5 Good Reasons to see 2 Ukuleles and a Cello, Kunt and the Gang and KelFi & FiKel

5 Good Reasons to See 2 Ukuleles and a Cello

1. You always wanted to know what heavy metal/electro/rap/other unlikely genre sounds like coming out of a ukulele and cello.

2. You really want to embarrass your mate/lover/archenemy by having a song sung about them by a group of complete strangers.

3. We’re dressing up in dinnerwear especially for you.

4. Two Ukuleles!

5. AND a Cello!

2 Ukes & a Cello are playing Caz Reitops Dirty Secrets for 12 shows from 3/4.

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/2-ukuleles-and-a-cello

 

5 Good Reasons to see my Festival Show by Kunt from Kunt and the Gang

1. The songs are funny. They will make you laugh. This is great if you are recently bereaved as it will take your mind off you missing your lost loved one for an hour.

2. The songs are catchy. They will make you go home humming something. This is great if you are an insomniac as it will give you something to do in the middle of the night instead of laying there hating your partner for their contented slumber.

3. The songs are popular. They will make you feel with it. This is great if you’re a bit of a fuddy duddy because you will be dragged up to date as you hear the genuine top 75 UK hits F*cksticks and Use My Arseh*le As A Cunt.

4. The songs are cultural. They will make you better informed. This is great if you are striving to better yourself as you will leave the show with such useful knowledge as in the UK most men wash their helmets before going on a night out.5. The songs are sexy. They will make you get aroused. This is great if you are a lady whose husband doesn’t pay her any attention anymore as you will remember how it feels to feel alive and probably get a moist on for the first time in ages.

Kunt & the Gang are playing Sahara Restaurant & Bar 27/3 – 14/4

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/kunt-and-the-gang

 

5 Good Reasons to see KelFi & FiKel

1. They were listed in SMH’s Top Ten Rising Comedians in 2012

2. They are like Snugglepot & Cuddlepie on acid, and they sing too!

3. They will NEVER put a naked pregnancy photo on facebook

4. They are playing at the coolest venue in town, the Fab (verb) FAD (noun) Gallery in Chinatown

5. In their show, many important ideas are fhighlighted, including but not limited to:

a) A Dugong in a hat
b) A Llama with alpaca
c) Hitler on a Segway

KelFi & FiKel are playing the Fad Gallery 28/3 – 20/4

http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/kelfi-fikel

The Funny Tonne

By Lisa Clark, Erin Davidson and Caitlin Crowley

Every year the Melbourne International Comedy Festival sets a challenge as mighty as any Survivor or Amazing Race reality show. The Festival will provide a special Festival Passport that gets you into every show for free as you try to beat the record set, so far, by Kath Dolgehuy who saw 145 shows during the 2011 festival. You also have to write brief reviews of them as you go.

Each year about 40 to 60 people apply to join the Funny Tonne and Three are chosen to compete. The winner is announced during the Comedy Festival Awards, which will be on April 20th this year. So far it is mostly Victorians who have competed and there is no age limit.
If you’re interested in taking part in the Funny Tonne applications are available on the Melbourne International Website. (See link below)

The Festival describes the Benefits of being a Funny Tonner:
• Seeing as many shows as you can juggle
• The chance to ‘claim the crown’,
• A festival club pass,
• And of course, being a part of one of the BIGGEST comedy festivals in the world.

Squirrel Comedy has been lucky enough to have had Funny Tonners join us as reviewers. Erin Davidson and Caitlin Crowley have their own views on the benefits of being a Funny Tonner. The Funny Tonne obviously had a profound affect upon them both and we are thrilled that they were able to share their amazing experiences with us.

Erin Davidson – My Funny Tonne – 2006

I saw 123 shows over 25 days (the final Sunday didn’t count). There were only 2 other shows that I could have physically fitted in that festival. I know this because I painstakingly worked out the roster for fitting as many in as humanly possible within the rules.

The Funny Tonne is still one of the best things I have done in my life. It was three and a half weeks of poor nutrition, minimal sleep, but a seemingly unlimited supply of free comedy that made it all worth it!

I was working full-time but managed to take two weeks off during the festival for my own health and wellbeing. Well-balanced meals and sleep have to take a back seat to your desire to see as much comedy as you can. My fellow ‘tonners’ were Liz- a girl from Sydney so was staying in a hotel, whom I’ve stayed in touch with since, and Steven – a man who was retired. Both keen comedy goers and I have to admit, I rediscovered my competitive streak. I really wanted that netball trophy!

