Erika Ehler starts her set rather unassumingly, her demeanour perhaps influenced by unhappy experiences growing up as a bullied mixed-race child in Canada. Unusually, she has contemporaneous evidence in the form of video diaries which she uses to illustrate her younger self’s lack of confidence. Happily, in the context of this show, these short films are funny rather than tragic.

Ehler claims to have joined a vague movement of ‘female manipulators’ who like to mess around with men, and she has some nice dating stories which bring out big laughs. Much of her material is provocative and it sometimes seems as if she’s testing the crowd to see how far they’ll be pushed. But Ehler has a fitful method of telling jokes which repeatedly brings momentum to a halt as soon as she delivers a punchline, and this idiosyncrasy eventually starts to sap energy from the room.

^{Picture: Matt Crockett}

‘About half of you like me,’ she comments halfway through her set. It’s a remark that needles the crowd and does nothing to help the atmosphere. Erika Ehler is a smart comedian with some great one-liners but her style of delivery can sometimes get in the way. 

Monkey Barrel Carnivore, until 28 August, 9.40pm.