Could Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience become as famous as Scotland's 'bard of bad poetry' William McGonagall? – Scotsman comment

From New York to Japan, people are having fun with how bad Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience turned out to be

Anyone who spent £35 on Glasgow’s Willy Wonka Experience may struggle to see the funny side, but the shambolic event was so terrible that it appears to be generating a life of its own. Japanese figure skater Tim Koleto has suggested he’ll turn it into an ice dance routine, while a New York nightclub is holding a rave with a “Glasgow Wonka costume contest”.

Promised an 'immersive experience', parents and children turned up to a near-empty warehouse to be offered little more than a few jelly beans. However, when something is spectacularly bad, it can turn out to be good.

The poetry of Scotland’s other bard, William McGonagall, including the wonderfully awful Tay Bridge Disaster, still has a following long after his more talented 19th-century contemporaries have been forgotten. A 2003 film called The Room, described as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies”, developed a cult following and led to a highly acclaimed film about its making, The Disaster Artist.

Sometimes, rather than being embarrassed at being the butt of jokes on the likes of US comedy show Saturday Night Live, it’s best to laugh along.

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