Sometimes the little-known local shows can be the true gems of the Comedy Festival. Sadly, that's not the case with A Modern Deception: Live To Air. Performers Alex de la Rambelje, Vyom Sharma and Luke Hocking are touted as “three of Melbourne's top sleight-of-hand artists”, but Live To Air is curiously lacking in true magical displays (there are only a handful of proper magical showpieces scattered throughout the overlong production). The show is instead a comedic play based around the idea of three magicians taking over a commercial television morning show. It's a cute enough idea, but the comedic acting skills of de la Rambelje, Sharma and Hocking aren't really up to the task, and the scope of the production feels overly ambitious. The comedy doesn't really work, and the magic tricks aren't particularly convincing (especially with the amount of technology being used – sleight-of-hand works best with nothing to hide behind). Despite the ambition behind it, Live To Air isn't a Festival highlight.
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