Celia Pacquola: Let Me Know How It All Works Out @ Gilded Balloon

Like eating a kabob in bed after a night out, or starting a sing-along on the night bus, Celia Pacquola’s Let Me Know How It All Works Out is a deliciously guilty pleasure that you probably shouldn’t recommend to your mother-in-law.  The Aussie’s observational humour involving stories of psychics, magic crystals and what the future holds ends with laugh-induced sore faces and feeling a bit like needing a smoke afterwards.

Despite a beardy audience member announcing himself as a clairvoyant and reviewer, to the annoyance of the ninja critics in the room, Pacquola carries on unfazed despite 31 July only being her second night. 'Comedy and knowing the future;' probably not the most satisfying career choice, yet she is so darn likeable, keeping the audience enthralled with her tales of exes, drunken escapades, sex and mistakes everyone can identify with.  The shenanigans border on too much information with plenty of guilty laughs, before Pacquola reels it back to the minorly offensive level.

The show is a fusion of great writing and a bit of improv, with occasional lighting effects that enthrall the slightly inebriated amongst the crowd at The Gilded Balloon.  A four-time Edinburgh Fringe Festival survivor, Pacquola has been nominated for awards in the UK and Australia including best new show at the Leicester Comedy Festival and a Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Heartening, satisfying, and entertaining. Checks all of the right boxes for good comedy at the Fringe.