It’s the 25th Anniversary of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This is the big one. With hundreds of acts over venues across the city, including dozens of international all-stars, the comedy festival draws crowds from around the world and has made quite a name for itself.

Almost 400 comedians have made their way to Melbourne to be a part of the festival and thousands of audience members have already secured their tickets.  Suffice to say the list of shows is enormous.  Don’t waste your time critiquing every promo clip and studying every bio because Laneway has done all the work for you.  We are hitting up all our top picks as early as we can so we can tell you exactly what to expect, what to see and what to avoid.

Watch this space for a constantly updated guide that will make sure you get the most laugh for your buck.

Reviews:

The Hayloft Project – Delectable Shelter

The comedy festival isn’t all about one man shows and stand up. In fact full productions which highlight the art of stagecraft and expert acting can be even more amusing than 90 minute of dirty jokes and shouting.  Read More…

Dash & D’Bree – Take It

The sassy, bogan, celebrity wannabes ooze colourful energy throughout their dynamic, well thought out video appearances and my hopes for the live show were equally frenetic.  Read More…

Charlie Pickering – Rodeo, Burqa, Circumcision

I had this comedian labelled as one of the least funny, more serious types – I’ll happily eat my judgement wielding, stereotype hampering words though, because ‘Rodeo, Burqa, Circumcision’ is a show delivered with a heck of a lot of natural humour. Read More…

Arj Barker – Eleven

Everything you would expect from a world class comedy headliner.  Musical harmonica gags, chastisement of Mother Nature, a literal view of the ‘bucket list’ and a violent aversion towards Neapolitan ice-cream. Read More…

The Comedy Zone

The show takes place in the decaying Old Council Chambers, with plaster and paint peeling from the walls. However, once the show is underway, it’s quick to forget about the slightly odd setting for this performance. Read more…

Simon Brodie – Fitzroyalty: The Guide to Building a Bridge

I went along to Fitzroyalty thinking it was the dude who writes the wonderful Fitzroyalty blog. I was wrong. And Simon Brodie made sure everyone knew he wasn’t the blogger and that the blogger didn’t own the word Fitzroyalty. My mistake. Read more…

Eddie Perfect – Misanthropology

Eddie Perfect is ridiculously intelligent, massively ballsy and absolutely hilarious. He’s one of those performers who have that wonderfully real sense of what entertainment is about. Read more…

Michael Chamberlin – Things I Haven’t Done

Things I Haven’t Done is occasionally dark, but by taking comedy to its borders, Chamberlin could be crowned this year’s fringe king. Read More…


Kitty Flanagan – Charming and Alarming

There’s nothing really new about Kitty Flanagan’s 2010 show Charming and Alarming, which is back for a handful of performances this year, because there needn’t be. Read More…

Die Roten Punkte – Kunst Rock

Musical comedy has had a surge of success over the past few years. So, it is little surprise to see that Die Roten Punkte’s faux-German take on the ever so eccentric Jack and Meg White has packed out The Hi-Fi. Read More…

Andrew Maxwell

I’m not sure if it was the cross between Steven Fry and Chris Lily looks that won me over or his call for any woman in the audience who has never licked a set of balls to stand up. Read More…

Marc Maron

Marc adheres to a style of self loathing, lonely melancholy comedy that may not have you jumping out of your seat with laughter but is entertaining nevertheless. His style may not be to everyone’s taste, but he’s worth the money. Read More…