Dummies’ guide to The Melbourne International Comedy Festival program

WITH more than 600 shows on offer, you’re not the only one who thinks The Comedy Festival program is impenetrable. LOLs consultant Mikey Cahill has broken it down into categories to help you choose the laughs you’ll like.

DON’T worry, you’re not the only one who thinks The Comedy Festival program is impenetrable with more than 600 shows.

LOLs Consultant Mikey Cahill breaks it down into 10 categories that’ll help you choose laughs naughty, nice, highbrow, lowbrow, you name it.

Mr Snot Bottom is back with more stinky songs.

KIDS

Mr Snot Bottom’s Stinky Silly Songs is filthy in a different way. And baby-faced cheer-jerker Josh Earl will host Comedy Club For Kids at The Famous Spiegeltent with an array of quality acts.

ADULT COMEDY

Fleabag is performed by UK pottymouth Maddie Rice, based on Phoebe-Waller Bridge’s tragicomic character. Delight in her ribald language and themes (if that’s your thing). Rhys Nicholson will bounce back after a quieter 2017 with Seminal. As usual he’ll layer three jokes rat-a-tat until you buckle over and pull a stomach muscle.

The Kagools are a bright sketch show.

CLEAN

Spencer Jones’ The Audition will have you hypnotised by his beady, disturbed eyes and inventive use of customised wooden spoons. He doesn’t need to use “forks” in his routine. The Kagools’ KULA is a sketch duo in raincoats that work bright not blue.

SLAPSTICK

Lano and Woodley’s first show in 12 years, Fly, takes a dry subject (The Wright brothers) and sends it up smartly. May contain a real, human-sized fly. Lots of buzz (sorry).

R-RATED

Alex Williamson is a YouTube star who has made the leap to the stage with his very wrong, anti-PC observations in So Wrong, It’s Wrong. For fans of Jim Jefferies.

Charlie Pickering’s show is a political affair called 59 Consecutive Minutes.

POLITICAL

Charlie Pickering stubbed his toe at home before the All Star Comedy Supershow but (wait for it) he didn’t stumble for a second during his four minutes on stage. The suave Melbourne chap will do 55 more in his 59 Consecutive Minutes show. Smoky, cabaret artist Lady Rizo is both ashamed of being American and completely ready to take the proverbial out of self-proclaimed greatest country in the world in Red, White and Indigo.

FEMINIST

Barry-nominated Canadian-American lesbian comic Deanne Smith comes at us with both a female and male gaze (she has a great bit on the struggle of aesthetic appreciation versus ogling) in her show Worth It. Fern Brady is an ex-stripper with a sizzling hour of relationship anecdotes titled Suffer, Fools.

Lady Rizo’s show is called Red, White and Indigo

SURREALIST

One is a Barry Award winner, the other a nominee. Both acts have taken the top comedy prize at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Sam Simmons is back with another gloriously pointless hour: Radical Women of Latin American Art, 1960-1985, while oddball UK game-changer John Kearns will hit us with Don’t Worry They’re Here and a pair of grotesque false teeth.

EXOTIC

There are nearly 200,000 people born in India living in Victoria. See Azeem Banatwalla, Aditi Mittal, Sorabh Pant and Rahul Subramanian in the Indian All-Star Comedy Showcase.

Lano and Woodley have gotten the band back together.

OLD SCHOOL

Vince Sorrenti and Eliott Goblet are doing gigs with MC Brad Oakes. That’s a not too shabby 100 years experience between them and a nice throwback to the halcyon days of the ‘80s and ‘90s when Sorrenti and Goblet were on Hey Hey It’s Saturday every month. Akmal’s Transparent show has been road-tested across Australian beer-barns and will sate those who want a very ‘Strayan night out.

Don’t forget there’s cheap tickets on Tight-bottom Tuesdays. Tip: can see three shows in a night then hit the Festival Club at Max Watts if you’re a keen bean.

Various venues/prices. Until April 22. comedyfestival.com.au