Melbourne International Comedy Festival returns for 2021, line-up announced

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival kicks off next month. Check out our complete guide to the event.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival will return this year for a month full of hilarious gags, which are guaranteed to have you grinning from ear to ear.

The festival will kick off next month and will run from March 24 to April 18 after last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19.

In what promises to be a huge night of laughs, Becky Lucas and Aunty Donna will host the festival’s much loved Gala and Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow.

The Gala will be hosted at the Palais Theatre on March 17 and the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow on March 24, with both events to be filmed in front of a live, socially-distanced audience.

More than 300 shows are on the cards this year for Melburnians to enjoy.

Becky Lucas. Picture: Jim Lee

Aunty Donna. Picture: Jim Lee

OUR TOP PICKS ★★★★★

●Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow

●The Gala

●Tom Gleeson, Lighten Up

●Lano & Woodley in Lano & Woodley

●Peter Helliar, Loopy

●Upfront - The stage is set for the crowned queens of comedy to deliver whip-smart laughs and charm.

●The Comedy Zone

●Highlighting the next generation of comedy superstars. Featuring: Andrew Lee, Floyd, Alexander-Hunt, Andrew Portelli, Tor Snyder, Elliott Stewart

●No Hat, No Play - TikTok star Samantha Andrew joins Mel O’Brien in No Hat, No Play! The Cabaret.

●The Breast of the Fest

●Dilruk Jayasinha, Victorious Lion

●The 31st Annual Great Debate

●Faulty Towers, The Dining Experience

●Joel Creasey, Messy B*tch

●Nina Oyama is Doing Me Right Now

●The Improv Conspiracy, The Remix

●Wil Anderson, Wilegal

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the third largest comedy festival in the world since it was founded in 1987.

COVID-safe measures have been put in place for those attending the festival, including increased cleaning and hand sanitising stations, cashless box office and paperless ticketing, contact tracing and masks required indoors and outdoors when social distancing isn’t possible.

To see what’s on offer and buy tickets visit comedyfestival.com.au