Comedy review: Celia Pacquola

Published on Thursday 20 August 2009 19:11

CELIA PACQUOLA IN AM I STRANGE?

GILDED BALLOON TEVIOT (VENUE 14)

HOW to make sense of a failed relationship in which your conniving partner repeatedly cheated on you with a string of other women? Well, why not make a show-and-tell of it? This isn't revenge though, Celia Pacquola maintains – only semi-convincingly – in this, one of the more uplifting, delightfully funny hours I've so far spent at the festival. Emotionally candid and frequently insightful (for this man at least), but with a warm, winning playfulness, this is one of those enjoyable shows that elevates stand-up to another level of ambition.

Marvelling at her navety, Pacquola retrospectively conveys her inner turmoil with an artful trick, inviting us inside her head with a click of her fingers and a snap lighting change. Introducing us to her conscience, logic and paranoia, she flings sticky cartoon icons onto a backcloth to illustrate their capricious workings.

More than a gimmick, this affords a welcome change of pace to her narrative and subliminally communicates a step-plan to understanding and recovery, even if the humour invariably stems from her conflicting recollections of confusion, denial, acceptance and, only latterly, anger.

Despite this being a self-obsessed show by design, Pacquola is thoughtful if perhaps exaggerating when she muses on the way women stack others' emotional baggage atop their own, while her sudden conversion to perceiving and indeed wishing for infidelity in her girlfriends' relationships has an endearing ring of brutal honesty.

She alternately attracts deep belly-laughs and sporadic but heartfelt 'aww's, employing imaginative metaphors to keep the show fresh and an optimistic but rueful strain of self-deprecation that ensures she's never less than immensely likeable. A couple of routines about dolphin rapists and contriving an unfortunate nickname for herself feel like unnecessary tangents from the main thrust of her tale, but there's no denying their wit and thus they earn their inclusion. Ultimately – despite the trust issues she's developed – Pacquola retains a romantic view of relationships and closes with a generously upbeat coda. An exceptional Fringe debut.

JAY RICHARDSON

Until 31 August. Today 7:45pm.