If a show can make you laugh or cry, you know it’s a good one. All The Things I Lied About is a show that has the ability to do both. As soon as it gets a bit too real and depressing, it brightens up a little with a few laughs. Since TED talks now cover pretty much anything, Fringe First winner Katie Bonna decided to talk to us about the science of lying and the power it gives humans to create damage.
Although she reads the ten commandments of a TED talk and promises not to get too personal, this show is about as personal as it gets. Bonna tells us about how lying has an effect on her life: both past and future.
She started writing a lying diary (liary) and realised how many times she lies on a daily basis. Of course, lying is something we all do every day. We pretend we are just five minutes away, when we’re just leaving the house. We tell kids fibs to get them to behave, or go to sleep. But all these little white lies, can’t dramatically change anyone’s life, can they? Lying has caused serious damage in her life and she is trying her hardest not to be like that. Do we even realise how often we lie? She asks if we could make the world a better place if we were all honest. According to science, it’s natural; but wouldn’t it be great if human beings weren’t designed with the capability of lying?
This is a subject that can affect anyone and everyone and Banna presents it to us bare, raw. She inspires us to look at our own lives, and gets the audience involved in her show and invested in her words. Thanks to her quirky character it never gets too dark, even though her story is heart-breaking. It encourages you to imagine your world being shattered by dishonesties.
Of course, she stays true to the style of a TED talk with her red circle rug from Ikea, surrounded by Russian dolls and her head mic (borrowed from a children’s puppet show). TED talks inspire the world with ideas that are worth spreading, and Katie Bonna has the simplest idea, but it needs shared. To not lie: wouldn’t that be easy? She stands in front of us as honest as she can be, telling us All The Things I Lied About. We should all follow her lead.