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The Conspiracy Tourist: Travels Through a Strange World
Dom Joly enters the strange land of conspiracies as a wide-eyed tourist, eager to investigate the origins of some of the most pervasive conspiracy theories and meet the people who believe them.
Conspiracy theories are starting to become so much more than the obsession of fringe individuals. A survey by New Science magazine found that the percentage of people believing in one or more conspiracies had risen from 15% twenty years ago to 35% per cent last year. They are shaping politics, media, the way we view life itself.
In The Conspiracy Tourist Dom Joly sets out to find out where these ideas come from and learn about the people who create and believe them. His travels take him underground with followers of QAnon, to Roswell and the sites of mass shootings, and to the ends of the earth as he tests out Flat Earth theory. Along the way he talks to psychologists and specialists who analyse indoctrination, and considers what harm these movements might do to our increasingly uncertain future.
But what if these people Joly has long dismissed as crazed loonies actually have a point? What if we are the sheeple and they do have some special insight into the great issues of our time?
Conspiracy theories are starting to become so much more than the obsession of fringe individuals. A survey by New Science magazine found that the percentage of people believing in one or more conspiracies had risen from 15% twenty years ago to 35% per cent last year. They are shaping politics, media, the way we view life itself.
In The Conspiracy Tourist Dom Joly sets out to find out where these ideas come from and learn about the people who create and believe them. His travels take him underground with followers of QAnon, to Roswell and the sites of mass shootings, and to the ends of the earth as he tests out Flat Earth theory. Along the way he talks to psychologists and specialists who analyse indoctrination, and considers what harm these movements might do to our increasingly uncertain future.
But what if these people Joly has long dismissed as crazed loonies actually have a point? What if we are the sheeple and they do have some special insight into the great issues of our time?
336 pages, Paperback
Published November 26, 2024
50 people are currently reading
417 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
January 19, 2024
This was an absolutely unbearable and tragic waste of an audible credit.
If you're from the UK and aged between 30 and 50, you probably know Dom Joly as the creator of Trigger Happy TV, the early-2000s public prank show which saw Joly variously crawling across a zebra crossing dressed as a snail, screaming into a giant mobile phone in art galleries and libraries, or dressing as a serial killer washing bloody clothes in a launderette. Nowadays, they sound like the exploits of any random YouTube prankster, but Trigger Happy TV was genuinely groundbreaking - it was surreal, and fresh, and highly entertaining (sidenote: it also had an amazing soundtrack).
This book is neither fresh or in any way entertaining. I was hoping for a read similar to Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson or The Unpersuadables: Adventures wiith the Enemies of Science by Will Storr, both of which presented thoughtful and engaging takes on fringe beliefs. Importantly, both of those books were humane -- the authors genuinely wanted to understand why people believe conspiracy theories, and they didn't just dismiss them out of hand.
Joly's book, however, is mean-spirited, poorly written, lazy, and not in any way believable. He is relentlessly and tediously negative about everything and everyone: Helsinki is BORING and its inhabitants are all WEIRD; All Americans are THICK and FAT; Everyone who believes in conspiracies is UNREDEEMABLY STUPID (whereas he, Dom Joly, is clearly incredibly clever). His observations are stale and read like they were written in the late 1990s. For example, I cringed when he explained the pizza-gate conspiracy theory in painstaking detail -- it felt like an ageing and out-of-touch colleague trying to explain Facebook.
Joly kicks off the book opining about Brexit. He's the kind of remain voter who makes me embarrassed to be a left wing remain voter. He is left wing in name only - it's the tribe that he's assigned himself to in order to feel superior to the plebs. He lacks any of the humanity or empathy that underly true left-wing principles. Instead he essentially labels all leave voters and anyone who disagrees with him as stupid, displaying absolutely no curiosity about why people might have done that. Essentially, he's the kind of guy who makes me want to vote Tory.
Ultimately, this is a travelogue written by someone who clearly hates travel, and should probably just stay in London surrounded by other grumpy middle-aged bores.
If you're from the UK and aged between 30 and 50, you probably know Dom Joly as the creator of Trigger Happy TV, the early-2000s public prank show which saw Joly variously crawling across a zebra crossing dressed as a snail, screaming into a giant mobile phone in art galleries and libraries, or dressing as a serial killer washing bloody clothes in a launderette. Nowadays, they sound like the exploits of any random YouTube prankster, but Trigger Happy TV was genuinely groundbreaking - it was surreal, and fresh, and highly entertaining (sidenote: it also had an amazing soundtrack).
This book is neither fresh or in any way entertaining. I was hoping for a read similar to Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson or The Unpersuadables: Adventures wiith the Enemies of Science by Will Storr, both of which presented thoughtful and engaging takes on fringe beliefs. Importantly, both of those books were humane -- the authors genuinely wanted to understand why people believe conspiracy theories, and they didn't just dismiss them out of hand.
