Must-see British and Irish comedians at the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Few comedic hot spots dish out the laughs quite like Old Blighty and the neighbouring Emerald Isle. Here’s our pick of the British and Irish old favourites and debutantes to catch at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
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Few comedic hot spots dish out the laughs quite like Old Blighty and the neighbouring Emerald Isle.
Differences aside, they have long churned out a string of sharp and deadpan, dry-wit comics at will.
Here’s the pick of what’s coming your way as this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival welcomes back a host of old favourites and fresh-off-the-boat debutantes from the UK and Ireland.
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Simon Amstell, What Is This?
Brilliantly irreverent and dripping with sarcasm, Simon Amstell is best known as the former TV host of UK comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks before his current life in stand-up and feature filmmaking.
Hot on the heels of releasing his second movie, Benjamin, the multi-award winning Brit returns to the stage to bring his deeply personal show about beauty, intimacy, freedom, sex and love to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for a limited season.
Simon Amstell, What Is This? April 9-21, Arts Centre Fairfax Studio. Book tickets
Paul Foot, Image Conscious
Connoisseurs of Melbourne, Paul Foot and his ramblingly wonderful eccentricities are back on Australian soil for his 10th solo show, Image Conscious.
The frenzied comic genius ponders the utterly ridiculous predicament of the soft-shell crab and puts practicality to the fore when considering the catering required for a suburban orgy.
After a big 2018, which included training for a pie-eating competition in Wigan, brace yourself for the hilariously absurd.
Paul Foot, Image Conscious, March 28-April 21, The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne. Book tickets
Fern Brady, Power and Chaos
Brutally honest in reflecting on her days as a failed stripper at last year’s comedy festival, Scotland’s Fern Brady brings a fresh new hour of edgy commentary to stage in Power and Chaos.
After making her mark in a hit 2018 comedy festival debut, Brady doesn’t shy away from the tough topics — politics to feminism, Brexit and Britishness.
One of the UK’s hottest comedy exports, she has appearances on The Russell Howard Hour, Live at the Apollo and her own Live from the BBC episode to her name.
Fern Brady, Power and Chaos, March 28-April 21, ACMI Cube, Fed Square. Book tickets
James Acaster, Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999
In typically understated British fashion, James Acaster’s father, David, last year tweeted of his son: “He’s not for everyone but he works hard, is original and is building a following.”
A five-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee and short-listed for Best Show at the UK’s Chortle Awards last year, good thing Acaster isn’t relying on Pops to build that following.
The year 1999 was a good one, it turns out, capped by the realisation a supermarket lasagne tastes much better from the fridge at 4am after a big night.
James Acaster, Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999, April 9-April 21, ACMI & Melbourne Town Hall. Book tickets
Eleanor Tiernan, Sex Without A Sex Tape
In her dry Irish droll, Eleanor Tiernan once proclaimed St Patrick’s Day as nothing more than a way to let alcoholics know that Christmas is over.
Tiernan concedes she’s a chronic over-thinker as she takes an anecdotal look at the world in her latest offering, Sex Without A Sex Tape.
OUR REVIEW OF ELEANOR TIERNAN ★★★
Having appeared as part of the New Order showcase in 2018, the Irish stand-up is back with claims it is possible to live a happy and comfortable life without releasing a sex tape.
Eleanor Tiernan, Sex Without A Sex Tape, March 28-April 21. ACMI Studio, Fed Square. Book tickets
Larry Dean, Bampot
Bampot promises generous lashings of Scottish smarts and smut as gay Glaswegian Larry Dean returns for a no-holds-barred hour of thoughts on anything from sodomites to self-esteem.
Dean scooped the Scottish Comedian of the Year at just 23 and has continued his rise ever since, having appeared on Comedy Central at the Comedy Store and Roast Battle.
He arrives fresh from a sellout tour and a Live at the Apollo debut.
Larry Dean, Bampot, March 28-April 21, ACMI Below, Fed Square. Book tickets
Tim Vine, Sunset Milk Idiot
One of the world’s sharpest “punny” men, Tim Vine embraces the silly in a frantic flurry.
He once landed a Guinness World Record for the most jokes told in an hour — a whopping 499 — and returns to the comedy festival with his infectious madness in Sunset Milk Idiot.
Vine brings a bunch of new one-liners and homemade props, racing through pressing topics from pixie football to nibble feeders.
Tim Vine, Sunset Milk Idiot, March 28-April 21, ACMI Below, Fed Square. Book tickets
Sarah Keyworth, Dark Horse
Making her comedy festival debut, refreshing Nottingham-born Sarah Keyworth saddles up to take you on a semi-autobiographical ride in Dark Horse.
The show was nominated for Best Newcomer at last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards and delves into her experience as a nanny for two young children before digging deeper into her own upbringing and gender identity.
Sarah Keyworth, Dark Horse, March 28-April 21, Melbourne Town Hall. Book tickets
Daniel Sloss, X
The Scot was the youngest comedian to perform a solo season in London’s West End at 19 with his slick wit winning audiences over.
Now 28, he returns with X, his aptly named 10th solo show that cuts a swathe through anything from masculinity, death — even the topic of grooming — with his acerbic and dark humour.
Sloss is back following the release, last year, of two hour-long Daniel Sloss — Live Shows on Netflix.
