Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Best comedians performing

Melbourne International Comedy Festival is upon us, but there’s so much to catch other than the laughs. Here are the best things to do and see.

Visit Victoria

Blessed with hidden laneways, converted warehouses and basement bars, there’s always something to eat, drink see and do in Melbourne. But the place really lights up when the Melbourne International Comedy Festival rolls into town.

Blessed with its grungy-chic laneways, craft-coffee culture and late-night supper clubs, Melbourne is many things: the world’s most liveable city, officially the live music capital of the world, unofficially the world’s best place for coffee, the cultural capital of Australia, the list goes on. And when the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) rolls into town, Melbourne can claim yet another accolade: the world’s funniest place, albeit for four weeks.

Now in its 33rd year, the festival is one of the biggest in the world, featuring a record-breaking 615 shows across 115 venues filling pop-ups in bars, restaurants, museums, parks and theatres. The majestic Town Hall is the MICF hub, but the festival extends far beyond Swanston Street. From large venues like ACMI and the Palais Theatre to smaller venues like the Carlton Club, The Greek Centre and Spleen Bar, there’s comedy lighting up just about every corner of the city.

When time is short, and there’s so much going on, the key is to spend it well in Melbourne. Here’s how to maximise your time during this year’s festival, according to a couple of comedians who’ll be there.

WHO TO SEE

Navigating the program of over 7700 individual performances is as daunting as it is exciting. Some of the world’s biggest names in comedy are braving the long-haul flight, including Michelle Wolf (who made global headlines for her infamous speech at a prestigious White House dinner last year), David O’Doherty, Ross Noble, Chris Redd, Maria Bamford, Danny Bhoy and Arj Barker, among others.

Fresh from her acclaimed 2019 Netflix special Gentleman Elf,  Canadian-American DeAnne Smith returns to the festival with Epiphany, a show exploring her private struggles with the aim to “clear some of the shame and weirdness that comes from being human”.

Local superstar Hannah Gadsby will debut her anticipated new show Douglas — inspired by her dog — who is described as a “very specific dog”. Crowd favourite Dave Hughes will also debut his new stand-up show, Hairy, which explores his reluctance to cut his hair for a year, and Kitty Flanagan will also be back with her five-star show, Smashing. Veteran comedy duo Lano and Woodley will bring their show back to the Melbourne comedy festival after a hugely successful reunion last year.

The Project regular Tommy Little also returns, performing his Self-Diagnosed Genius show. Fellow TV comics Charlie Pickering, Judith Lucy, Tom Gleeson, Joel Creasey, Lawrence Leung, Urzila Carlson, Matt Okine, Nazeem Hussain, Tom Ballard and Peter Helliar will also be there.

While there are plenty of well-known names performing, festival director Susan Provan says the festival is also an opportunity to throw caution to the wind, see someone unknown and discover new talent.

“Open the program, pick five things you’ve never heard of and go,” she advises. “You might find someone at the start of their career and follow them for years to come.”

Check out the program here and take your pick.

EXPLORE THE CITY PAST YOUR BEDTIME

Melbourne wears its late-night mantle with pride. This city doesn’t mind a party, you could even say it encourages it. Public transport runs all night on the weekend, some museums and art galleries host after-hours nights, and live music plays uninterrupted into the early hours of the morning.

Up-and-comer Aaron Chen says you’ll see comedians letting loose on stage and on the dancefloor at Max Watt’s (formerly called the Hi-Fi), the unofficial home of the festival.

“We take the internationals out, we show them around, we go crazy,” he says.

Good food is served at just about every hour. Beyond the typical late-night junk, this night-owl city offers tastes to satisfy any craving: Wash down fresh tacos with mezcal cocktails at Bodega Underground, feast on Arlechin’s famous midnight pasta, slurp 24-hour ramen at Shujinko, get your soup on at Twenty Pho Seven and sample Le Bon Ton’s smokey Southern-style chicken.

Luke Heggie, who packs his bike in his luggage to Melbourne (“the bike paths into the city are easy”), will be making his way to F.A.T. Fried and Tasty on Lygon St in Brunswick to devour school Southern-style fried chicken and buttermilk waffles.

Comedian, actor, writer, podcast guy Cameron James says the “funniest” dining experience during the festival was at Butcher’s Diner, the 24-hour burger joint from the team behind Supper Club and Siglo, serving craft tinnies alongside yakitori-style offal, cheese toasties, vegan falafel and freshly cut and grilled steak.

“I reckon I had one of the funniest nights of my life in Butcher’s Diner with Aunty Donna, Simon Munnery, Nick Capper. We were eating burgers at 2am, drinking beers and just being absolute menaces in general. It was wild,” he says.

Do comedians really hang out together?

“Yep, for sure,” says James. “Some of us are best friends — for example, Aaron Chen and I — but some of us are mortal enemies, and if we ever cross paths we have to do a West Side Story-style street dance fight underneath a bridge somewhere.”

STUMBLE ACROSS HIDDEN GEMS IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

Melbourne isn’t a city obsessed with an imposing skyline and towering monuments. It’s a humble, unassuming place. It sounds painfully cliché: Melbourne is best discovered when you stumble across its hidden gems.

Not far from the festival’s heart Town Hall, wander those famed street art-lined laneways and discover the city’s small galleries like Anna Schwartz on Flinders Lane or not-for-profit theatre and gallery fortyfivedownstairs. Artisan jeweller e.g.etal and Craft Victoria are tucked in boutique basements in the city, featuring work made by local artists. Top-notch restaurants as diverse as MoVida (modern tapas) to Coda (French-Vietnamese) and Chin Chin (Thai with a heavy side of vibes) to Kisumé (Japanese fusion) are all found within a stone's throw from the festival hub.

Venezuela-born comedian Ivan Aristeguieta says Melbourne’s hidden corners is what he loves about the city he now calls home. He frequently drops in on the La Trobe Reading Room and Dome at the State Library Victoria to gaze at its soaring architectural centrepiece, visible only from within.

“It’s breathtaking. It’s beautiful architecture, and it’s very quiet. When you walk into the place, your jaw drops,” Aristeguieta says.

Aristeguieta says his favourite stand-up venue is the four-storey European Bier Cafe, famous for its 44 varieties of beer, hidden in the heart of the city on Exhibition Street.

“It’s got a great atmosphere,” he says. “The roof is low, and it’s always packed. You can feel the walls vibrating with laughter.”

Cameron James says he is excited to be performing at the Greek Centre this year, “a cool, weird little venue that has a sweet rooftop bar”. Outside the festival, he says Crab Lab comedy nights at The House of Maximon nestled in the heart of Chinatown showcase “the best stand-up in the country”. Entry is free, and drinks are cheap.

“At any given night, they have stand-up from famous names like Tom Gleeson to Damien Power, and then you can have some incredibly weird, alternative acts that you’ve never heard of before,” he says. “It’s an incredibly interesting, chaotic environment that really sums up Australia’s comedy scene.”

DISCOVER MELBOURNE’S COOL, CREATIVE NEIGHBOURHOODS

Hipster culture has been mercilessly mocked and appropriated by just about every other city around the world — but you’ll find the real deal in Melbourne’s northside neighbourhoods. Stroll through its easy streets and do a spot of people watching à la David Attenborough.

Bordered by the vibrant Queen Victoria Market and Royal Park, North Melbourne’s iconic comedy venue The Comics Lounge will host 47 shows during the festival, including Saturday Night Live star Jay Pharoah. Outside the festival, join the creative crowd at the North Melbourne Town Hall, home of Arts House, and the nearby Gallerysmith, representing local and international contemporary artists. Take a break from specialty coffee at Mörk Chocolate, a hot chocolate brew-house offering flavours from smoked to salted flavours, or sit under the Victorian verandas of Errol Street sampling a creative breakfast at Twenty & Six Espresso or Elceed.

The decidedly-cool Smith, Gertrude and Brunswick streets in Fitzroy are a good place to sample those famed op shops, record stores, galleries and independent fashion labels. Learn what you didn’t know about coffee at shipping container-cum-roastery Industry Beans, dig into a plant-based brunch at Smith and Daughters, drop in on the Thursday comedy night at George's Bar Fitzroy throughout the festival. A night isn’t complete without sampling an award-winning cocktail at Black Pearl or at the achingly on-trend bar Naked For Satan.

Venture to neighbouring Sydney Road in grungier Brunswick, home to farm-to-grill and Ottolenghi-style salads at Very Good Falafel, vegan-friendly Vietnamese at Good Days and art-deco cocktail bar Amelia Shaw. Join the locals at Howler, a converted woolshed offering live music and an eclectic beer list, or Spotted Mallard for roots, rockabilly and soul.

Often over-looked Northcote stays true to its roots despite the winds of gentrification sweeping through in recent years. Northcote Social Club is the darling of Melbourne’s live music scene, launching the career of up-and-comers as well as established local and international acts. On both sides of High Street, you’ll find quality cafes like the former Christian Science Reading Room turned bakery All Are Welcome, local favourite Barry and Field Black (serving breakfast gnocchi!), or no-fuss restaurants like Pizza Meine Liebe or pho-famed Lam Lam, as well as fussier spots like Scott Pickett’s Estelle. Wander through the community’s veggie patch at CERES Community Park to appreciate this family-friendly, laid back neighbourhood.

Canadian-American comedian DeAnne Smith says she’ll be venturing further northwest to Ascot Vale to drop in on the Happy Apple Greengrocer where “staff remember your name” and Mister Nice Guy's BakeShop, which specialises in vegan and allergy-friendly food — “totally my jam”.

“It’s only a 30-minute tram ride from Town Hall, a cute little neighbourhood with one of everything,” she says.