Joly's book, however, is mean-spirited, poorly written, lazy, and not in any way believable. He is relentlessly and tediously negative about everything and everyone: Helsinki is BORING and its inhabitants are all WEIRD; All Americans are THICK and FAT; Everyone who believes in conspiracies is UNREDEEMABLY STUPID (whereas he, Dom Joly, is clearly incredibly clever). His observations are stale and read like they were written in the late 1990s. For example, I cringed when he explained the pizza-gate conspiracy theory in painstaking detail -- it felt like an ageing and out-of-touch colleague trying to explain Facebook.
Joly kicks off the book opining about Brexit. He's the kind of remain voter who makes me embarrassed to be a left wing remain voter. He is left wing in name only - it's the tribe that he's assigned himself to in order to feel superior to the plebs. He lacks any of the humanity or empathy that underly true left-wing principles. Instead he essentially labels all leave voters and anyone who disagrees with him as stupid, displaying absolutely no curiosity about why people might have done that. Essentially, he's the kind of guy who makes me want to vote Tory.
Ultimately, this is a travelogue written by someone who clearly hates travel, and should probably just stay in London surrounded by other grumpy middle-aged bores.
November 30, 2023
Corny, tacky, simplistic rehashing of the usual conspiracies.Instead of seeking to understand why people believe in conspiracies he takes a pretentious “because they are idiots” approach, whilst trying to be funny.
Did not finish.
Did not finish.
November 8, 2023
I enjoyed this more than Dom's last book (which I didn't end up finishing), but it's not nearly as strong as The Dark Tourist or 'Supercreeps'. I think it bothered me that he took such a superficial approach to the topic. Conspiracy theorists are easy targets for ridicule but in the last few years have become so widespread and are having such a unervingly powerful influence on society that I really wanted Joly to do some proper research for this topic and delve at least a couple of levels deeper. Perhaps I'm biased because I have a diehard conspiracy theorist uncle and there's only so much you can take of aggressive flat earth rhetoric before all humour about the topic evaporates.
The epilogue suggests that Joly might have realised this after finishing his book. He admits that at the beginning, he didn't think anyone out there seriously believed a lot of this crap. Having gone on his journey and after meeting some of these people in person, it's clear that conspiracy theory culture isn't quite as lighthearted as he hoped.
Despite the shortcomings I still binged the book in a couple of days and found it fairly entertaining.
The epilogue suggests that Joly might have realised this after finishing his book. He admits that at the beginning, he didn't think anyone out there seriously believed a lot of this crap. Having gone on his journey and after meeting some of these people in person, it's clear that conspiracy theory culture isn't quite as lighthearted as he hoped.
Despite the shortcomings I still binged the book in a couple of days and found it fairly entertaining.
September 26, 2024
Time for a trip to Fogo
July 25, 2025
I went into The Conspiracy Tourist expecting an engaging exploration of conspiracy theories, something that would dig into their origins, speak to true believers, and perhaps uncover the deeper reasons why people are drawn to them. However, I hadn’t realised beforehand that the book was by Dom Joly. While there were a few mildly entertaining moments, the overall tone was flippant. Rather than offering genuine curiosity or insight, Joly often came across as dismissive, sarcastic, or just plain rude.
My fault for not checking it out before I spent the audio credit.
My fault for not checking it out before I spent the audio credit.
January 3, 2024
Dom Joly is a good story teller, and he definitely goes out of his way to get a story, resulting in some pretty funny and entertaining anecdotes. This is certainly not a serious exploration of conspiracy theories, though I did learn quite a bit about some, but a comedians look at them. Dom does make some good (serious) observations, and there is an interesting account from an ex conspiracy theory adherent in the last chapter, to bring a little balance.
February 10, 2025
An ordeal to say the least. The titular conspiracies take a backseat to descriptions of dining and exaggerated encounters with the local populace. If it wasn't for the fact that these escapades were being treated as a tax-deductible expense, you'd assume that Joly had placed himself as the central character in a work of fiction inspired by his Twitter timeline.
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January 10, 2025I read this book more for the tourist lens cf conspiracy.
July 15, 2025
I thought this was fascinating, but it’s a light hearted look at something which is very serious. Conspiracy theory is now mainstream. I’m tired of previously logical and sensible people falling prey to garbage theories. Society needs to do better at understanding why all this nonsense grips so many people. It’s easy to blame the internet but really that is just a tool and a medium. The bigger picture is more complicated.
March 13, 2025
Pretty fun book, slight bias as I got it signed by him
March 9, 2024
Gave up on this just past half way.
