The Times

Date Unknown

SOMEONE'S GOT TO DO IT... The cult leader

by Candida Crewe

Danny Wallace, 26, is a writer and TV and radio producer as well as the leader of a cult called Karma Army. He lives in east London

'I had to decide whether to use my powers for good or evil'

You sound like a pretty normal sort of guy, not a sinister weirdo, so how did you become the leader of a cult?
I work from home, writing mainly, and it's quite disturbing how quickly I get bored. At the beginning of last year, I got this idea in my head inspired by my great uncle. In the Forties he had wanted about 100 people to join him on his farm in Switzerland but only got three.

What for?
A kind of commune, I think. I thought, why didn't they join him? Would they join me? This made me place an ad in Loot saying Join Me and send a passport photo. One guy did, and it grew from there. Now I have 2,500 people across the world who call me their leader. My book Join Me (published next month) is the summing up of the adventure so far - the story, the e-mails, how it affected my relationship with my girlfriend.

How did it?
Girls don't like cult leaders. She's very, very sensible, so I kept it a secret because I knew if I told her she'd put a stop to it. And when she found out, she wasn't happy.

And left you?
We're still very good friends and she's a member - she reckoned if she couldn't beat me she should join me.

What was the original purpose?
It had no real purpose. I've realised since you should find a purpose and then spread the word, not the other way round. A lot of the e-mails began asking what I was about, and I felt guilty. So then I had to decide whether to use my powers for good or evil, and developed the Karma Army. People have to sign the Good Fridays Agreement and do unexpected good deeds on Fridays for a complete stranger.

One of my favorites is after I met a lady on the Tube and told her about making old men happy. She told me her grandad likes peanuts. So I sent a big e-mail out asking followers to send peanuts to this old guy, and in three to four days he had 80 packets. He was very happy. It's almost mischievious, but there are no victims. For example, you might see someone about to pay at a café, run in, put £5 on the counter for them, and leg it.

How do you pass your days?
This whole cult leader thing is a lot of administration. I had thought it'd be all long robes and speeches, but there's been surprisingly little. There's a lot of organisation and encouraging.

How do you survive financially?
I'm still writing for papers, and the book hasn't hurt. My next step - I've conquered Europe - is next year to start the American Karma Army - aka AKA!!

Who is a typical joinee so far?
There are lots of students but we've also got teachers, mechanics, sales reps...

Have you made people happy?
The good acts, of course, benefit the receivers, but they also affect the lives of the people doing them.

Candida Crewe