Into the spotlight today is gifted storyteller and jokesmith, Celia Pacquola with her new show, Flying Solos.  Celia delves into those piquant moments when you step out of your “safety zone” and confront those most exacting tensions of success or failure.  For an uplifting experience you can see Flying Solo at the Gilded Balloon from the 4th to the 30th of August at 6 pm each evening.

1.    What inspired you to become a comedian?

It’d be a guess, but I think I was inspired probably around the same time I realised that I had neither the skills nor the dedication for any other occupation. That’s not to say that I’m stupid or lazy about everything, it’s just that comedy is the one thing that I am stupid and lazy about the least – (plus I like it!).

I fell into stand-up comedy like I’d fallen for a guy who was way out of my league. I never considered it (spent my time waitressing) when my friends set me up on a blind date, (I was entered into a stand up competition as a surprise) and amazingly, we hit it off (I made it to the grand final and won best first time entrant).  And before you know it we’re celebrating our 4th anniversary!  What makes him even more of a catch is that he’s fine with me seeing other people (radio/sketch/acting).  He’s perfect!   But would it kill him to ask for directions once in a while?  The ladies know what I’m saying!

2.    What’s your show about and where are you taking your show after the Edinburgh Fringe?

My show is about solos of all types:  musical, accidental, kayaking etc.  It’s about doing things on your own and the risk of failure but chance of personal success that goes along with it. For the show I’ll be attempting to learn and perform a solo that may be a spectacular disaster or incredible triumph, I honestly don’t know.

I only realised recently that my show last year was about being ridiculously cheated on and this year it’s about being alone. I’m quietly concerned that next year’s show will be Celia Pacquola… gets some cats!

For anyone who saw my show last year there’ll be less kinder surprises, but heaps more keyboard.

Flying Solos has already sold out shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Sydney Comedy Festival this year.  After Edinburgh I’m considering taking it to Adelaide, Brisbane and New Zealand in 2011.  I’m still really enjoying doing the show, and because of the nature of it, every night is exciting!

3.    What are you most proud of?

My mum. She’s put up with a lot but keeps on smiling. She’s also very funny without meaning to be, for example, she couldn’t understand why my sister and I giggled at the name ‘Phil McCrackin’, so she just kept repeating it louder and louder. “What? Phil McCrackin? I don’t get it. PHIL MCCRACKIN?!”

In regards to my career, I’m proud of my shows. I put a lot of work into them and I’m proud of them. They may be little shits from time to time, but I’m still proud of them.

4.    If you had a chance to work with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?

Tina Fey.  She makes me want to be a better writer and wear glasses.

5.    What kind of questions do you most like to be asked about your work and why?

I quite like questions that don’t make me look like a wanker. Last year was my first solo show and my first Edinburgh Fringe;  I think I got a little over excited doing gigs, interviews, pod casts, anything and everything. Looking back at the interviews after I got home, I was not always happy with my responses. In one of them I actually said, ‘well, the thing with comedy is..’ and I wanted to punch my past self in the face. So I like questions about my own experience rather than comedy in general, because really what do I know about comedy in general? If Edinburgh last year taught me anything, it was that what I don’t know could fill many large things.

6.    Do the reviewers of Fringe shows do a good job?

Well, firstly, they’re ‘good’ in that they review shows and print them, which is an important part of the fringe so that punters can make some kind of sense of the tidal wave of shows/choice.

Based on my experience of the reviews last year, generally I thought they were fair;  I mean, sometimes I see a show that got a one star and a five star review and that kind of discrepancy makes you raise an eyebrow but that could be due to many different things. But the great thing is about the abundance of reviewers and publications that print reviews is that you can compare them and have a clearer picture.

My main pet peeve with reviews is if they include multiple jokes and punch lines from the show they’re reviewing which is pretty frustrating for a comedian. You don’t want an audience sitting in your show saying ‘yep, know how this one ends, read it this morning.’

7.    What do you feel about the current state of Arts funding available?

Arts funding? I think I’ve heard of that, I thought it lived under a bridge with the Easter bunny!

Seriously, I think there is absolutely room for more Arts funding. Good programs that send the money where it is needed and where it will be used effectively. In my experience, comics gig for years with little to no money, that’s just how it works, you have to fit it in around regular work until/if you are lucky enough to get paid work.  A little helping hand, would encourage more artists to do what they’re meant to be doing.

8.    Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why [dead celebrities included]?  And what tasty treat would you prepare?

Rik Mayall.  I grew up thinking he was wonderful and I still do.  My flatmate Felicity Ward, who is also a comedian and is the funniest person I know.  Finally, I’d invite William Shakespeare because it seems a shame to have the power to bring someone back from the dead and not use it.

I can cook whatever they would like. Except by ‘cook’ I mean ‘order’!

9.    What do you do to relax?

Watch episodes of Blackadder on my laptop in bed.  Preferably when it’s cold with an electric blanket.  Then when the computer warms up on my stomach it’s like being in a warm sandwich and I’m the salami. Warm, giggling, in love with Hugh Laurie, salami.

10.    What would be your dream come true?

To be able to create comedy in any form for the rest of my life. To eventually have a section on a bookshelf in my house with the things I’ve created, DVDs, books, papier-mâché , whatever and be proud of them.  To learn enough to be able to say, ‘the thing with comedy is…’ and finish that sentence with something useful to say, or at least without sounding like a dick.