Like others, I was expecting an exploration of conspiracy theories, maybe similar to Them by Jon Ronson.
But Dom Joly just goes to places that are in some way linked to a conspiracy theory, describes where he stays and where he eats, makes fun of the people, maybe mentions the theory a couple of times in passing, and leaves.
I was hoping for him to at least speak to people who know the theories in question, understand why people believe them, the implications and impacts they can have. But no. Joly might ask a random person in the street, or a taxi driver, or a hotel receptionist, and he will do so in a snarky "aren't I smart?" way, and in many instances end the interaction asking them something along the lines of "What would you say to people who think you're an idiot?"
I started to lose my patience when he went to Dallas and barely spoke about the Kennedy conspiracy theories aside from mentioning that they exist. Instead, he opts to speak to people about Q Anon, goes for breakfast, goes to a museum (which he hardly describes) and then leaves.
Then the final nail in the coffin for me was the start of the next chapter. He generally starts each chapter with a quote about perception or beliefs, from the likes of Picasso, Arthur C Clarke, Joseph Heller. This chapter in question started with: "Conspiracy theories are a way for non-complex people to make sense of a complex world" - Dom Joly.
At this point, I realised this is a condescending, lazy, snarky book by a man who thinks he's clever and hilarious, and I gave up.
Like others, I was expecting an exploration of conspiracy theories, maybe similar to Them by Jon Ronson.
But Dom Joly just goes to places that are in some way linked to a conspiracy theory, describes where he stays and where he eats, makes fun of the people, maybe mentions the theory a couple of times in passing, and leaves.
I was hoping for him to at least speak to people who know the theories in question, understand why people believe them, the implications and impacts they can have. But no. Joly might ask a random person in the street, or a taxi driver, or a hotel receptionist, and he will do so in a snarky "aren't I smart?" way, and in many instances end the interaction asking them something along the lines of "What would you say to people who think you're an idiot?"
I started to lose my patience when he went to Dallas and barely spoke about the Kennedy conspiracy theories aside from mentioning that they exist. Instead, he opts to speak to people about Q Anon, goes for breakfast, goes to a museum (which he hardly describes) and then leaves.
Then the final nail in the coffin for me was the start of the next chapter. He generally starts each chapter with a quote about perception or beliefs, from the likes of Picasso, Arthur C Clarke, Joseph Heller. This chapter in question started with: "Conspiracy theories are a way for non-complex people to make sense of a complex world" - Dom Joly.
At this point, I realised this is a condescending, lazy, snarky book by a man who thinks he's clever and hilarious, and I gave up.
January 13, 2025
I was really looking forward to this book, and I was really disappointed. I love dry humor, but this was not it. It was mean spirited. I stopped counting the fat jokes. And, yes Americans have lots of guns, we get it. There were so many ways to make this subject interesting and subjectively funny without making people look stupid (or just not nearly as smart as the author). But, no, he just went for everything is dumb, and fat, and boring. I feel like this author is one of those people who sucks the joy out of everything in life. And to top it off, he made the joke about assassins having three names, which is like the oldest joke ever, and seemed exceptionally proud of his observation. I mean seriously, soooo many fat jokes. Grow up.
November 24, 2023
both amusing and informative
December 17, 2023
Casually misogynistic.
March 20, 2024
I have finished reading “The Conspiracy Tourist: Travels Through A Strange World” by Dom Joly.
Dom Joly is a comedian who started out on the comedy sketch show Trigger Happy TV. He has written three books about his travel experiences including this one.
Dom Joly has embarked on an interesting phase of his career as a comedian, being an interesting combination of a comedian and travel writer. He has previously written a book called “The Dark Tourist”, which I very much enjoyed. This was about him exploring Dark Tourism which is a tourist trend which involves tourism around places historically linked to death or tragedy. This time he has set his sights on places associated with Conspiracy theories.
The introduction was eerily prescient, especially in terms of my own personal experience. Dom Joly reflected on a time where he struck up a discussion with a person who sat on a bench with his dog opposite his house. Idle chat led him to the startling realisation that this random but seemingly “normal” person was in fact a convinced conspiracy theorist. I felt this was a pretty clever way to open up the premise of this book. Just by showing this one experience Dom reminded us of the unsettling reality that belief in conspiracy theories is in many ways a mainstream phenomenon. This experience led him to want to explore this trend more.
Speaking frankly, some of his journeys were more interesting than others. I thought he was particularly harsh at making Finland sound bleak and uninteresting, since I have heard that it is much of the opposite if one takes the time and patience to explore it for more than a day. Some of the conspiracy theories he explored were a bit left field even for his subject matter, such as that of Finland allegedly being a made up country (leaving aside the irony that all countries are technically “made up”).
