On Visiting Psychics: 'I Only Go When I'm Feeling Shitty'

Melbourne comedian Celia Pacquola hopes skeptics and judgey types go easy on her solo stand-up show, Let Me Know How It All Works Out. It has been touted as Pacquola’s “most revealing” foray – and, considering that all her comedy is “quite personal”, that means something.

So will she spill? “It’s about a true part of my life that I have kept secret from people because of the judgement involved – which is seeing psychics,” Pacquola responds. “It took me a long time to decide that I wanted to talk about it on stage, ‘cause I was worried – I’d had friends who I’ve told and they said, ‘I think less of you now.’” Pacquola, a “realist”, started visiting psychics as de facto therapy. “I’m not hardcore into it. I’d go every now and then – and I don’t remember what they’ve told me or if it’s come true, because, by the time they’ve said it’s supposed to happen, I’ve forgotten about it. I would just go on the day that I was feeling a bit shitty. It just made me feel better. It’s basically somebody who looks like they know who says, ‘Everything’s gonna be fine.’ That’s the service… I don’t buy shoes or dresses or get manicures and stuff, so this is like a massage for hope!” Still, Pacquola is surprised at the reactions it engenders. “I’m not religious and, if you are, I wouldn’t judge you. You might like to listen to a man talk about a man in the sky. I would rather listen to a woman in a purple dress talk about me for half-an-hour.”

"I would rather listen to a woman in a purple dress talk about me for half-an-hour.”

Ironically, Pacquola’s own growing disquiet in fortune-tellers prompted Let Me Know How It All Works Out. “I got into a fight with a palm-reader at the end of 2013,” she shares. “I used to do [sessions] as a bit of fun – I hadn’t really thought about it… Then this palm-reader told me something bad – well, something I didn’t wanna hear.” Pacquola questioned whether she believed in “fate” – or wanted to.

Pacquola maintains that, even if punters reckon psychics are “absolute bullshit”, they’ll enjoy the show – which, incidentally, not only sold out at 2014’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, but also won her an Amused Moose Laughter Award at the Edinburgh Fringe.

These days the Yarra Glen native – who has worked in radio, TV and print – splits her time between Australia and the UK. Pacquola acquired a peculiar notoriety when, gigging in Swansea, Wales last year, a heckler proved so persistent that the venue called police. Today the comedian suggests that the episode, which she described on Twitter as being like “a very strange dream”, was beaten up by the media (including the BBC). “That’s the real story – it’s not as exciting but, yeah, I glad that’s attached to my name forever. Fantastic!”