My first big tip for reaching that goal is that I was happy to see people I’d never heard of before and didn’t bother hanging out for the ‘big’ names or shows. I planned my roster purely on times and locations.

My tips on Planning Your Funny Tonne Comedy Festival Roster:

  • First step is to put in all the ones after 9:45pm and before 6pm. You should be able to see all of those.
  • All the shows over 1 hour go to the bottom of the list.
  • Next step is to pick venues that have 4 shows all in a row. I remember one night I stayed in the same room at the town hall. The only problem is you don’t always know which actual rooms the artists get  until the festival starts.
  • Be prepared to be flexible. Sometimes shows are cancelled, shows are added, shows are moved and shows run late. If you can’t get to see shows at the same venue, at least stay in the one area.

It’s all honesty based though.
The general unwritten rule was to attend at least 75% of the show. Sometimes you had to leave early to get to another if the one you were in started or was running late.

I got fit during the festival running around the streets of Melbourne and came to rely on the Hungry Jacks stunner deals.

I’m baffled by the fact that the one question everyone asks me about it is, “Didn’t you get sick of laughing?” Umm… NO, I signed up for this! While there were only a small handful of shows in amongst the 123 that I would have rather been sticking bamboo under my fingernails than sit through, overall it still remains one of the best experiences of my life.

The fun didn’t stop at the end of the competition. The next year I was reviewing for this fine website, since I’d caught the bug and I needed to find a way to be immersed in the festival culture again.

It also inspired me to produce my own festival show, Unspeakable [a variety show with a line-up of several comedians, such as Host Adam Hills, aimed at the deaf community] the following year. After seeing 123 shows, I learnt pretty quickly what makes a show work well, and perhaps even more importantly, what makes a show not work. I made connections with comedians, producers and MICF staff simply by hanging around and starting conversations with strangers. The festival is an amazing environment for being able to do that easily: “So what have you seen tonight?”

As an Auslan student (Australian Sign Language) I saw an opportunity for members of the Deaf community to participate in the festival and worked with MICF staff to develop the Deaf Access Program, launched in 2008, the same year my inaugural show Unspeakable sold out!

 

Caitlin Crowley – My Funny Tonne – 2007

Sam and I did the Funny Tonne as a team, we saw 115 shows (me 67, Sam the rest). The show I totally loved was Phil Nicol’s The Naked Racist. Unfortunately I saw it on the third day and I never quite hit that high again.
It was a total indulgence, we gorged on comedy and I learned quite a few things:

1. That it is possible to sit in a packed audience, with every single person laughing themselves sick and not feel remotely amused (Alzheimers – the musical)

2. That some people just laugh a lot – even if it’s not that funny

3. Some people will laugh at anything

Here is a review of my Funny Tonne experience, written at the time.
It is 10 pm on a Thursday night and I am watching grown men crush chocolate royals on their foreheads while making lewd jokes. If I wanted to see this I would have stayed home, opened the pantry and told the kids to go sick. Everyone around me is guffawing with glee but I sit there unmoved. This is the show I begged to see. This is the show many reviewers had on their “must see” list. This show is nominated for a Barry award? It’s good but not that good. I’m watching We are Klang, the 57th comedy show I have seen in a 23 day period and perhaps I am laughed out.

I was one of three people taking part in a Melbourne International Comedy Festival challenge, to see 100 shows in a 25 day period. Well to be honest I was half of a team. I have four kids, two jobs and a marriage to hold together so I was allowed to share this trip with someone in a similar situation. The other two parties involved, Dani and Nath, were both 23 year-olds with youth, time and energy on their sides. I picked my friend Sam, a lawyer taking time off to be a stay-at-home dad to his four kids.
Sam and I needed to divide up the program so we didn’t double up on shows. We acted like greedy kids with a tin of Quality Streets chocolates, fighting over our favourites (Damian Callinan, Greg Fleet and Anthony Morgan), snatching the hot picks (Mark Watson, Daniel Kitson, David O’Doherty) and dividing up the remainders as fairly as we can.

Caitlin: I’ll see D-Cuppetry if you see Puppetry of the Penis.
Sam: You can have Ed Byrne, I don’t like his hair.
Funny thing was, Ed Byrne was pretty good and he’d had a haircut.

