Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

Multimedia maven Lou Wall has CUT back slightly on the bells and whistles this year to offer a surprisingly thoughtful rumination on height and visibility. Given they stand at 6ft 5in, it’s a topic the comic is keenly aware of.

Although that loftiness makes Wall literally stand out in a crowd, the comedian tells us of preferring to conceal themselves away from the world, a childhood champion of hide and seek, taking those talents into adulthood.

And what, too, of the question posed by the title. The trope is of the ‘little old lady’ – so what happens to taller women as they age? Wall seeks answers anywhere from Ikea to Joe Rogan – both of whom fall short (no pun intended).

One revelation is especially eye-opening and shocking – should one still be shocked by the reckless misogyny of the past – while Wall also looks beyond the human race to find species from the angler fish to the blue whale where larger females dominate. 

There’s something of Sara Pascoe in the way the intellectually curious comedian draws from wide-ranging research and personal experience to form a loose thesis, combining thoughtful metaphors and factual vignettes across disciplines.

For a comic known for a dynamic delivery, this is a more muted affair than we are used to. There are still a couple of songs with jaunty visuals, but Wall slows the pace down elsewhere. At one point they whip out a sheath of A4 to read a substantial and earnest letter to themself, which produces a decided lull the more it goes on. 

At points like this, Where Are All The Tall Grandmas? gets a little too weighed down by its own sincerity, venturing away from comedy into poignant spoken-word territory for longer than strictly needed. Here it’s Wall’s trademark vivacity that goes into hiding.

But their vulnerability and their fascinating, shifting subject matter offers plenty to appeal, even when the comedy isn’t quite hitting the heights.

• Lou Wall: Where Are All The Tall Grandmas? is on at The Malthouse at 7.45pm (6.45pm Sundays; no show Mondays) until April 19.

Review date: 3 Apr 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival