Headliners with Joel Kim Booster and Zainab Johnson at Melbourne 2024
**** 1/2 (out of 5) Easter weekend and Ramadan coinciding with the start of the Melbourne festival felt fortuitous for visiting American stand-ups Joel Kim …
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Urooj Ashfaq: “Oh No!” at Melbourne 2024
**** (out of 5) Based in Mumbai, Urooj Ashfaq‘s show has taken on new meaning since winning Best Newcomer at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Before, …
Continue ReadingEmma Holland and Frankie McNair: “Emma’s Debutante” at Melbourne 2024
**** (out of 5) A late-night showcase at a festival tends to find its most success when it has a strong grip on its premise …
Continue ReadingBarry Humphries: Melbourne comedy festival says tribute is in works after criticism
Organisers exploring ‘a fitting tribute’ after friends say performer was hurt by decision to rename festival award after comments he made about trans peopleGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailThe Melbourne international comedy festival has denie…
Continue ReadingEpisode #300: Josh Thomas
Josh Thomas is an Australian comedian, actor and writer who broke out on the scene as a teenager, winning best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2007 for his first solo show, “Please Like Me.” Thomas went on to stage his stand-…
Continue ReadingMelbourne Comedy Festival cancelled for 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic
One of the three largest annual celebrations of comedy in the world isn’t happening this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The folks Down Under at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia just pulled the plug on the 2020 edition, whi…
Continue ReadingAziz Ansari’s stand-up show addressed #MeToo – but it left me wanting more | Greta Parry
On the Australian leg of his tour, Ansari shows vulnerability in addressing allegations made against him. But there is unease and defensiveness tooBefore attending Aziz Ansari’s show in Melbourne this week, I had read that his latest standup tour, Road…
Continue ReadingHannah Gadsby announces Nanette follow-up: ‘The humour will be back in’
‘I don’t have any intention of workshopping any of my traumas on stage again,’ Gadsby says of her new live show, which will tour US and is named for her dog DouglasAustralian comedian Hannah Gadsby has announced she will be embarking on her first US to…
Continue ReadingEurydice Dixon, 22-year-old Melbourne comedian, murdered on walk home from gig
Eurydice Dixon was just another young aspiring comedian walking home from a gig last week when she was tragically murdered. A 19-year-old man was arrested the following day with her rape and murder on a Melbourne soccer pitch last Tuesday night. Her last text to a friend, heartbreakingly ironic: “I’m almost home safe, how about […]
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