In fairness to the author, Dom Joly is a good story teller who seems to have a gift for very vividly bringing alive the most strangest people out there. To be sure, the United States of America in particular was a gold mine for finding strange and possibly dangerous people. Based on personal experience I can vouch for that.
If I am going to be honest, I would say that more than once I felt this book lapsed into being more of a travel blog by a normal middle aged and slightly cranky middle class gentleman, than the comedic adventure it seemed to be packaged as. I sadly felt that the natural humour that seemed to be organically present in the Dark Tourist just wasn’t there in this instalment.
I was a bit disappointed that especially after the introduction, in which Dom unexpectedly ended up face to face with a conspiracy theorist, that he didn’t take the opportunity to reflect on the personal journeys of these people. How did they end up this way? Was it all the same way?
In the end chapter Dom seemed to zero in on some of the serious questions mentioned above. The most interesting part of this chapter followed the experiences of a recovered conspiracy theorist. His own life experiences followed how the conspiracy theory world seemed to lose it’s harmless innocence over recent years. More and more these theories seem to be following certain agendas, which is ironic given that the believers of these theories are determined to remain “free thinkers”.
I would say that overall this book is basically a collection of silly adventures, with occasional thoughtful insights. But to be honest, I think my time may have been better spent rereading his earlier instalment “The Dark Tourist”.
Dom Joly is a comedian who started out on the comedy sketch show Trigger Happy TV. He has written three books about his travel experiences including this one.
Dom Joly has embarked on an interesting phase of his career as a comedian, being an interesting combination of a comedian and travel writer. He has previously written a book called “The Dark Tourist”, which I very much enjoyed. This was about him exploring Dark Tourism which is a tourist trend which involves tourism around places historically linked to death or tragedy. This time he has set his sights on places associated with Conspiracy theories.
The introduction was eerily prescient, especially in terms of my own personal experience. Dom Joly reflected on a time where he struck up a discussion with a person who sat on a bench with his dog opposite his house. Idle chat led him to the startling realisation that this random but seemingly “normal” person was in fact a convinced conspiracy theorist. I felt this was a pretty clever way to open up the premise of this book. Just by showing this one experience Dom reminded us of the unsettling reality that belief in conspiracy theories is in many ways a mainstream phenomenon. This experience led him to want to explore this trend more.
Speaking frankly, some of his journeys were more interesting than others. I thought he was particularly harsh at making Finland sound bleak and uninteresting, since I have heard that it is much of the opposite if one takes the time and patience to explore it for more than a day. Some of the conspiracy theories he explored were a bit left field even for his subject matter, such as that of Finland allegedly being a made up country (leaving aside the irony that all countries are technically “made up”).
In fairness to the author, Dom Joly is a good story teller who seems to have a gift for very vividly bringing alive the most strangest people out there. To be sure, the United States of America in particular was a gold mine for finding strange and possibly dangerous people. Based on personal experience I can vouch for that.
If I am going to be honest, I would say that more than once I felt this book lapsed into being more of a travel blog by a normal middle aged and slightly cranky middle class gentleman, than the comedic adventure it seemed to be packaged as. I sadly felt that the natural humour that seemed to be organically present in the Dark Tourist just wasn’t there in this instalment.
I was a bit disappointed that especially after the introduction, in which Dom unexpectedly ended up face to face with a conspiracy theorist, that he didn’t take the opportunity to reflect on the personal journeys of these people. How did they end up this way? Was it all the same way?
In the end chapter Dom seemed to zero in on some of the serious questions mentioned above. The most interesting part of this chapter followed the experiences of a recovered conspiracy theorist. His own life experiences followed how the conspiracy theory world seemed to lose it’s harmless innocence over recent years. More and more these theories seem to be following certain agendas, which is ironic given that the believers of these theories are determined to remain “free thinkers”.
I would say that overall this book is basically a collection of silly adventures, with occasional thoughtful insights. But to be honest, I think my time may have been better spent rereading his earlier instalment “The Dark Tourist”.
November 11, 2024
Have been a fan of Dom’s TV outings over the years (particularly Trigger Happy and Happy Hour, which meant I was very happy to find Dom reunited with his friend Pete / Tiger) and having gone to his book tour in support of this release, of which I found to be most enjoyable. The thing I like most about Dom is his style of humour, a unique combination of dry wit, sarcasm, dad jokes and total buffoonery, which has been every present across his TV outing and the live show I saw.
However, a lot of that quirks that make him likeable and entertaining are lost when written down on the page. There are sections where his internal monologue is written, or a surreal idea inspired by what’s he’s witnessing that work well on his tv series as a skit / sketch (think his great little dream sequences or cutaways while his sardonic voice narrates over the top) that just fall flat when on the page. Perhaps an audiobook read by the man himself would be the answer.
