Jacintegrating was both hilariously funny and endlessly heartwarming, with enough poo jokes to satisfy any thirteen-year-old – or thirteen-year-old at heart. It was well-rounded and approachable, and handled a lot of experiences that the average person is all too familiar with, while Jacinta’s absolute honesty and warmth made you feel like you were hearing about it from an old friend.
A lot of the show centred around dealing with relationships, sex, uncomfortable social encounters and being cripplingly depressed – all themes I could really vibe with.
One of my favourite songs in the show was “I Like You”, charmingly introduced with a story about a childhood crush telling her she had a “great personality”. It made me want to jump out of my chair, go back in time, and give six-year-old Jacinta a big hug – not to mention the memories of Very Intense Crushes from primary school that flooded back.
Probably the best and most labour-intensive number of the evening was titled “When You’re In Love, The Poo Stays In”, a four-part a capella piece which was not only perfectly rehearsed and wonderful to listen to, but also really made me think about all the shits I’ve kept inside of me while I’ve been at a partner’s place.
Concetta Caristo and Alex Richmond were both great support characters – “Cool” had me with tears in my eyes, and Concetta and Jacinta’s dance moves to “Bev Men” were just wonderful to watch.
Jacinta’s mum was also wonderful in her role of supportive-yet-uncomfortable parent – I only saw her grimace like three times, and she sat through a full five minute number about all the people who had come inside of her daughter.
The band was wonderful: Annabel Cameron on double bass, Jos Maverink and Madeline Surjadi on keyboard, and Antony Youssef on violin all sounded fantastic and supported Jacinta beautifully. Most notably, nobody hit a dud note, which was all I was really listening for anyway.
Jacinta occasionally apologised for her segues or consulting the set list when really she never needed to acknowledge either: her least rehearsed bit about the Three Sisters was still so endearing that it made me laugh a lot anyway, and these tiny bits sometimes disrupted a show that for the most part flowed brilliantly.
Jacintegrating brought me so much joy and, with a touch more refining, would easily be the quality of something that people would pay big bucks for at a comedy festival. Jacinta has a wealth of natural talent, and this show is something I hope everyone has the opportunity to see in future.
