Melbourne comedian Celia Pacquola’s new show Delayed is a standout at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival. Pacquola is best known for her role as the cynical friend in ABC’s death-by-vagina sitcom Laid and for winning Best Comedy at the 2008 Melbourne Fringe. Delayed began with Pacquola showcasing her formidable talent for physical comedy (displaying some truly ugly dancing) and ended with an almost epic, almost tragic tale of an almost unrequited high-five with an almost tragic celebrity.
Her set began at the early-for-comedy time of 7.15pm. As Pacquola noted it was still daylight outside the venue (The Rhino Room, Adelaide’s iconic comic venue) and that comedy is, after all, an after-dark entertainment. Pacquola’s charm and comedic prowess were such that this reviewer’s only concerns regarding time concerned the performance’s inevitable but unwanted ending after the standard 50 minute set.
This show, loosely themed on the two years that Pacquola spent in England, is the perfect vehicle for this talented observer of human behaviour to un-crease the twisted average human mind, identify cultural differences between Australia and other countries, and explore the difficulties of long-distance relationships.
Pacquola expertly unifies the audience by identifying universal, but unacknowledged, behaviours; the audience bonded realizing they were not the only individuals who, for example, engage in a naively cavalier attitude when seated in the presence of a full roll of toilet paper.
Whether unleashing frustration caused by chocolate covered edible penguins, or by simply reminding us that we are sane because we think psychotic thoughts but do not act upon them, Pacquola’s timing was perfect and her stage presence captivating.
Like multi-BAFTA winning English comedian and television star Miranda Hart, Pacquola manages to engage with the audience self-referentially with complete charm and without apparent egotism. It would not be surprising if Pacquola enjoyed similar success in coming years.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Celia Pacquola – Delayed
The Rhino Room, Adelaide
14 February – 2 March
Adelaide Fringe 2013
www.adelaidefringe.com.au
15 February – 17 March
