The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international

comedy festival A comedy festival is a celebration of comedy with many shows, venues, comedy performers (such as stand up comics, sketch troupes, variety performers, etc.) and is held over a specific block of time. Normally, each festival has a diverse range of ...

in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

over four weeks, typically starting in March and running through to April. The

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall, often referred to as simply Town Hall, is the administrative seat of the local municipality of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors of Melbourne. Located on the northeast co ...

has served as the festival hub, but performances are held in many venues throughout the city. MICF also produces three flagship development programs:

Raw Comedy Raw Comedy, stylised as RAW Comedy, is an Australian annual competition for emerging stand-up comedians held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. History and description The Raw Comedy competition was established at the Melbourne Inter ...

, Australia's biggest open mic competition; Class Clowns, a national comedy competition for high school students; and Deadly Funny, an Indigenous comedy competition that celebrates the unique humour of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

. Awards are given for the best acts of the development programs as well as other categories of performances. The festival also undertakes an annual national roadshow, showcasing festival highlights in regional towns across Australia.

History

The festival was founded in 1986 by John Pinder and his business partner Roger Evans. According to Pinder, the idea of holding an international comedy festival originated in the early 1980s. In 1986, Pinder persuaded the Victorian Tourism Commission to fund an overseas trip in order to visit other international comedy festivals and investigate the possibility of holding a festival in Melbourne. Pinder became convinced it would work, and after his return he wrote a report for the state government, which they accepted. The inaugural festival was launched in 1987 at a media conference hosted by

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...

(as

Sir Les Patterson Sir Leslie Colin Patterson is a fictional character created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Patterson is obese, lecherous and offensive. His typical stage costume includes a tangle of hair, makeup suggesting an alcoholic's r ...

) and

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

. Traditionally the festival would open on or around

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. Mas ...

(1 April), though it now generally begins in mid-to-late March and runs for roughly four weeks. Its first year, in 1987, featured 56 separate shows, including performances by the

Doug Anthony All Stars The Doug Anthony All Stars (or Doug Anthony Allstars, DAAS, D.A.A.S. or stylised as D⋆A†A☭S) were an Australian musical comedy group who initially performed together between 1984 and 1994. The group were an acoustic trio, originally compr ...

Wogs Out of Work ''Wogs Out of Work'' is an Australian play which was written by Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares, and Mary Portesi. It debuted in 1987 at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was enormously successful, touring for a number of yea ...

Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A Democrat, he was first elected in 2008 ...

Los Trios Ringbarkus Los Trios Ringbarkus was an Australian stand up comedy duo prominent in the 1980s, comprising Neill Gladwin (b. 1961) and Steve Kearney (b. 1961). Live act Both members were born in Melbourne, Gladwin in Essendon and Kearney in Burwood. They ...

, and

Rod Quantock Rodney Edward Quantock (born 1948) is an Australian stand-up comedian and writer. Quantock is known for his pioneering style of stand-up comedy, which is often politically driven, as well as being the face of bed retailer Capt'n Snooze for man ...

. By 1999, it contained over 120 shows and was being attended by some 350,000 patrons annually. In 2010, it played host to a record (at the time) 369 shows and 4,947 performances both local and international, including artists from the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and China. In addition, it achieved an attendance of over 508,000 and its highest-ever box office revenue of A$10.9 million, ranking it as Australia's largest cultural event. Activities were originally centred around the Universal and

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

Theatres but in the early 1990s, the MICF shifted its venue to the newly refurbished Melbourne Town Hall, which has remained the festival hub. Soon after this, it spread out further to include an independently produced program at the

Melbourne Trades Hall Victorian Trades Hall is the headquarters of the Victorian Trades Hall Council in Australia. It is located on the corner of Lygon and Victoria streets, just north of the Melbourne central business district in the suburb of Carlton. It is t ...

as well. In 2010, for the first time, the Festival also ran the Trades Hall venue. In 2006, the opening of the festival was delayed due to the Festival Melbourne that occurred as part of the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

held in Melbourne. The 2020 festival was cancelled in its entirety due to concerns surrounding

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and the extension of restrictions relating to efforts to stem the spread of the pandemic in Australia.