Editorially, this book is a nightmare of disjointed narratives and irrelevant anecdotes. It is in serious need of an edit to keep the themed chapters on topic to investigate the various conspiracies.
Additionally, as a book exploring conspiracies I really through this would provide far more insights into the actual theories themselves with some legitimate conclusions rather than what isn’t much more than you’d gain from the introductory overview on Wikipedia. With the exception of learning about Denver Airport (which was actually covered in much more detail - narratively and photographically - and with more laughs on his live show) I felt I didn’t really learn anything new other than some overly aggressive encounters with some of the conspiracy theorists themselves.
The harder to accept issues arise in his encounters with the general public (waitresses, receptionists, passport control etc. on his journey rather than the loony conspiracy theorists) which jump from mildly amusing to just plain rude - whether these encounters truly happened as described, or are slightly embellished for the purpose of the book or complete falsifications it is unclear.
Ultimately a book that I feel should have taken on the BBC mantra, to educate, inform and entertain… of which I feel it only mildly achieved the latter.
However, a lot of that quirks that make him likeable and entertaining are lost when written down on the page. There are sections where his internal monologue is written, or a surreal idea inspired by what’s he’s witnessing that work well on his tv series as a skit / sketch (think his great little dream sequences or cutaways while his sardonic voice narrates over the top) that just fall flat when on the page. Perhaps an audiobook read by the man himself would be the answer.
Editorially, this book is a nightmare of disjointed narratives and irrelevant anecdotes. It is in serious need of an edit to keep the themed chapters on topic to investigate the various conspiracies.
Additionally, as a book exploring conspiracies I really through this would provide far more insights into the actual theories themselves with some legitimate conclusions rather than what isn’t much more than you’d gain from the introductory overview on Wikipedia. With the exception of learning about Denver Airport (which was actually covered in much more detail - narratively and photographically - and with more laughs on his live show) I felt I didn’t really learn anything new other than some overly aggressive encounters with some of the conspiracy theorists themselves.
The harder to accept issues arise in his encounters with the general public (waitresses, receptionists, passport control etc. on his journey rather than the loony conspiracy theorists) which jump from mildly amusing to just plain rude - whether these encounters truly happened as described, or are slightly embellished for the purpose of the book or complete falsifications it is unclear.
Ultimately a book that I feel should have taken on the BBC mantra, to educate, inform and entertain… of which I feel it only mildly achieved the latter.
December 30, 2025
Joly starts from a solid enough, robustly sceptical position (though this all feels like a bit of a flimsy hook to hang a travel book on - after all, the internet is where moodern conspiracies thrive best) but his first section is a big letdown. Breaking himself in gently with a trip to Helsinki to 'investigate' the claim that Finland doesn't exist, he does nothing of the sort. He sulkily takes his wife along and, if this account is to be believed, does nothing but annoy customer-facing staff with his abrasive attitude and pass out in a sauna like a fool.
Visiting Denver International Airport, he points out the 'infamous Illuminati' artwork wouldn't trouble anyone who's ever been to an art gallery. He quickly moves on, not immediately pressing the obvious point that the people who think secret elites are building bases/airports in the shape of swastikas and adorning it with Freemason murals (the Nazis gleefully and aggressively persecuted Freemasons and banned them long before the Second World War) are unlikely to have the cultural literacy to be into visiting art galleries.
The rest of the book carries on in much the same way. He visits somewhere and talks to a couple of baffled locals or fellow tourists and then moves on. There's really very little about actual conspiracy theories. What we get is usually amusing enough, but until he takes a Flat Earther to find the ice wall off Newfoundland there's not much to this. And Joly isn't exactly the best of company, going off on peevish little rants about perfectly ordinary things that he hates people for - such as liking superhero films or Rush. The big weirdo. It's a pretty good book, but it's not really fulfilling either its premise or promise.
Visiting Denver International Airport, he points out the 'infamous Illuminati' artwork wouldn't trouble anyone who's ever been to an art gallery. He quickly moves on, not immediately pressing the obvious point that the people who think secret elites are building bases/airports in the shape of swastikas and adorning it with Freemason murals (the Nazis gleefully and aggressively persecuted Freemasons and banned them long before the Second World War) are unlikely to have the cultural literacy to be into visiting art galleries.
The rest of the book carries on in much the same way. He visits somewhere and talks to a couple of baffled locals or fellow tourists and then moves on. There's really very little about actual conspiracy theories. What we get is usually amusing enough, but until he takes a Flat Earther to find the ice wall off Newfoundland there's not much to this. And Joly isn't exactly the best of company, going off on peevish little rants about perfectly ordinary things that he hates people for - such as liking superhero films or Rush. The big weirdo. It's a pretty good book, but it's not really fulfilling either its premise or promise.
