FRINGE FOCUS: Elise Wilson clowns around with solo debut "I Am Grease Grilson"
It’s Fringe World Festival season in Boorloo Perth! To celebrate, we are running a series called “Fringe Focus”, a series of artist interviews that peaks behind the curtain of the unique, fun, and bizarre Fringe shows that will be happening from 21 January- 15th February 2026.
First up, we speak with performer Elise Wilson, who plays a moustache-loving, muscle-building weightlifter in her debut solo show, I Am Grease Grillson. Blending physical comedy, mime, and a light sprinkle of audience interaction, the show appears poised to deliver a gloriously silly, slapstick-heavy experience.
Q: Congrats on your solo performance debut! How is preparing a solo show different from your previous Fringe or Blue Room outings? What do you find exciting about it? What has been the biggest challenge?
ELISE: In the past, if I’m performing comedy, I’m playing with my fellow performers, however in a solo show, I’m playing with the audience. That has been a tricky thing to rehearse, without an audience to respond to, it’s like having a cast member missing from everyone rehearsal. However, the cool thing about the solo show-making process is that we’re constantly asking what gives me the most joy? It’s been awesome making decisions by following what I find fun, and getting to be a bit selfish in that way (cheeky!).
Can you tell us a bit about the premise of I am Grease Grillson? How did the idea for the show come about?
After I spent time in 2024 travelling and training in clown, which is how I met Duncan at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France, I wanted to put the skills into a show. It started as a concept called Elise Wilson vs The Audience, but then we changed it to be about a pro weight lifter called Grease Grillson (which rhymes with my name), playing against my “type” (I have quite an innocent vibe but Grease makes me try - and fail - being hardcore). Then we took it to The Blue Room Theatre’s ‘600 Seconds’ program mentored by Bonnie Davies (Famous Sharron) where we got audience demand/encouragement to make a whole show. Since then, we’ve done a work-in-progress show in Duncan’s hometown, Michigan, and are super excited to bring it to Fringe!
The show sounds like it promises a heavy dose of physical comedy and clown-like shenanigans, an art form that we don’t often get to experience in theatre. What draws you to this style of comedy or storytelling?
I fell into clowning by accident. We had a clowning unit at WAAPA where I got a taste but didn’t fully understand it, and then I was in a Big Hoo Haa rehearsal and Nadia Collins told me I was a clown. Again, didn’t understand it (but was having fun). It wasn’t until I was entertaining hospitalised kids in my day job that I realised the name for what I do is clowning. And, on a good day, it uses my strengths: sensitivity to the audience’s reaction, improvisation, having fun even in the flop (failure) etc. So then I figured I’d lean in and get some training!
What are your key influences that inspired this piece?
It’s hard to say just one. Whenever I watch a clown show, I mentally - or sometimes literally - note what I learned (I’m a nerd) so I can apply it when making my own show. So basically my cop-out answer is every clown show I’ve ever seen, however, if I have to name names, it would be Piotr Sikora in Furiozo or Natalie Palamides in Nate - A One Man Show.
How do you hope audiences will react or connect with the show? What are you most excited for them to witness?
Well, I hope they get a tickle out of it (metaphorically). I hope they sense the risk and uncertainty in the performance, and that it could literally go in any direction depending on how they respond. I hope they feel comfortable playing, and that’s my job to help. I’m most excited for them to experience me making a mistake or flopping (failing). There’s something so electric and alive when things go wrong onstage and you see a performer trying to climb their way back. I find that fun, luckily.
What are you looking forward to seeing at Fringe this season? Any recommendations?
So many! Cherry Vinyl; Sitting, Screaming; Josh Glanc; CVNT; Mel McGlensey; Jeremiah Detto; The Wetness; Gillian Cosgriff; Casey Filips; Tomas Clifford Got Stood Up; Shock Jocks; The Balloon Dog Bites; Shark; and I’m also performing a couple nights of ALT GRL WRLD; F***, Marry, Kill and Late Night Dive.
I Am Grease Grillson runs from January 29th - 31st at 7pm at The Jonesway Theatre, Northbridge. Tickets can be purchased here from $16.50 - $23.
