by ⭐⭐⭐½
“Either magic is real, or free will isn’t,” Chelsea Birkby says, “and that’s what we’ll be tackling tonight.”
Does Birkby exert full control, or does she merely want us to know what lengths she will or will not go to to keep us in the palm of her hands as an audience? She certainly exudes the necessary charm onstage to cultivate crowd loyalty.
But I’m not entirely sold by her PowerPoint that Birkby could ever truly be “menacing and tyrannical,” no matter how much dark psychological and political philosophy she has read by Dale Carnegie, Sun Tzu or Machiavelli, or how many videos of Tony Robbins she may have watched. Sounds like the kind of recipe to make someone start balding due to the stress of it all! Thankfully, her own hair has grown back, and she has mined enough web data to know what it takes to fully know, if not also control, your audience. Whether or not she has six-pack abs, kids, or both, she does sell you on the concept of buying her zine so you can save money on the photos. I know I’m sold!
Chelsea Birkby: Is In Full Control The Entire Time plays Bunker Three at Pleasance Courtyard during the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe.