January 25, 2024
Bigfoot, Aliens, and Nessie, oh my! I’m a sucker for a good conspiracy theory. So, the minute I saw ‘The Conspiracy Tourist,’ I knew I had to read it.
This nonfiction novel follows English comedian and travel writer, Dom Joly, as he strives to uncover the strange conspiracies of our time: Flat Earth, QAnon, Roswell Aliens, and if Finland is indeed an actual place. Seriously.
Joly does a wonderful job of weaving in his personal experiences - and sometimes arrogant opinions - against the backdrop of world conspiracies. Traveling to various locations within North America and Europe, he often encounters the wildest, craziest, and most mind-bending personalities I’ve ever read. I found it especially entertaining to read about his experiences in my home state of Colorado - uncovering the secrets of DIA- even if I think he may have exaggerated them slightly.
Sure, Joly could have gone more in-depth on a few conspiracies, spending less time on the imaginative - yet hilarious - situations, but overall I really enjoyed it. The real winner, for me, was the last chapter, ‘Fogo Island’ where he brings a flat-earther, John, to one of the four corners of the world. Not only did I read the chapter twice - just for the pure insanity that ensued - but I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t want to say too much so, I’ll just say that I’m happy he didn’t end up as a conspiracy himself.
Review Shared on Substack: Ferocious Newsletter
This nonfiction novel follows English comedian and travel writer, Dom Joly, as he strives to uncover the strange conspiracies of our time: Flat Earth, QAnon, Roswell Aliens, and if Finland is indeed an actual place. Seriously.
Joly does a wonderful job of weaving in his personal experiences - and sometimes arrogant opinions - against the backdrop of world conspiracies. Traveling to various locations within North America and Europe, he often encounters the wildest, craziest, and most mind-bending personalities I’ve ever read. I found it especially entertaining to read about his experiences in my home state of Colorado - uncovering the secrets of DIA- even if I think he may have exaggerated them slightly.
Sure, Joly could have gone more in-depth on a few conspiracies, spending less time on the imaginative - yet hilarious - situations, but overall I really enjoyed it. The real winner, for me, was the last chapter, ‘Fogo Island’ where he brings a flat-earther, John, to one of the four corners of the world. Not only did I read the chapter twice - just for the pure insanity that ensued - but I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t want to say too much so, I’ll just say that I’m happy he didn’t end up as a conspiracy himself.
Review Shared on Substack: Ferocious Newsletter
March 12, 2024
The Conspiracy tourist is an account of Dom Jolys’ travels to investigate a few of the many conspiracies that plague our modern world. The book starts by taking a light hearted look at the conspiracy that Finland does not exist by travelling to Finland with his wife and asking a few Finns what they feel about not existing. Most seem unaware that Finland does not exist….unless that is what they have been told to say. The book ends in great style as Dom and a friend take a flat earther to one of the corners of the flat earth off the coast of Fogo in Newfoundland. A trip definitely worth reading about, don’t want to give anything away but they don’t find it.
Jolys’ writing reminds me of one of my favourite travel writers, Bill Bryson but with a few more laughs. Once I started the book I could not put it down and it provided quite a few laugh out loud moments as Joly confronts a variety of weird characters. He also takes far more risks than I would in the same situation as some of those characters are a little scary.
My only gripe with the book is that it is too short and I hope Dom Joly has a sequel planned. There are plenty of conspiracies out there and I would love to see him tackle them.
This is the first Dom Joly book I have read and I will definitely be getting his previous books, really enjoyed this.
Jolys’ writing reminds me of one of my favourite travel writers, Bill Bryson but with a few more laughs. Once I started the book I could not put it down and it provided quite a few laugh out loud moments as Joly confronts a variety of weird characters. He also takes far more risks than I would in the same situation as some of those characters are a little scary.
My only gripe with the book is that it is too short and I hope Dom Joly has a sequel planned. There are plenty of conspiracies out there and I would love to see him tackle them.
This is the first Dom Joly book I have read and I will definitely be getting his previous books, really enjoyed this.
October 29, 2025
Great concept poorly executed. As someone who doesn't believe in conspiracy theories but is absolutely fascinated by them (and even moreso by the people who genuinely believe in them) I was hoping for a Louis Theroux style affair that would give a detailed breakdown of each conspiracy before conducting impartial interviews with neutral questions that draw out the believer's odd justifications.
