Melbourne International Comedy Festival – 28th March – 22nd April

Melbourne is once again gearing up for its annual comedy highlight, The Melbourne International Comedy Festival – a month long of laughter to be held between 28th March and 22nd April.

Now in its twenty-sixth year, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has come a long way since its beginning back in 1987. Back then, Barry Humphries and Peter Cook’s brainchild pulled in only a few thousand punters with its 50 shows. Today, the festival program contains nearly 400 performances and pulls in around 500,000 eager comedy fans from all over the world.

Alongside Edinburgh and Montreal, it is one of the three big comedy festivals of the year and is the springboard from which some of Australia’s biggest and best comedy talent is launched. One of the biggest draws of the festival is its non-curated, free-for-all formula. As festival director Susan Provan spells out, “In terms of the Australians and New Zealanders, it’s a completely open program, so anyone who wants to participate can.” The other draw is the festival’s accessibility, with an average ticket costing around $22 you get to keep plenty of cash in the beer fund.

As well as its plethora of one-off shows from up-and coming comedians, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival also holds a host of regular, hugely popular events. One of the most loved is the Comedy Festival Gala, the opening night super show that showcases short acts from many headline and award-winning comedians performing shows at the festival. It has become known as the festival’s flagship event and so always sells out weeks in advance, though don’t worry if you can’t get a ticket as you can catch it on Network Ten a few days later.

Another highlight of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is The Great Debate, in which two teams of comedians go head to head to debate important topics like ‘laughter is better than sex’ and ‘coming first is all that matters.’ The winners are decided by audience applause, of which there is always plenty! Upfront is the festival’s female only event, where some of the world’s funniest women get on stage in front of a regularly packed house to shock, scandalize and amuse their fans.

The festival doesn’t disappoint on the international headliner front either, with some of the worlds biggest acts gracing its stages. This year will see the Australian debut of the outrageous American comedienne Wanda Sykes, who regularly sells out stadium gigs in the US and who Provan has been trying to nab for the festival for 10 years.

Joining Sykes in the headline queue will be British comedienne Shappi Khorsandi who will be returning to the festival after a seven-year hiatus. London based Australians Sarah Kendall and Celia Pacquola will also be coming back to Melbourne with new shows, along with Steven Gates (aka Gatesey) from Tripod and Bob Franklin with their hotly tipped new co-written show.

However, as great as these guys may be, the real treasure of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is most often to be found in one of the many small shows. As Provan advises, to get the best out of the festival you should “go and see at least five things you’ve never heard of, because every year you’ve got the opportunity of finding people who will go on to be the next big thing.” Plus, they’re always cheap, leaving that beer fund well stocked while you laugh your arse off at comedy’s rising stars.

What: Melbourne International Comedy Festival
When: 28 March – 22 April
Price: Around $22
More Info: www.comedyfestival.com.au

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By Rebecca Jones