There’s no gentle preamble to Harriet Kemsley’s breathlessly entertaining account of her challenging year, as she bluntly opens with the news that she’s divorced. Anyone hoping for salacious details about the breakdown of her marriage to fellow comedian Bobby Mair will be disappointed because she’s actually very fair to the troubled Canadian. And although she doesn’t underplay their difficulties and compatibility issues, there’s nothing revealed here that hasn’t already featured in the erstwhile couple’s previous shows. That said, there is a mildly spicy nugget about Kemsley’s tiny role in a high-profile comedian infidelity scandal that undermines the prevailing public narrative somewhat.

The show derives its title from the given-lemons, make-lemonade mantra of a self-help guru that Kemsley has been visiting. But the fact that she heavily implies it’s spiritual woo-woo offers an indication of the battered confidence and beleaguered mindset she’s currently operating with. Having acquired a few additional health problems to complement her existing conditions, these are nevertheless overshadowed (in the narrative at least) by her struggle to rejoin the dating pool, an intimidating prospect after all this time.

A contrast between Kemsley’s effusive, rattling delivery and the darkness of predatory men and the bleakness of co-parenting her young daughter is wonderfully pitched. While she packs a lot of wince-inducingly funny personal disclosure and broader social commentary into the hour, it nevertheless skitters around a bit in search of more structure. 

Harriet Kemsley: Everything Always Works Out For Me, Monkey Barrel, until 12 August, 6.10pm; main picture: Linda Blacker.