After a mind-reading encounter, Chelsea Birkby is worried that she isn’t in control of herself. Like a lot of other people, she’s turned to self-help gurus to help change that, only problem is that alongside the usual name of Tony Robbins, she’s added the somewhat unlikely choices of Sun Tzu and Nicolo Macchiavelli to the list! Now, along with her sort-of dark alter ego, she aims to control the entire audience and bend them to her will.

What follows is a bouncy and innuendo-filled look at self help as well as seemingly heavier topics such as the sexualisation of female comedians and unwanted attention. However, these issues aren’t anywhere near as heavily handled as you’d expect, with Birkby keeping the tone light throughout, even when holding unsuspecting audience members at (fake) knifepoint.

The silliness of the show is infectious, with the best jokes being the broadest ones, such as an interesting interpretation of Bake Off‘s Paul Hollywood’s famed Hollywood Handshake and recurring jokes about Birkby’s parents’ eccentricities, the latter of which is used to great effect as part of the various PowerPoint slides displayed throughout. The use of the slides tie into the overall self-help seminar theme, with visual gags adding to the fun, with a particular inclusion of Wittgenstein helping to give the impression of a surreal university lecture. The overall atmosphere is helped by an enthusiastic audience, who Birkby feeds off successfully with her rapport with them, resulting in impromptu moments of participation that feel completely natural and not out of place.

Beneath the overtly comic nature of the show, Birkby does make a serious point about the nature of free will, particularly in relation to her own personal fears, which acts as a more serious reprise of her opener. However, she doesn’t resort to the cliched device of ending things on a downer, which ends the hour and audience on the same high they’ve been on.

‘Is In Full Control The Entire Time’ once again showcases Birkby as a unique comic talent who definitely has control over her audience and her material, and she doesn’t need Sun Tzu or Macchiavelli’s help.

‘Is In Full Control The Entire Time‘ is at Bunker Three at Pleasance Courtyard until Sun 30 Aug 2026