We all tell lies and occasionally those lies take on a life of their own, either as hilarious stories or horrific mistakes. Yve Blake has effectively crowd sourced the material for her latest show Lie Collector, and has come up with an hours worth of comedy based on lies shared with her by the internet. From simply reading aloud the lies shared to writing elaborate song/dance/video pieces her energetic performance will keep you captivated from beginning to end.
The structure is almost the story of her trying to write the show. From her initial frustrations (turns out there is a method to talking to the internet) and disappointments to discovering that much of her material is no laughing matter and to figuring out what the show is really about. In the meantime she shares dozens of brilliant little lies and a few huge ones. She themes them together into clever songs, one about lies we tell to children, another about food and yet another about homework. They are mostly made up of quotes but are most effective when she peppers them with a little extra songwriting.
The energy of Blake carries the show, almost manic at points but not in a bad way. Perhaps a better way of describing it is eager, eager to share and eager to have fun. Her choice of costume reflects that, hilarious and sometimes almost cartoonish. A special mention goes to the pizza, maybe the funniest of a funny lot.
There are slight sound issues that mar the show. When Blake is singing the louder parts of the songs the system doesn‘t quite handle it and it becomes hard to listen to. It‘s a shame since the best moments are when she is comfortable enough to sing low, almost crooning. Hopefully this is something that will be fixed with more performances and her becoming more confident in her material. All in all it is a hilarious hour of musical comedy. It is funny, creative and just profound enough to be more than a series of gags and songs. 4/5
Review written by Ingimar Sverrisson.
Lie Collector is currently showing at the VAULT Festival until Sunday 1st March. For more information on the production, visit here…
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