Instead, Dom Joly takes a borderline antagonistic approach to almost every encounter in the book; even when people are being nice he deliberately asks questions to provoke them and once they finally snap he smugly sits back and does the written equivalent of 'get a load of this guy.' It's ironically very similar to the interview style of Alex Jones, a man of whom Joly (understandably) is no great fan.
In short, this feels like a book that should have came out 20 years ago when r/atheism and Richard Dawkins debate compilations were at the height of popularity. If you still consider 'lol God isn't real' to be peak debating strategy you might enjoy it.
If, on the other hand, you're actually interested in this sort of stuff I recommend the YouTube channel LEMMiNO for long-form documentaries on conspiracies and other unexplained phenomena.
Instead, Dom Joly takes a borderline antagonistic approach to almost every encounter in the book; even when people are being nice he deliberately asks questions to provoke them and once they finally snap he smugly sits back and does the written equivalent of 'get a load of this guy.' It's ironically very similar to the interview style of Alex Jones, a man of whom Joly (understandably) is no great fan.
In short, this feels like a book that should have came out 20 years ago when r/atheism and Richard Dawkins debate compilations were at the height of popularity. If you still consider 'lol God isn't real' to be peak debating strategy you might enjoy it.
If, on the other hand, you're actually interested in this sort of stuff I recommend the YouTube channel LEMMiNO for long-form documentaries on conspiracies and other unexplained phenomena.
March 28, 2024
This is my first Dom Joly travel book bought as a gift from my partner as we were going to see the tour in Halifax. I was a massive fan of his Trigger stuff and was hoping his humour would translate into his writing. I was not disappointed, I found my self laughing out loud on many occasions as he just simply has no fear of approaching any Individual in his quest to prove or disprove the selection of conspiracies on offer. I'm not necessarily a conspiracy nut but it was interesting to see how he approached some of the absurd Finland doesn't exist to the age old JFK. To illegally enter the LHO book depository site to get the money shot and then refuse to relinquish the phone to the authorities shows his commitment to the cause. It was also great to see the tour on the back of the book and i even got my book signed along with a photo. Genuinely a nice guy with a wicked sense of humour and i will now be investing in his previous 4 travel books. Can't recommend this enough. Keep writing and touring Dom.
May 27, 2024
Having seen the live show on tour, reading the book secondarily is perhaps somewhat surprising. Nope.
In hindsight, I could not be more delighted to experience both ‘that way round’! Having heard potted histories as anecdotes in the live show, this hilarious, far larger study goes into terrific personal detail of encounters and engagements with those head-over-heels involved in conspiracy theory. There is a delightful divide between people who are fully aware of his previous work, and those who have no idea of e.g. trigger happy TV.
Dom weaves hilarious detail within superb stories, jokes within seriousness, hard experiences within hearsay and describes ‘alternative’ people with clarity and respect. There are jaw-dropping revelations in his travels, whilst personal reflection also features highly. There is a real logic to this book with several key conspiracies discussed, examined, explored and perhaps debunked. Or are they?
Probably the highest ever selling book in Finland. Well, if it exists, that is……
In hindsight, I could not be more delighted to experience both ‘that way round’! Having heard potted histories as anecdotes in the live show, this hilarious, far larger study goes into terrific personal detail of encounters and engagements with those head-over-heels involved in conspiracy theory. There is a delightful divide between people who are fully aware of his previous work, and those who have no idea of e.g. trigger happy TV.
Dom weaves hilarious detail within superb stories, jokes within seriousness, hard experiences within hearsay and describes ‘alternative’ people with clarity and respect. There are jaw-dropping revelations in his travels, whilst personal reflection also features highly. There is a real logic to this book with several key conspiracies discussed, examined, explored and perhaps debunked. Or are they?
Probably the highest ever selling book in Finland. Well, if it exists, that is……
March 24, 2025
A few months ago I attended a show (billed as stand up comedy but was, in the words of the author, more of a book talk) with Dom Joly where he was telling us tales from his most recent set of travels which he has collected in the book, The Conspiracy Tourist.
While he might be most widely known for his now two decade old TV show Trigger Happy TV, in more recent years Joly has spent more time writing travel books, each with a different subject as their inspiration, with this being at least his fourth following The Dark Tourist, Scary Monsters And Super Creeps and The Downhill Hiking Club.
Here, apparently at least partly inspired by a man putting up stickers about the supposed dangers of the Covid vaccine around his hometown, Joly takes a dive into the increasingly murky world of conspiracy theories, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous – well, ok, from the ridiculous to the astonishingly outlandish…
https://tommygirard.wordpress.com/202...
While he might be most widely known for his now two decade old TV show Trigger Happy TV, in more recent years Joly has spent more time writing travel books, each with a different subject as their inspiration, with this being at least his fourth following The Dark Tourist, Scary Monsters And Super Creeps and The Downhill Hiking Club.
