Jeromaia Detto and the beautiful silliness of love

Award-winning clown and improv performer Jeromaia Detto returns to Perth with the brand-new show Jeromaia Detto: Giuseppe’s Love Quest. Hot on the heels of previous hits such as MUSH and When I Grow Up, Detto’s latest show promises a celebration of finding love, human connection and, above all, the trademark silliness that defines his enthralling presence and wit. Jeromaia Detto: Giuseppe’s Love Quest will be playing at The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden from Wednesday, January 21, to Sunday, January 25, with tickets on sale now. BEC WELDON sat down with Jeromaia to hear more about Giuseppe Alfresco’s search for love, the show’s interactive format, and attending clown school. 

Hey Jeromaia! Welcome back to Perth for Fringe World 2026! You’re no stranger to the festival; what do you have in store for audiences this year?

I am so giddy at the thought of coming to Perth with my brand new show! Audiences can expect one character for the whole hour, which is a first for me and very exciting! Also, this show has the potential to be a bit more sentimental, which is also a wonderful challenge to explore amongst the silliness and whimsy!

Sounds awesome! In Jeromaia Detto: Giuseppe’s Love Quest, you embody a disarmingly charming Italian beach boy searching for love. What drew you to bring this character to life?

 Giuseppe first appeared in MUSH, handing out beach balls, falling in love and making dumb improvised puns on people’s names. His vibe really seemed to resonate with audiences, and many people wanted more of him! The character itself definitely draws inspiration from the European elements of my family and upbringing, with the name coming from my grandfather, Peppino, as he was called back in Italy.

He sounds charming! What inspired you to take the character and expand his story into an interactive hour of comedy and clownish love pursuits?

I was going through a bit of a personal love crisis at 32 years old, having never been in love, often wondering what it was and how to define it or even understand it! I wanted to explore this more and was trying to figure out the best way.

After a wonderful Edinburgh in 2024, I noticed there were a stack of great one-character shows, and I was inspired to have a crack myself! Many people loved Giuseppe, and so it was pretty clear that he was the lucky one selected from MUSH to get a spin-off!

His spinoff is packed with whimsy and comedy and rooted in silliness and collaborative play. How do you begin to devise a show like that? What did the process look like?

From the initial ideas bouncing around my head, I started some note-taking of images and moments I wanted to create, as well as certain touchstones of romance and fun games that could explore these themes in simple ways.

Getting ideas off the page, though, is quite a tricky process, as so much of how I play and devise is rooted in the audience and how they are responding. For me, rehearsing and development happen on stage. I was able to sneak in a short Work in Progress (WIP) season at Adelaide Fringe 2024, and it was so much fun and really helped me figure out the direction of the show and how to access the silliness of love!

On the topic of the silliness of love, you’ve spoken about the show’s aim to ‘help us all better understand the question of what love is and how we can love, be loved, and connect’; they’re really meaningful themes for a comedy/clown show. How do you tackle those big concepts through tools like laughter, play, and silliness?

A lot of it comes from playing with simplicity, curiosity and naivety. Having that softness allows people to open up and go on a bit of a journey together as we find some fun misunderstandings to explore and unpack.

And when you take audiences on these journeys, what do you hope they most engage with or take away from Giuseppe and his quest for love?

The takeaway is getting people to find comfort and confidence in the vulnerability. It’s so wild that something so universal is also so unique, and to share that and find some commonality is fascinating.

With so much interactivity and audience participation, have you ever had an audience response that surprised or stumped you?

Oh, there have definitely been a few interesting individuals who have gotten a bit excited about being able to play and be involved; often it’s older men trying to prove to me they are also funny, which is nice but also quite unnecessary. Just enjoy the show!

My top three moments, though, would be: in my last Edinburgh season I had an intoxicated individual who came up on stage a few times and just stood there to make sure I was ok and lend a hand if needed. I once had a couple walk out saying they didn’t like the show, and as they did, the rest of the audience booed them and threw beach balls at them as they left. And in Geelong, a lively character was live commentating the show and, after talking about Pearl Harbour, at one point exclaimed, “Oh, I know everyone here wants to root you.”

Oh wow, all very odd experiences for sure! On the flip side, do you have a favourite moment of improvisation or audience participation?

Oh yes! In my last show, which was a fully improvised clown show based on the audience’s childhood career aspirations, I had been conducting a dolphin training seminar in which two random audience members who were doing a corporate role play all of a sudden started dancing and singing with dolphin voices. Bit by bit, other audience members started to join, until about a third of the audience were up and about, frolicking as dolphins!

A close second would be early on in one show when I had started setting up to be a lion tamer. All of a sudden, before I’ve even started the bit, an older woman in her sixties starts roaring like a lion. We ended up walking around, and she did some tricks. It was phenomenal!

That’s some pretty spectacular audience interaction! Now you have an impressive background, having studied at the prestigious Ecole Philippe Gaulier in France (clown school royalty!) as well as the iO Theatre in Chicago and the Norway Clown Camp. What drew you to pursue clowning, humour and physical comedy?

I had done improv for a few years, and while it was exciting and exhilarating, I found myself playing a bit differently from other improvisers. And more importantly, I was having much more fun playing more physically and simply. From a young age I was putting on shows and seeking validation. Clown is the ultimate form of that; if they love you, you stay on stage; if they don’t love you, you leave. Or change what you’re doing very quickly!

The honesty and immediacy of the clown was such a wonderful challenge to explore and dance with!

You’re also a workshop facilitator. What is the first or most important principle of being a clown in your opinion?

The most important principle is ‘the pleasure’. If you are having pleasure with what you’re doing on stage, the audience can love you, and pretty much everything else will follow!

Jeromaia Detto: Giuseppe’s Love Quest will be playing at The Hat Trick at The Pleasure Garden from Wednesday, January 21 to Sunday, January 25, 2026. Tickets are on sale now from fringeworld.com.au