A Reimagined 'Willy's Chocolate Experience' Is Coming to America
A recreation of “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” the AI-generated Willy Wonka fiasco in Glasgow that left kids crying and forced the police to be called, appears to be selling tickets for its American debut. For $44, attendees will allegedly be offered “two complimentary jelly beans” and the chance to meet the mother oompa loompa, Kristy Paterson, from the original event.
“YES THIS IS A REAL EVENT,” reads the event listing, noting the experience will take place in a nondescript warehouse. “Get ready to step into a realm of pure imagination as the highly acclaimed ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience LA’ makes its debut in the United States.”
The event organizer says “rumors abound that renowned comedians” are vying to moderate a Q&A session following the LA experience, though it seems they started the rumors themselves. Users on X claim the Eventbrite listing earlier today listed actor Timothée Chalemet as “perhaps maybe” expressing interest in attending. The Guardian reports the Eventbrite post also listed Zach Galifianakis and Nathan Fielder as potential attendees, though they’ve since been removed.
Gizmodo has been unable to confirm the person behind this event, but it does not appear to be Billy Coull, the organizer of the original Glasgow event and head of The House of Illuminati. This L.A. event is hosted by “House of Illuminati LA” on Eventbrite. Coull’s original website for House of Illuminati has been taken down, and Coull reportedly said his life was “ruined” by the first Willy’s Chocolate Experience. House of Illuminati wrote on Facebook at the time that all 850 tickets for the Glasgow event would be refunded.
“From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry for this mess,” wrote House of Illuminati on the original event listing.
The Eventbrite post originally said the experience would transition to a “Shrek Rave” around 9 p.m., scheduled until 4 a.m. the next day. However, the performer behind the rave has pulled out due to negative press, House of Illuminati LA tells Gizmodo in an email. Now, the event is scheduled to end at 9 p.m. and lists norave whatsoever.
Gizmodo obtained a copy of the original Glasgow event’s strange, AI-generated script. The live experience slightly changed the names of existing characters to Willy McDuff and Wonkidoodles 1 and 2. The script also featured a completely hallucinated new character that never appeared in the Willy Wonka movies: The Unknown, an evil rival chocolate maker that lived in the walls of the factory. House of Illuminati claims any resemblance to existing characters is “coincidental.”