One of our duties was to post a brief review of each show on the website. We took the reviewing seriously; these people had the guts to put on a show in a competitive field, the least we could do is give them our honest opinions. The first show I saw was Il Dago, I pumped out a 900 word review, reread it and realised no-one in their right mind would want to read it. I culled it to two paragraphs and we were off. Comfortable in the knowledge that no-one but family and friends would read our reviews tucked away in the back blocks of the MICF website – I let rip. Great shows got glowing praise, average shows got encouragement and bad shows got a roasting.
Over the three week period I became intimately acquainted with every MICF venue. I scurried from the Victoria Hotel to the Portland Hotel, from the Swiss Club to the CAE Scone Room. I ran from Trades Hall to Melbourne Town Hall so many times that the bouncers at Billboard waved as I passed. I became an expert at the 100 metre dash to the train station; I fought festival flu and fatigue to squeeze in up to six shows in a day.
I gorged on comedy and not just the live stuff. I religiously read reviews, downloaded podcasts, listened to comedians guest hosting radio shows and watched routines on YouTube. Other comedy junkies sought me out for tips on where to catch some decent gear. My friends and neighbours rang me for suggestions. My mate called me every day for a run-down. A comedy-loving dad who was housebound hit me up in the playground for a fix, “Seen anything good? Details? Names?” I fed their habits carefully, choosing the best and most suitable talent for their tastes.

Comedy fever was everywhere. People exiting gigs repeated the jokes as they queued for their next show. The boys collecting for the Fred Hollows Foundation on the street adopted a stand-up approach as they asked for donations. We started to notice our reviews were posted on the performers’ web pages. There were 278 shows in this year’s festival and not all of them can get reviewed by The Age. Performers started asking us to come to their shows in the hope they could pluck a phrase from our review to put in bold, red lettering on their show flyers.

This experience was not without awkward moments. I wrote a disappointed review of Dave Callan’s Flame Retardant Monkey and the next evening he sat next to me on the tram. I knew who he was of course, but he was thankfully unaware of my identity. Part of me wanted to tap him on the shoulder and ask him the meaning behind his complex show and the other part of me was too embarrassed. We rode the 15 minute trip in silence. After checking out Greg Fleet and Mick Moriarty’s Fleetwood Mick I wrote, among other things, “Mick Moriarty is not a comedian…” A couple of weeks later I read that he is the partner of Festival Director Susan Provan. Clearly this gig was not winning me many fans in head office.

I laughed harder and longer than I have in years. I enjoyed the crazy ride with Phil Nichol, I caught Josie Long’s optimism, I barracked for the always inspiring Rod Quantock, I laughed harder and cried discreetly at The Debutante Diaries, I was in awe of Ross Nobel’s twisted mind and I applauded Lawrence Leung’s breakdancing. In bed I wrote reviews in my head. How many stars will I give this show? Is there a softer way to say “avoid at all costs?”

On our final night we were invited to attend The Barry awards. The winner of The Funny Tonne was announced and surprisingly there was a dead-heat. Somehow Sam and I managed to finish equal first with our fellow competitor Nath. We hit the stage to collect our prize, some terrible joke books, that Sam and I generously allowed Nath to keep. As we left the stage Nath was heard to mutter, “Where am I supposed to put this crap?”

The votes are counted. The awards have been given. Dani, Sam, Nath and I pretend we’re glad it is over but it’s going to be hard for us to wean ourselves off this three-week long diet of enforced laughter. So maybe We Are Klang didn’t float my boat, that doesn’t mean they’re not good. The festival is officially finished but be gentle, some of us are going cold turkey

 

So do you think you’re up for all of that?

Info and application forms are available on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Website 

5 Good Reasons to see Cinema Fiasco, Tegan Higginbotham Touched By Fev and Watson – Once Were Planets

5 GOOD REASONS TO COME TO CINEMA FIASCO
1. The movies shown at Cinema Fiasco are very bad but also very wonderful.

2. Everything you need to know about bad movies is explained by two experts in their field.

3. For once you’ll be glad there are people talking in the cinema.

4. You’ll be part of an occasion once lovingly described as “church for weirdos”.

5. Hosts Geoff Wallis and Janet A. McLeod are well-dressed and strangely attractive.

Bookings to see Geoff Wallis and Janet A. McLeod take the mickey out of some outrageously silly films http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/at-cinema-nova-cinema-fiasco

 

5 Reasons to see Tegan Higginbotham Touched By Fev 

1 After a stellar 2012, Tegan will this year be attempting to end the war between Bogans and Nerds by creating Touched By Fev, a show about Harry Potter and Brendan Fevola. If you come to Touched By Fev, you won’t just be seeing a show…you’ll be witnessing history!