Here, apparently at least partly inspired by a man putting up stickers about the supposed dangers of the Covid vaccine around his hometown, Joly takes a dive into the increasingly murky world of conspiracy theories, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous – well, ok, from the ridiculous to the astonishingly outlandish…
https://tommygirard.wordpress.com/202...
January 30, 2025
I only read the jacket of this book briefly in a bookshop and my mom asked me if I wanted it in my stocking for Christmas. I was very much hoping it would have more insight and more critical thinking on the way that conspiracy theories develop and why people create or believe in them. I didn’t know anything about Dom Joly prior to picking out this book and if I had I probably would have known not to expect that type of analysis. I read the whole book hoping for something that made it worth the read and didn’t quite get that. I laughed a few times but agree with the sentiment of others that it is generally very negative and seems like he took a lot of liberties with the retelling of his experiences for the purpose of keeping the book more funny and entertaining. Wouldn’t recommend or read again.
March 15, 2025
"The Conspiracy Tourist" follows Dom Joly as he romps through different places in the world, trying to understand various conspiracies and conspiracy theories. This is first and foremost a travel memoir book, and Joly does a great job at being entertaining throughout, detailing adventures in Finland, Roswell, and Fogo Island (supposedly a corner of the flat Earth). I found the last chapter very gripping - his depiction of a real, true believer of flat Earth, John. Personally, I was more interested in the warped psychology behind conspiracy theorists, and while the last chapter set piece provided some, I was hoping for me. Still, I can't blame Joly, as he is not a psychologist. Overall, a fun read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2023
This British comedian travels the world to explore famous conspiracy theories. He more so makes fun of them & the people who believe in them than he does explain them & research them in-depth. It’s not academic nonfiction. It's a fun, silly travel comedy that takes him to the Denver International Airport, aliens in New Mexico, lots of conspiracies in Texas (the JFK assassination, Q Anon, Alex Jones in general, etc.), Camelot Castle & King Arthur's Round Table, and Flat Earth. The first theory he explores was very interesting to me because I had never heard of it: some people believe Finland doesn't exist!
January 17, 2024
When I bought this book, I was hoping for a humorous, yet insightful take on conspiracy theories, and the people who believe in them. Joly's book doesn't deliver.
Joly provides a series of anecdotes, most of which are patronizing and barely believable. He's particularly insulting to and about Americans - ordinary people doing ordinary jobs who didn't appreciate his witty quips. However, he shows deference to middle- and upper-class Europeans and becomes tongue-tied and silent when speaking with them.
There's nothing in this book you can't learn from spending an hour or so on Twitter.
Joly provides a series of anecdotes, most of which are patronizing and barely believable. He's particularly insulting to and about Americans - ordinary people doing ordinary jobs who didn't appreciate his witty quips. However, he shows deference to middle- and upper-class Europeans and becomes tongue-tied and silent when speaking with them.
There's nothing in this book you can't learn from spending an hour or so on Twitter.
July 28, 2024
"The Conspiracy Tourist: Travels Through a Strange World" by Dom Joly is exactly as delightful and terrifying as you’d expect. It’s another one of Joly’s unconventional travelogues, and while he approaches it differently than someone like Bryson, it’s still a solid read for relaxation.
Sure, it could have delved deeper beneath the surface, but I wasn't expecting a deep dive, given that the author is more of a comedian than a scientist. What I did get was solid entertainment on a serious topic. It’s a solid read if you're looking for a blend of comedy and a bit of insight into the strange beliefs people hold. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable (audio)book.
Sure, it could have delved deeper beneath the surface, but I wasn't expecting a deep dive, given that the author is more of a comedian than a scientist. What I did get was solid entertainment on a serious topic. It’s a solid read if you're looking for a blend of comedy and a bit of insight into the strange beliefs people hold. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable (audio)book.
July 1, 2024
I kept dipping into and out of this book. His Dark Tourism was much better and this one was a little "much" for me, both with the flat earthers, and his constant presence. I've come to realize that while I like some of his stories, I don't much care for Joly himself. I did like his look at how some conspiracy theorists used to be more benign and the antagonism has gotten worse in tandem with general political discourse doing so. Some I was familiar with, like Blucifer and Glastonbury, others like Finland's non existence were just pure crackpot. An OK read but not one I'd really recommend.
February 2, 2024
Dom Joly is a natural storyteller and this is an entertaining travelogue with some bizarre stories from around the world. I had hoped there would be some more serious background and thoughts on conspiracy theories among the humour but he only strays into any real analysis in a couple of places which is a shame because he clearly has knowledge and opinions that would be interesting. Anyway, a good and very easy read with some amusing characters and anecdotes.
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