There are some acts that envelope you in their world from the outset. I am more familiar with brash hard talking antipodean stereotypes so Celia Pacquola is a rare gem shining in that big Australian pool. Don’t get me wrong, she is totally ballsy and could stick up for herself in a bar brawl, I am sure, but there is a calmness and confidence about her delivery that makes you feel very secure in her comedic hands.
Celia’s show has a strong narrative thread which revolves around her love of psychic readings – why not pay somebody in a purple dress to talk about you, she reasons? Since splitting up with her long term boyfriend last year (no – this is not one of those interminable ‘singleton’ shows) she has proudly bought a comfortable new bed: ‘the bed I will die in’ which she shares with her Mac book Air and an empathetic ‘talking’ alarm.
The bed purchase makes way for an hilarious meander around mattress personalities – from confident self assured memory foam to abused hotel work horses. Everything in Celia’s world is anthropomorphised to good effect including her lost red leather purse accidently locked in her fridge for over a week and left to the mercy of some forgotten mayonnaise and territorial cheese.
As if proof was needed of Celia’s talent for telling a good comic yarn, she has gone on to win the Amused Moose Laughter Award this year, the choice of the industry panellists, which is akin to a comedy Oscar. I am sure more awards are twinkling in her orbit too, and they would be well deserved as Celia has honed her art and exudes a charm that disarms and delights. Her country should be proud! In the meantime, we are keeping her here a bit longer so be sure to catch her in Edinburgh if you can and look out for shows in London this autumn.
Celia is performing her show ‘Let me know how it all works out’, at the Gilded Balloon. For more information click here!
