In her first stand-up hour since 2018, Celia Pacquola serves up a hilarious whirlwind tour of the past five years: lockdowns, a new relationship, a haunted house, butt-masks (yes, things got weird during covid), and the arrival of her daughter. With the regal Comedy Theatre in Melbourne as her backdrop, Pacquola kicks off with a “you’re welcome” for the early 6.30pm start time; she’s in her 40s now and in genial Celia fashion, appreciates that people prefer to be in pyjamas by 9pm.
The show picks up from where her 2018 set (All Talk) left off, with a palpable sense of urgency as Pacquola swiftly revisits the #MeToo movement and her personal mental health issues – both thankfully now “solved.” She rewinds to 2020, a year that Pacquola anticipated as “her year,” only to be marked by the global pandemic and, in her opinion, an equally newsworthy story: the year she won Dancing with the Stars. Thus begins the prelude of her adventures as a self-proclaimed “fun mum.”
Here, Pacquola flaunts her trademark candour and quirkiness, regaling the crowd with flawed logic like a kicking system that dictates her meat consumption and the finding and returning of a lost cat. The decisively delirious tone of the set underscores her ill-preparedness for navigating parent groups, arguments with her smart home, and the moral quandaries of parenting.
There’s a begrudging yet good-humoured intertwining of Pacquola’s dismissal from Bluey, having been initially offered the role of Chilli, now famously voiced by Melanie Zanetti, prompting raucous laughter from the audience. Pacquola’s adept interaction with her audience arrives in all of the right places with jests about “walk outs” following a series of birthing anecdotes, and the allocation of laugh-based gold stars.
While the energy and laughs taper towards the end, Pacquola reels the audience back in with clever callbacks to earlier jokes. The climax arrives with a comical showdown against Google Home, set to Vengaboys’ ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’ This leads to a protracted conclusion where Pacquola shares the difficulty of wrapping this particular set, ultimately offering a wholesome reflection on beginnings rather than endings. Despite the slightly clumsy finale, a couple of surprises in the ‘post-credits’ almost make up for it.
Pacquola effortlessly blends freudenfreude, self-deprecating silliness, and genuine warmth (despite what the Bluey team said), to create an intimacy hard to achieve in large venues. I’m As Surprised as You Are truly feels like a long overdue catch-up with friends – a delightful pre-dinner treat that will keep you smiling until bedtime.
I'm As Surprised As You Are is playing at the Comedy Theatre until April 7 – find out more and get tickets here.