Daniel Sloss, X, March 28-April 21, The Forum Downstairs. Book tickets
Ahir Shah, Duffer
Acclaimed social commentator Ahir Shah steers headfirst into the big issues with his blend of philosophical inquiry, political vigour and sweet gags.
Shah’s new show, Duffer, was a sellout success at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and earned a nomination for Best Show, with its insight into life and death and Bohemian Rhapsody.
The proud brown man is back in Australia — the only place he says he has ever been sunburnt.
Ahir Shah, Duffer, April 7-April 21, Mantra on Russell, Melbourne Town Hall. Book tickets
David O’Doherty, Ultrasound
It’s all about the little plastic keyboard for the hairy Enya, David O’Doherty.
He was given it for his First Confirmation and in 2019, the Irish favourite returns with his finest keyboard-backed talking tales in Ultrasound.
The multi-award winning funnyman was nominated for the festival’s Barry Award in 2016 and the Edinburgh Award for Best Show in 2008 and is bound to bring the goods again.
David O’Doherty, Ultrasound, March 28-April 21. The Forum Upstairs. Book tickets
Stephen K Amos, The Story So Far …
Perennially popular British comic Stephen K Amos delivers a stream of his brilliant favourites combined with sharp new gags in a show he says could be his farewell.
OUR REVIEW OF STEPHEN K AMOS ★★★½
The Story So Far … looks back on his past decade in stand-up and is Amos at his seamless best — taking aim at everything from Aussies to his parents.
A polished presence on stage, see Amos if you like feel-good humour.
Stephen K Amos, The Story So Far …, March 28-April 7, Athenaeum Theatre. Book tickets
Ross Noble, Humournoid
The master of improvisational stand-up, Ross Noble is a regular on these shores, consistently selling out even in regional corners of the country.
What happens when pure comedy takes human form? What happens when a creature is created and bred to do stand-up? Nobody knows because it isn’t a thing.
Noble is back with his latest show, Humournoid, for two days only.
Ross Noble, Humournoid, March 29 and 30. Palais Theatre. Book tickets
Lazy Susan, Forgive Me, Mother!
Dynamic sketch duo Lazy Susan, aka Celeste Dring and Freya Parker, deliver an exciting show of sharply observed characters, dumb sight gags and surreal interludes, which expose the ugly side of the sweetest women in comedy.
A nominee for Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Lazy Susan delves into intelligent issues in uncompromising style.
Lazy Susan, Forgive Me, Mother!, March 28-April 21, ACMI Cube, Fed Square. Book tickets
Danny Bhoy, Age of Fools
“Nothing reminds you how many bad films were made last year than a long-haul flight.”
Such was Scottish favourite Danny Bhoy’s realisation en route to his Melbourne International Comedy Festival return.
OUR REVIEW OF DANNY BHOY ★★★★½
Since making his debut Down Under in 2003, the Scot has gone on to sellout tours across the globe.
He is back with his distinct knack for observational storytelling in Age of Fools.
Danny Bhoy, Age of Fools, March 27-April 7, Hamer Hall. Book tickets
Jeff Green, Letters Home
A stand-up comedy veteran of 30 years, Jeff Green’s endearing new offering is an homage to the 10-pound Poms who migrated from the UK to Australia and reflects on his own experience of abruptly making the move Down Under a decade ago.
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Letters Home takes on the format of 10 letters, delivered as monologues to Green’s family back home.
Jeff Green, Letters Home, March 28-April 21, Swiss Club & Melbourne Town Hall. Book tickets
Mark Watson, The Infinite Show
Last year, this thoroughly likeable bloke shared having a soft spot for leopards in cold English zoos and warmed himself to Melbourne crowds with cracks at Aussies’ propensity to abbreviate abbreviations.
OUR REVIEW OF MARK WATSON ★★★★
Returning to his second home, the wiry Englishman brings The Infinite Show to town, one which stormed the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year.
An established author with eight novels to his name, Watson delivers wit with an anxious charm.
Mark Watson, The Infinite Show, March 28-April 21, Melbourne Town Hall Supper Room. Book tickets
Flo & Joan, Alive On Stage
It would not have been your average singalong in the Dempsey household growing up. Polarising sisters Nicola and Rosie whip through tongue-twisters with enviable elocution in perfect musical harmony, taking jabs at the usual suspects — Brexiteers and misogynist online trolls — as well as their own nerdiness in Alive On Stage.
The winners of 2018’s Best Music & Variety Award at the UK’s Chortle Awards, Flo & Joan announced themselves with viral hit, the 2016 Song, which reeled off a long list of terrible events from that ill-fated year.
Flo & Joan, Alive On Stage, March 28-April 21, Melbourne Town Hall Powder Room. Book tickets
WANT TO SEE THE COMEDY FESTIVAL IN STYLE?
This year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival line-up is one for the ages — and Front Row Melbourne is offering the chance to score the best seats in the house.
Entries are open for the giveaway, which includes four VIP passes to three comedy shows plus the festival’s opening night, a dining package, a private helicopter tour, four return airfares to Melbourne, accommodation, and four airport transfers.
Run by Visit Victoria, it’s one of three Front Row Melbourne experiences up for grabs next month.
STAY TUNED FOR OUR REVIEWS ON THE HOTTEST SHOWS AT THIS YEAR’S COMEDY FESTIVAL.
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