Melbourne International Comedy Festival comes roaring back

2022 event gets under way

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has launched its 36^th year with a gala showcase.

The 2021 festival helped the city bounce back from some of the world’s toughest lockdowns. In the final week, pedestrian numbers in the Melbourne central business district hit their highest for a weekday since the pandemic began. City of Melbourne data at the Melbourne Town Hall, where many festival shows were hosted, displayed pedestrian activity had returned to 92 per cent of 2019 levels.

Geraldine Hickey, who own the most outstanding festival award last year, hosted the opening gig with also included sets from Urzila Carlson, Sammy J and Jude Perl, pictured.

International acts taking part in the festival when it kicks off tomorrow include Phil Wang, Flo & Joan, David O’Doherty, Fern Brady, Carl Donnelly, Larry Dean, Stephen K Amos and Mark Watson.

The festival did not get off to the best of starts for Mark Watson, whose day-long flight to get there was cancelled on the tarmac at Heathrow. The plane was also carrying Adam Hills, who was heading home.

My flight’s been cancelled on the runway and the captain says it will ‘now continue at 8am tomorrow’. ‘Continue’ is doing (as they say) a bit of lifting there, given that we’ve so far travelled 0 of the 10,000 miles.
— Mark Watson (@watsoncomedian) March 27, 2022

Festival director Susan Provan said: ‘We’re looking forward to a festival closer to pre-pandemic scale with enthusiasm high among our Australian performers and the return of international guests reaffirming our global citizen status.

‘We’re excited about drawing in local and interstate tourists and sharing live performances indoor and out to thousands of fans once again.’

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp added: ‘There hasn’t been a lot to laugh about over the past two years, but now Melbourne is buzzing and ready to burst at the seams with night after night of fantastic comedic talent."’

Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from March 30 to April 24. For more information visit comedyfestival.com.au

Here are our reviews from the 2021 festival: