None in line for top award

No British act has been nominated for biggest prize at the Melbourne comedy festival, after the Barry panel announced an all-Australian shortlist.

The accolade – named after Barry Humphries – is normally taken by an international act with only one home-grown winner in the past eight years: Keating! The Musical.

But this year an Australian act is guaranteed to win, despite a line-up of visiting comics that includes Sarah Millican, Russell Kane, Reginald D Hunter, Tim Vine, Andrew Lawrence, Jon Richardson and Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Tim Key.

And nominees also include a children’s show for the first time: The List Operators For Kids: More Fun Than A Wii.

The other shortlisted shows are Sammy J and Randy: Ricketts Lane, Asher Treleaven: Secret Door, Josh Thomas: Surprise, Wil Anderson: Wilful Misconduct and Damian Callinan: The Merger. Sportsman’s Night 2.

Nominees for the Golden Gibbo award for the best local, independent show that puts artistic merit above commercial concerns were also announced at the Festival Club last night.

They are: Poet Laureate Telia Neville, Stevn Shefl And His Translator Fatima, Geraldine Quinn: Shut Up And Sing, Sam Simmons and David Quirk: The Incident and, agaim, Asher Treleaven: Secret Door.

Winners of these awards plus best newcomer, The Age newspaper’s critics’ award, the festival director’s award and the piece of wood award for comics’ comic will all be announced in the early hours of next Sunday.

The Golden Gibbo is named in honour of late stand-up Lynda Gibson; while the Barry is named after Barry Humphries. Previous winners have included the Boosh, Ross Noble and Daniel Kitson.

Published: 11 Apr 2010