, without the fun part of water”, Mr Anderson told the Wagga crowd it was a reasonably good experience, a case of “good cop, good cop, better cop”.
He was later released without charge.
Reviews of Wilegal from the Adelaide Fringe Festival were less than flattering, saying the premise wore thin by the end of the hour-long show, but with the Melbourne festival being one of the world’s biggest comedy events, hopefully the comedian brings the raucous outrage from that night in Wagga.