2 If Touched By Fev doesn’t go down well, Tegan will have no choice but to start doing shows about more accessible and mainstream subject mater along the lines of  “Tegan Higginbotham in Relationships and Public Transport”. Yuck!

3 Tegan goes to great lengths in order to put together her shows. Last year she took several hits to the head. This year she tracked down one of the AFL’s most notorious players…and had coffee with him. Find out which was more damaging.

4 Tegan doesn’t speak in the third person during her show, unlike when she’s writing “5 reasons to see my show” lists.

5 This show will be as mature & classy as it’s title.

Tigkets to hear Tegan’s childhood love for Fev AND Harry Potter – http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/touched-by-fev-tegan-higginbotham

 

5 Good Reasons to see Watson – Once Were Planets
1 Once Were Planets is going to be Watson’s biggest, most ambitious show to date. Don’t miss this opportunity to see what happens when Tegan foolishly says to Adam “Sure, we’ll do whatever you want…”

2 This isn’t going to just be a another science-fiction nerd show. Once Were Planets is also a Science-Fiction Drama, Science-Fiction Comedy and Science-Fiction Science-Fiction. There’s something for everyone!

3 Not only will Liam Ryan be gracing the Watson stage again (YAY) but he’ll also be joined by award winning puppet company “The Indirect Object” who will attempt to bring Adam and Tegan’s odd imagination to life.

4 Once Were Planets has it’s very own soundtrack which will be performed live each night by the extraordinarily talented Gillian Lever. So if Adam and Tegan go too far off script and lose the audience, you can always just listen to the pretty music.

5 Aliens, space-ships, explosions and NO BURLESQUE whatsoever.

Another way to see Tegan Higginbotham with Adam McKenzie & friends as Watson having fun in space – http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/once-were-planets-watson

Interview with Adam Rozenbachs about ‘Eurodad’

By Lisa Clark

Last year Adam Rozenbachs travelled through Europe with his dad and tweeted his experiences along the way. If the tweets were any indication, Eurodad should be hilarious. Adam took time out of his pre-festival pressures to answer a few questions about himself and his new show.

When why did you start doing Standup?
I started in 1999, at The Espy, a comedy institution at the time. Why? Stupidity mainly, now that I look back on it. But I had a love of stand-up, and used to go and watch whenever I could, so I thought I’d like to give it a crack. And I’d been doing Triple R for about two years [Crud Boys 1997-99], so had been writing for that time. It was time to take away the safety net performance wise. Plus, I thought I wasn’t having enough feelings of insecurity, so wanted to bump that up a bit.

Who inspired you in Comedy?
I idolised the D Generation/Late Show/Martin-Molloy era of Australian comedy. Having met them I can see why they were/are so good [they steal a lot].
We also used to listen to Bill Cosby on family trips in the car, so I remember how much I enjoyed that. Although it was a bit muffled hearing it from the boot. And dad took me to see Billy Connolly when I was about 16, so that had a huge impact on me, watching people, including dad, lose their shit for about three hours.
I also heard my first Rodney Rude tape when I was about ten. I probably understood most of the jokes in it when I turned sixteen.

How do you write your festival show? Are you very disciplined?

I’ll start off with chunks, bits, words, occasional letters, and then slowly try and piece them together. Then I’ll print that out, go to a cafe or a pub or crack den and try and joke it up – adding bits and pieces here and there to try and add strength to the strong bits.
I go through patches of discipline. I’ll write and be productive, and then I’ll leave it for a bit or procrastinate, and then I’ll get mad at myself and force myself to sit down and write. It’s all part of the process. I’d like to see how many of the classics would be around today with the nuisance of the internet at hand. I bet Tolstoy’s book would have been War and I Can Haz Cheeseburger.

Are you still writing at the last minute or do you like to have it ready to go for the previews?
Probably about four of five days prior I’ll stop writing so I can start to learn it. Mostly the order, as by that stage I will have only done it from start to finish maybe twice.

Then, the day after my opening show, I’ll furiously re-write, regretting all those times I kicked back looking at cats on the internet, thinking it was a good show.