Description

The MICF generally begins in mid-to-late March and runs for roughly four weeks. It is one of the three largest international comedy festivals in the world, behind

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Fringe Festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

and ahead of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

's Just For Laughs. Although it is mainly a vehicle for stand-up and cabaret acts, its programme has also featured sketch shows, plays,

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

, debates, musical shows, and art exhibitions. There is also a tradition for experimenting with unusual comedy venues, such as Rod Quantock's "Bus" tours and the similar "Storming Mount Albert By

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

", which used buses and trams respectively as mobile theatres in which the audience members were also passengers. The MICF plays host to hundreds of local and international artists; in 2018, the festival listed over 550 shows and 6,700 performances (including more than 160 free performances) by 3,500 artists. Although it is mainly a vehicle for

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

acts, the festival has also included sketch shows, plays,

, debates, musical shows and art exhibitions. The televised Gala is one of the festival's flagship event, showcasing short performances from many headline and award-winning comics. Other popular events include The Great Debate, a televised comedy debate, the Opening Night Super Show, and Upfront, a night of performances exclusively featuring female comedians. The Moosehead Benefit is held on the last night of the festival to raise funds for the Moosehead Awards, which provide grants to support emerging comedians. Following the end of the festival in Melbourne various local and international comedians join the MICF Roadshow, which spends several months touring regional Australia and in 2010, Singapore.

Special events

In addition to over 200 nightly shows which play during the festival, there are a number of special one-off events. The best-known of these is the Comedy Festival Gala, which showcases short acts from many headlines and award-winning comedians performing shows at that year's festival. It has become known as the festival's flagship event and typically sells out months in advance. It is typically hosted by well-known popular comedians. Headline acts at the Gala have included world-famous comics

Arj Barker Arjan Singh Āulakh (born August 12, 1974), known by the stage name Arj Barker, is an American comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. He was born to an engineer father ...

Eddie Ifft Eddie Ifft (born 1974 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. Biography Ifft graduated with honors from Fox Chapel Area High School in 1990. After graduation from the University of Pittsburgh, where he ...

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show '' Adam Hi ...

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has four times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for ...

Stephen K Amos Stephen Kehinde Amos (born 3 December 1967) is a British comedian and television personality. A regular on the international comedy circuit, he is known for including his audience members during his shows. He began his career as a compere at ...

Mike Wilmot Mike Wilmot is a Canadian stand-up comedian represented by Off the Kerb. In 2005 he won two Canadian Comedy Awards for best male stand-up and best actor for his work in '' It's All Gone Pete Tong''. In addition to ''It's All Gone Pete Tong'', Wilm ...

and

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

. The Gala is filmed and broadcast at a later date during the festival on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Since 1995 the Gala has been a charity event, with all proceeds from the live performance and the screening going to

Oxfam Australia Oxfam Australia is an Australian, independent, charity, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organization, and is an affiliate of the Oxfam International Confederation. Oxfam Australia's work is divided into four broad c ...

. The Great Debate has been an annual event since 1989 and has been televised variously on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

and currently airs on

. The comedy debate features two teams of comedians facing off loosely in the structure of a formal debate over humorous topics such as "Laughter is Better Than Sex", "Coming First is All That Matters" and "

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

is better than

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

". The winning team is chosen by audience applause. Since 1994, the festival has produced Upfront, a night exclusively featuring female comedians which routinely sells out.

Awards

Each year, the MICF ends its Melbourne run by recognising the most outstanding shows and performers with a series of awards. The Age Critics' Award was presented to the best local act between 2001 and 2010, as selected by reviewers at the Melbourne newspaper ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''. The award for the most outstanding show of the festival is the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award (formerly the Barry Award and the Stella Award) is an annual prize presented to the most outstanding comedy act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. History It has been awarded since 1 ...

. It was called the Barry Award until the 2019 festival, named after

. However, due to comments about

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people, including describing transgenderism as "a fashion", Humphries' name was removed from the prize and it was renamed. The

Golden Gibbo The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

was established in 2004 in honour of Australian comedian

Lynda Gibson Lynda Jane Wiseman "Gibbo" Gibson (21 March 1956 – 2 January 2004) was an Australian comedian and actress. Early life and education Lynda Jane Wiseman Gibson was born on 21 March 1956.(4 January 2004 ''The Age''. Retrieved 10 November 2018. ...

