Legendary comics worthy of becoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award’s namesake

Barry Humphries’ name may be gone from Melbourne comedy festival’s top gong, but that’s no excuse to leave the award without a namesake. There are plenty of Aussie comedians to choose from — here are a few options.

Some of the potential new names for the formerly Barry Award.

So Barry Humphries — comedy icon, Melbourne International Comedy Festival co-founder, creator of Dame Edna, Sir Les and Sandy Stone — is no longer the namesake of the festival’s top award.

What’s in a name? Everything. So let’s not pass up this golden opportunity to rebrand the festival’s top honour.

Organisers can’t seriously go with replacing The Barry Award with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award.

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A cool awards name has to roll off the tongue.

Think Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Cesar.

MICFA sounds like the name of a discontinued Russian compact car.

Garry McDonald in character as Norman Gunston and Denise Drysdale, at the 1976 TV Week Logie Awards.

Mary-Anne Fahey as Kylie Mole from The Comedy Company.

It’s also got to have meaning, which is why a name with a legacy is so important.

So let’s whiz through some worthy options.

With a simple, single-letter change we get The Garry, acknowledging the work of the great Garry McDonald.

He floored us in Mother and Son and gave us Norman Gunston.

Say, what about The Norman? Or even The Gunston?

There’s The Milo, after Milo Kerrigan, the pratfall prone expert created by Shaun Micallef.

Barry Humphries’ name was dropped from The Barry Award after his controversial transgender comments. Picture: Liam Kidston

But you can’t mention Kerrigan and ignore the family from The Castle, one of the most successful and overrated Aussie comedy films of all time.

It’s got a great ring to it.

“And the winner of The Kerrigan is …”

So, too, The Kenny, after Shane Jacobson’s ever-loveable plumber; The Wendy, after veteran stand-up Wendy Harmer; The Drysdale, a nod to Denise Drysdale’s half century of live TV; and The Col’n, after Kym Gyngell’s immortal suburban dimwit Col’n Carpenter.

But consider now The Mary. What a legacy this handle has.

She died some 34 years ago, yet Mary Hardy remains one of the funniest women to grace Australian television.

There’s the great Mary Kenneally, aka Debbie, from Australia, You’re Standing in It and, of course, The Comedy Company’s Mary-Anne Fahey, who gave us schoolgirl Kylie Mole. (Hmm. The Mole? “Winner of the Golden Mole is …” Could work.)

Paul Hogan’s comedy shifted the culture.

Magda Szubanski as Sharon Strzelecki in Kath & Kim.

Here are some other candidates to consider:

The Dave: in gratitude to all our Comedy Daves: Dave Hughes; Dave Thornton; David Quirk, Dave O’Neil; Dave Callan; David Argue; Ugly Dave Gray; even Dave Allen (he toured here often enough).

The Yahoo: After Yahoo Serious. You know, the guy with the hair. Remember the films? Young Einstein? Reckless Kelly? Mr Accident?

He was referenced in the Bart vs Australia episode of The Simpsons. Any takers? Anyone? Well, it was worth a shot.

The Strzelecki: named after the loser from Kath & Kim, and not just to honour Magda Szubanski, who played her, but all the K&K sorority, including Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Marg Downey.

Yahoo Serious in a scene from the 1988 film Young Einstein.

One of the long line of ‘Dave’ comedians, Dave Hughes. Picture: Tim Carrafa

The Mavis: For all the 1960s rule-breakers involved in The Mavis Bramston Show; Gordon Chater, Barry Creyton and the sublime Noeline Brown.

Hmm. The Noeline, perhaps? Why not?

The Hoges: Were we really going to get to the end of this piece and not mention Paul Hogan? His comedy shifted the culture, championing the working-class man as a winner, not a struggler. A worthy contender, Shirley.

But what about The Strop, after Hogan’s TV sidekick (John Cornell). He never hurt a soul, could cure a hangover with one drink.

And these are just chips off the tip of the iceberg.

So, come on comedy festival people. There are more than enough potential names for the award so let’s go with one that has a bit of purpose, a name that truly honours the breadth of Aussie humour.