- Kirsty Paterson, the Scottish actress who went viral in February, was at the event in Los Angeles
- Guests were treated to four jelly beans this time – a vast improvement in the single bean handout in Glasgow
The Willy Wonka Experience that went viral for all the wrong reasons is back – and this time, it’s even creepier.
The shockingly bad event was brought back to life in a shadowy warehouse in downtown Los Angeles last night, drawing a small crowd of oglers who’d each paid $44 to be there.
The group, who called themselves collectively as ‘The Unknown’, went full-throttle to recreate the Glasgow event.
Kirsty Paterson, the actress who went viral for her pained performance as an Oompa Loompa at the original, was the main attraction, and this time guests were treated to four jelly beans instead of just one.
Despite a well-stocked bar that sold chocolate covered magic mushrooms, the event failed to impress. Again.
She’s back! Kirsty Paterson reprised her role as the ‘sad Oompa Loompa’ from the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience, this time at a shadowy warehouse in Los Angeles
The event in Los Angeles last night drew on the disastrous Glasgow original with sparse decorations and no staff
‘We wanted to be as true to the original as possible,’ one of the anonymous organizers told DailyMail.com. ‘We thought there was genius in its creation of the Glasgow event.
‘There’s a saying, “It’s so bad that’s it’s good,” and I think that’s really what we wanted to bring to light here.’
There was more alcohol available than chocolate at Sunday’s event as organizers were seen rushing in with bottles of liquor as doors opened.
An energetic actor playing Grandpa Joe in an ill-fitting white wig was rolled around in a makeshift bed, screaming for Charlie.
Paterson perked up for her American fans and performed the Oompa Loompa dance
Actress Kirsty Paterson looks unimpressed as she conducts Oompa-Loompa experiments at the event in Glasgow in February
Americans lined up for photos with Paterson at the Hollywood event on Sunday
One of the stranger attractions at the L.A. event on Sunday was an actor playing a sleepy Grandpa Joe. He was wheeled around on a bed on wheels
Paterson was joined by a cast of other deranged-looking Oompa Loompas who carried signs demanding ‘reparations’. She previously complained about not being paid by the Glasgow organizers
The Hollywood event wasn’t much more impressive than the original in Glasgow – but organizers say they intended it to be as bad
Freakish blow up gummy bears were among the bizarre decorations in front of the stage
This time, ticket-holders were entitled to four jelly beans – three more than at the Glasgow disaster
Another bizarre fixture at the L.A. event was a male actor portraying Grandpa Joe in a makeshift bed that was wheeled around
The event in Los Angeles drew a small crowd of oglers, many of whom said they were intrigued by the disaster in Scotland
The L.A. organizers also brought the creepy ‘man with a mirror’ back to life. The original attraction (seen right in Glasgow) was among the more frightening features of the event
In true L.A. style, chocolate covered magic mushrooms were for sale at the event
Participants who entered the sketchy warehouse were greeted with a purple Wonka sign and a short green carpet that ended near a bar station.
The only upbeat decorations were the elaborate balloons and lights.
Two angry Oompa Loompas marched in unison carrying signs that said, ‘WE WANT OUR REPARATIONS’ and ‘NO FUNDS, NO CHOCOLATE’.
There was only one vendor selling confectionary – but chocolate-covered magic mushrooms were available from the bar.
A DJ kept the crowd entertained and there were some musical acts at the end of the night.
Paterson perked up for fans who lined up to take selfies with her outside the warehouse
Some of the Americans who attended the event did so with the sole intention of getting a photo with Paterson, an unlikely celebrity
Two families who’d bought tickets, seemingly unaware of the Glasgow debacle, walked out within minutes of arriving.
Event organizers said they sold about 150 tickets for Sunday’s event, aided no doubt by the false claim that Timothée Chalamet, who recently played Wonka in a movie, would make a surprise appearance.
Instead, Chalamet’s ‘appearance’ was on a birthday decoration poster that was tacked onto the warehouse wall.
Organizers said the L.A. event was backed by artist Banksy, but offered no other proof to substantiate the claim.
The star of Sunday’s show was Paterson, who posed for photos with fans who’d come to the event with the sole purpose of being snapped next to the ‘sad oompa’.
‘There are definitely elements here just as bad as the Glasgow event with the decoration, however, just the energy here has much more positivity,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘It’s been lifechanging,’ Paterson said. ‘I’m a trained actress myself who was struggling. The people I’m meeting and networking with now, I feel very lucky!’ she said.
Rob Murray and Liz Schwartz said they each paid the $44 not knowing what kind of experience they’d be in store for.
The original event was cancelled halfway through after furious parents demanded refunds
‘I was doing so many deep dives about the Glasgow event and it was just really insane how unplanned the event was,’ Murray told DailyMail.com. ‘I know it’s kind of voyeuristic, but it was just so entertaining.
‘I was really impressed by Kirsty because she became such a meme for just one photo of her looking dejected. I really love how she was able to celebrate that failure, in a way. We can all poke fun and parody our own events based on that.’
One of the organizers who spoke to DailyMail.com said the whole idea for LA’s version was to cash in on how disastrous Glasgow was.
‘This is a celebration of absurdity and a celebration of art,’ he said. ‘While the Glasgow event itself caused some frustration to parents and kids, it brought a lot of joy for everyone else around the world and we wanted people to partake in that.’
He added while the Glasgow event used a free version of ChatGPT to generate a script for the Wonka actors, the L.A. team spent $20 for the upgraded version to generate a new script.
L.A.’s version of the script came up with a new character named ‘Megan,’ who was to be Wonka’s new protégé.
‘We spared no expense!’ he said, with a laugh.
Guests at Sunday’s event were treated to musical acts and a DJ