, who died of cancer in 2004. It celebrates a local, independent act that "bucks trends and pursues the artist's idea more strongly than it pursues any commercial lure" The recipient of the Golden Gibbo receives in cash, and the Golden Gibbo statue ("which looks suspiciously like a bottle of shitty red wine"). The award is funded by the Moosehead Benefit, which is staged on the last night of the festival. the other MICF awards include: *Best Newcomer Award (since 2000), presented to the festival's best first-time performer as a part of its Emerging Talent Program; winner receives a trip to the

Brighton Comedy Festival Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The ancient settlement of ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England * Piece of Wood Award (since 1998), the comics' choice award; voted on by all previous winners; so named because the award is literally a piece of wood. * Directors' Choice Award (since 2005); recognises an outstanding show that missed out on any other prize; awarded by the MICF director, in consultation with other visiting festival directors * People's Choice Award (established in 2010 as the Bulmers People's Choice Award), determined by ticket sales *

Pinder Prize John Pinder (January 1945 26 May 2015) was a New Zealand-born Australian comedy producer, promoter, and festival director based in Melbourne for most of his career. He produced band performances and ran live venues, being especially known for the ...

(since 2016); established in honour of New Zealand-born comedy producer John Pinder; supports a performer to travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where they can perform a show at Assembly Theatres, where Pinder was responsible for presenting many Australian comics *

RAW Comedy Raw Comedy, stylised as RAW Comedy, is an Australian annual competition for emerging stand-up comedians held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. History and description The Raw Comedy competition was established at the Melbourne Inter ...

Award (since 1996); the result of a national

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

competition, with heats all over the country taking place from January each year, and culminating in the National Grand Final in Melbourne in April * Deadly Funny Award (since 2007); for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

comics * Class Clowns winner (since 1996); for secondary school students from Years 9-12 * Funny Tonne Award (since 2005); one for the fans: for "the person who saw the most festival shows and wrote the most reviews"

Mooseheads

In addition to the MICF awards, the Brian McCarthy Memorial Trust, which was established in 1987 in honour of Melbourne comedian, actor and fringe comedy producer Brian McCarthy, who died in an accident. Funds are raised by the Moosehead Benefit on the last night of MICF, and the trust gives grants to help support emerging comedians. In recent years it has supported up to six comedians each year by grants which pay the MICF registration fee, the first of venue rental, up to A$2,500 for creative support, and up to A$2,000 towards accommodation costs if the recipient lives outside of Melbourne.

Advertising

From 1988 to 2018,

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Michael Leunig designed the artwork for the festival program and other materials such as advertising posters. In 2019, Leunig was replaced by

Judy Horacek Judy Horacek (born 12 November 1961) is an Australian cartoonist, artist, writer and children's book creator. She is best known for her award winning children's picture book '' Where is the Green Sheep?'' with Mem Fox, and her cartoons all over ...

, following his recent controversial works on vaccines and marriage equality. Horacek will remain as the illustrator for the festival until at least 2020.

Views on the festival

Australian comic

Peter Helliar Pete Jason Matthew Helliar (born 16 June 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, television, radio presenter, writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on television as a former regular co-host of '' The Project'' on Network ...

says that performing in Melbourne is more fun for comedians because there is less pressure involved than in Edinburgh, where there is greater competition to gain an audience. Journalist

Simon Fanshawe Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe (born 26 December 1956) is an English writer, activist and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. Fanshawe is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public ...

describes Melbourne as "the festival where the comedians go to play ... the most relaxed, least fevered and probably the most audience-friendly of all the festivals." Lorin Clarke, a Melbourne-based writer and director of comedy theatre, suggested that shows self-produced by Australian comedians have great difficulty competing against shows featuring international comics which are produced by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Clarke argues that this conflict of interest stifles creativity.

References

External links

Official Melbourne International Comedy Festival site
{{Melbourne events Recurring events established in 1987 Comedy festivals in Australia Festivals in Melbourne 1987 establishments in Australia Performing arts in Melbourne