Yve Blake: Lie Collector

A problem facing contemporary storytellers is that modern technology lends itself poorly to drama. Instant communication has the power to nullify perilous situations, while interaction with computers and phones dulls the viewer's emotional response. In some respects, these issues extend to comedy, and prove particularly pertinent to Yve Blake.

For Lie Collector, the young Australian has written about what she knows. Her best comedy songs, such as that in which she complains of a flatmate using her supposed veganism as an alibi for stealing the performer's cheese, tackle broadly relatable minutiae. They're observational studies in human interaction that place emphasis on the quirks of our behaviour. When Blake attempts to address the internet or social media in a similar fashion, the results mostly fall flat. There's little humour to be wrought from individuals sitting silently in front of computer screens, while her efforts to mine our increasingly isolated lives for pathos feel rote and contrived.

Much of the show is structured around responses to Blake's website which offers visitors the opportunity to anonymously submit details of lies they've told. She wants to comment on the loneliness eating away at each of us, but her stage persona is too steeped in shallow ephemera for her points to resonate. She criticises present day mediocrity while acting as its proponent, and so her show feels like a misjudged echo chamber wholly lacking in heart.