Do you usually practice bits of it in comedy clubs?
Yep. It’s nice to have a few bits ready to roll for the festival, so you know they’re solid and reliable.

This show has been a bit different to previous years, as it’s my first real narrative, so it’s a bit harder to do ‘bits’ in the clubs/rooms, as it will seem a little disjointed without all the other information surrounding it. Well, that’s what i tell myself when it doesn’t work. But I have been able to work up bits by changing them slightly so they can stand alone.

Is your dad OK about you writing a show involving him?
Probably not, but unless he wants me to move back in because I have no cash, he’ll have to be.

He didn’t want to be on the poster, but I said he’d be in the background, blurry and unrecognisable. He’s not.

I think he’ll quickly work out I lie to him a lot.

Are there stories that you can’t put into your show?
Mostly the thoughts that ran through my head about how I could bump my dad off and make it look like an accident.

Have you travelled with your father as an adult before?
No. And if you ask me that question again in twenty years, the answer will be “ONCE!”

Did you have to change the way you travelled i.e. nicer hotels etc?
Absolutely. I can be a bit of a loose traveller i.e. decide what to do when I arrive in a city, but I had to be more rigid with planning, as I didn’t want dad wandering around with his luggage looking for accommodation. I also cut back on a few things I would want to do, as dad wasn’t interested. Like, for example, fun.
Dad didn’t really like to talking to strangers either, which really cuts back your drug purchasing options.

Be honest did you put yourself through this hell hoping to get a festival show out of it?
How dare you be so cynical about a comedian. But yes. 100%. I hope people appreciate what comedians go through for a show… Twenty one days for an hour’s worth of material is not the greatest ratio.

How has been the experience of working on The Shelf?
The Shelf is fantastic. And working with Tegan Higginbotham has been great. We do a weekly news segment, and i always enjoy reading her stuff when she sends it through to be printed out [I’m the printer owner of the duo]. I love the process of writing news jokes too… getting the story, and then trying to think of a take to have on it. Plus, we can be particularly dark and get away with it as we’re just newsreaders telling it like it is, right?

Justin Hamilton brings together some of the best comics in Australia, so it’s great to grace the stage with them. And nice to try and include them in the gags sometimes.

And The Toff is a brilliant venue.
How will you cope working on two shows during MICF – The Shelf and your solo show?
Once it’s all bedded in, things should run smoothly. That’s what I tell myself. In reality, i will be a burnt out wreck on day two who somehow stumbles to the finishing line, crying and wailing. But, you know, in a funny way.

Luckily The Shelf is on a Monday, which is my day off Eurodad – so at least i can take a break from that and write some news gags.

Are you hoping/planning to guest on other shows during the festival? [i.e. Setlist, Festival Club, various podcasts, etc]?
I’d love to do Setlist. Thinking about it now scares the shit out of me, but I’d love to know how I’d react at the time. Probably with a lot of swearing and regret to be honest.
And once you’re in the Comedy Festival, you try and do as much as you can – Festival Club, podcasts, spots, alcohol… whatever is around, I tend to jump at as it’s nice to be a part of it all.

You do a lot of writing behind the scenes, do you think of yourself as primarily a comedy writer or performer or both?
Initially I though of myself as a comedy writer, but I think in the last few years the balance has tipped over to performer. But I enjoy all facets of comedy – it’s just so much fun to try and find the funny, no matter what the medium. Unless the medium is mime – then you can just fuck off.


Tim Minchin told anyone who’d listen (inc. Andrew Lloyd Webber) that his dream was to play Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and it worked, as Andrew kept him in mind when he needed to cast it in a hurry. Do you have an ambition you’d like to share with us?

To play in a Carlton premiership. And trust me, I’ve been pestering Mick Malthouse about it. But I’ve since given up on that, mainly because I’m not allowed within 500 metres of him.

Did Becoming one of Cleo’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors get you laid help get you a girlfriend?

It actually didn’t. The only thing that increased was mocking [up 400%] and disbelief ‘How did you get in there?”. Unfortunately not that many people in the circles I move in read it, no matter how many copies I left lying around.

