Most outstanding show and best newcomer shortlists announced

Ahir Shah, Flo and Joan’s One Man Musical and Olga Koch are among the nominees for the top award for live comedy in Australia.

They have all been nominated for the most outstanding show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival alongside Aussie acts Garry Starr, Lou Wall, Brett Blake (review), Greg Larsen (review) and Scout Boxall (review) plus India’s Rahul Subramanian. 

Shah is nominated for his show End (review), which won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2023 while Olga Koch Comes From Money (review), Garry Starr’s Classic Penguins (review) and One Man Musical (review) debuted at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. 

The latter - which offers a journey through Andrew Lloyd Webber’s life, with George Fouracres taking the lead – was named best show at last month’s Chortle Awards, with Flo and Joan taking the sketch and variety award.

Eight acts have also been nominated for best newcomer in Melbourne. Up for the award – which is limited to debuts from Australian and New Zealand acts – are Jessica Barton (review), Robyn Reynolds (review), Anisa Nandaula, Kura Forrester,, Ethan Cavanagh, Rapha Manajem and Meg Jäger (review).

The  nominees had previously been announced for the 2025 Golden Gibbo Awarding honour of the late Lynda Gibson, and  recognising 'independent, local, adventurous show’.

They are Kate Dolan for The Critic (review), Andy Balloch for The Wedding (review), Taylor Griffiths for Sublime Avenue, Conor Lynch for Chimp, Sugar Bits for Feminist Trash (review) and Charlie Lewin for Frogaccini. 

All winners will be announced on Saturday lunchtime, local time, which is the early hours UK time.

Published: 16 Apr 2025