Eurodad is on throughout the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/eurodad-adam-rozenbachs

Adam will also be appearing at The Shelf on Mondays during the Festival 
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/the-shelf

as well as somehow squeezing in hosting duties at The Comics Lounge 
http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/hosted-by-adam-rozenbachs-live-the-comics-lounge

5 Good Reasons to See Poet Laureate Telia Nevile’s Live On Air, Patrick Miller – Chaos and Boss Octopus @ MICF 2013

5 Good Reasons to See Poet Laureate Telia Nevile’s Live On Air 
1. If you’re a word nerd, this show will give you so many polysyllabic orgasms your toes will curl

2. If you love the West Wing, Story Corner’s latest instalment of the erotic fan fiction ‘The Best Ring in the West Wing’ will show you a side of Toby and Josh’s relationship you could only dream of (but once you’ve heard it, it’s the only thing you’ll dream of)

3. If the misuse of apostrophes or the use of text-speak in face-to-face conversation makes you want to set people on fire, this show is a good place to meet up with like-minded individuals

4. If you’re an outsider, or know an outsider, or aspire to be an outsider, Poet Laureate Telia Nevile is about to turn the amps up to 11 on behalf of outsiders everywhere – come along and give an almighty rebel yell

5. A beautiful turn of phrase is a joy forever, so a show like this, which is full of beautiful turns of phrase, is a joy forever x 1000 – come and ride the joy train!

Bookings Here http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/live-on-air-poet-laureate-telia-nevile

5 Good Reasons to See Patrick Miller – Chaos
1. I do a really sweet entry to the show in a helicopter, smash the roof open with an ice pick, and belay on stage, with no helmet on, which is actually quite dangerous, plus, in the nude, plus, on fire.

2. I eat a lot of fruit, but not during the show. Ok. A little bit during the show.

3. The show is about Chaos Theory, which just happens to be amazing.

4. This is my second solo show. The first one, in the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Show sold out, and got a four-star review from the Age.

5. The first reason was a lie, and will probably not happen. But is still a good reason.

Bookings Here http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/chaos-patrick-miller

5 Good Reasons to See Boss Octopus
1. If you do, we can forget that you were with that slut last week. What’s that? You work with her and it was a staff party? Whatever.

2. Because if you leave us this cute puppy might accidentally get hurt. You wouldn’t want that, would you?

3. You and us have been together since high school. We didn’t even get mad when you told all your friends about the time you fingered us behind the bike rack.

4. Because we’re pregnant. I know this isn’t the best time to tell you, but we were going to tell you before. Honestly.

5. Because we love you. Let’s never fight again. We should have a baby.

Bookings here http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2013/season/shows/an-evening-of-sketch-boss-octopus

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2013 Program Launch

By Lisa Clark

Aaaaaaand we’re off! The Melbourne International Comedy Festival was officially launched today at The Famous Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre with deliciously dry host Hannah Gadsby being appropriately disrespectful toward the ‘VIP’s and cheeky to the officiating Lord Mayor. Most comedians are interstate or overseas, with the Adelaide Fringe Festival in full swing, but spotted in the audience were Lawrence Leung (Part-Tme Detective Agency), Aamer Rahman (The Truth Hurts), Brian Nankervis (Rockwiz), Andrew Goodone (voice of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala), Janet A McLeod(Cinema Fiasco), Jessie Ngaio (Slutmonster & Friends), Hayman Kent (The Comedy Zone).

Over champagne and lamingtons we were given a taste of some of this year’s talent and the official speeches. Bite sized performances to whet our appetites for the Festival were served up by Moosehead Awarded Kate McLennan & Wes Snelling in Double Standard which will be performed in a hotel room at The Blackman (Justin Bieber stayed there apparently) as well from Windmill Theatre who dazzled us with some nerdy choreographed energetic bike riding from their show School Dance.

From Festival Director Susan Provan we learned that this year there are over a (record breaking) thousand participants in RAW comedy, Matt Okine will be this year’s host for the National Grand Final and that for the first time one of the finalists will be drawn from India. She also spoke about a new movement of comedians who are proving themselves on YouTube and have well selling shows at this year’s MICF despite not having tread the boards in comedy clubs. The Festival crew are particularly proud that this year’s program features an entire page of Daves. (p49, though in one case it’s not the name of the comedian)

We were all given the first programs to study, and they’ll be out for the general public with sponsors The Herald Sun on Saturday 23rd of February. We’ve previously reviewed some of the shows on offer and will be doing a story about that soon. We’re also currently publishing lots of “5 Good Reasons to see” MICF shows to give you more information in helping to organise your Festival calendar. We’ll be bringing more interviews, news and reviews as they come in. So stay tuned to Squirrel Comedy for all your Melbourne International Comedy Festival information.