Today on the show, we are joined by longtime festival mainstay Arj Barker. Arj’s show Get In My Head is on tonight at 7.30pm at the Melbourne Town Hall, and a number of different times throughout the fest. Check the link above for more info.
In today’s MICF Daily News Update:
FINAL SHOWS: It’s the final weekend for many shows of the festival, with a new set of shows ready to commence runs at MICF. Shows finishing this weekend include:
Darren Freak – A Freak By Any Other Name
Jodie J Hill – Flirting with Disaster
Quiet Achievers
Rob Caruana – Learn Comedy
Sarah Bennetto’s Funeral
Simon Godfrey – Sauce
Snort with Friends
Tim Batt Explores The Human Experience
The Umbilical Brothers – KiDSHoW (Not Suitable for Children)
Georgie Carroll – Nurse Case Scenario
Judith Lucy – Ask No Questions Of The Moth
Micah D Higbed – Rebels & Radicals
Jen Carnovale – Give Us A Smile
Pat McGee – Tincakes & Sausages
Sharyn Booth – …Yeah, Sure. Why Not?
Good Show
Tom McLean – Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn
Anthony Jeannot – Unaccept-a-bubble
Bryony Kimmings & Tim Grayburn – Fake it ’til you Make it
Dave Bloustien – The Tinder Profile of Dorian Gray
Ash Burgess – Punk Rock Poet
Isabella Valette – Media Release
Cam Knight – Almost Bulletproof
Heidi O’Loughlin – A Woman Talking
Justin Kennedy – Bucket’s List
Nat Harris & Megan McCrea – Marked To Clear
Stuart Bowden – Before Us
Ben Darsow – Now
Anna Log – Sabotage
Ruby Wax – Sane New World
Boris & Sergey’s Vaudevillian Adventure
Kirsten Law – Man Academy
Peter Jones – The Book Was Better
The Sexy Detectives – Mono Logs
Wizard Sandwiches – Lettuce Play
Headliners
Joseph Moore – Young Comedy Billionaire
Law Revue 2015 – No Regerts
Lisa-Skye’s Lovely Tea Party
Mark Trenwith – Disney Guy
Nadine Sparks – Rehab
Michelle & Gemma Explain It All
Innes Lloyd – Men of Your Dreams
Jack Druce – Running is Good
Murphy McLachlan Tries Everything
Dr Brown and Sam Simmons – Ceremony
Patriarchy – Where Would We Be Without You?
Absinthe
Casey Talbot – A Case Study
Trillcumber – Is This Intimacy?
Roland Hoffman – Swings & Roundabouts and Other Places I’ve Rested My Head
Dr Pam Rama & Tom Lang – Meatbags
Double Date
Blake Freeman & Luka Muller – Double Dippers
DAYTIME: When the weekend rolls around, the festival doesn’t just run once it goes dark – it runs in the daytime too. Amongst the early treats:
Ali McGregor’s early show, CabHOORAY! 11am at the Spiegeltent at the Arts Centre.
The Exford Hotel hosts three afternoon shows. Ashes: The Comedy Showdown at 1.30pm. The Best of British 3.30pm and Full of It: The True or False Game Show at 5pm.
Michael Chamberlin lets you know his Thoughts. 4pm, Imperial Hotel.
Also at 4pm, variety show Love Bites takes place at the Downstairs Lounge at the Grand Mercure Hotel
Love Your Work: Aussie Comedy Shorts, a collection of films is on at 4pm every Saturday for the next three weeks at ACMI.
Terry North’s Who’s Your Daddy?: The Funny Side of Parenthood has an extra edition. 4.30pm at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow.
It’s a Battle of The Superheroes: The Great Superhero Debate, 5pm at the Joint.
Rod Quantock & Fiona Scott-Norman reveal Drivetime with Two Leggy Redheads. 5.30pm at the Famous Spiegeltent
Celia Pacquola’s show Let Me Know How It All Works Out happens 5.30pm at the Victoria Hotel.
And choose between Damian Callinan – The Lost WWI Diary or Steen Raskopoulos – Character Assassin, 5.45pm at the Town Hall.
FAMILY: Plenty of family comedy happening all day as well.
The (very) Big Laugh Out hosts three editions today. At the City Square Pitch it’s Kano Mami at 11.30am, and Mr Moriyasu at 12.30pm. Then at 2.30pm over at Federation Square, the showcase show features Peter & Bambi Heaven, Jessica Arpin, Kano Mami , Mr Moriyasu and Dr. Brown and his Singing Tiger.
At 10.30am, Sabrina D’Angelo’s show Zen the Pigeon Girl takes off from the Northcote Town Hall
At 11am, Madeleine Culp and Shane Matheson show us some Dinosaur Guts. Melbourne Town Hall. Also at the Town Hall: Harley Breen and Heath Franklin in Captain Fun Pants and the Mystery of the Fun-o-Matic Fun Wand and Trash Test Dummies.
Over at the Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne, Dr Brown and his Singing Tiger do it all again at 11am.
At 12.15pm at the Town Hall, choose between Impromptunes: Tune Your Own Adventure, Jon Bennett’s family edition of It’s Rabbit Night!!!, or Showko with Ninja Ken & Sushi Monster.
At 12.30pm, Comedy Club for Kids returns to The Spiegeltent at the Melbourne Arts Centre. At the Town Hall, The Walls of Poetica.
Improvilicious: The Improvised Guide to High School holds court at the Melbourne Town Hall from 1.30pm. Also at 1.30pm – Josh Earl in My Family’s Weirder Than Your Family.
Martz Putz in Putzin Around comes to Dockland’s Wonderland Spiegeltent. 1.30pm and 3.30pm.
At 2pm choose between Alex and Luke’s Make Your Parents Disappear at The Famous Spiegeltent or Mr Snot Bottom and The Curse Of The Stinky Silly Zombie Babies at the Melbourne Town Hall.
At 3.15pm, Huggers: The Family Friendly Comedy Show is on at Pleasance House.
And ONGALS present their Babbling Comedy, 7pm at The Famous Spiegeltent.
PODCASTS: Happy podcast day everyone! A whole heap of shows record live episodes today:
Sports-talk podcast You Beauty! turns in a live episode with special guests Danny McGinlay, Karl Chandler and Dave Anthony. 1pm at the Imperial.
Next at the Imperial is a live episode of the The Shelf Podcast. That one is at 3pm.
I Love Green Guide Letters has a huge episode planned with guests Lawrence Mooney, Fiona O’Loughlin, and Greg Fleet, 4pm at the Athenaeum Theatre.
International guest Jen Kirkman records a live episode of I Seem Fun, 5.30pm at the Cloak Room at the Town Hall.
And the return of Charlie Clausen and Wil Anderson’s podcast TOFOP is on tonight, 11.15pm at the Town Hall but that one is currently sold out.
INTERACTIVE: If you want to be part of the festival, Clench’s show Be A Bumlady offers an opportunity to perform. 2pm today at Local Birds on Little Collins St.
SATURDAY SPECIALS: A number of special events are going for a Saturday at the fest:
Hannah Gadsby’s super popular series of art lectures is back today. Picasso and Other Problems looks at the works of Pablo Picasso and how it led modern art. 4.30pm at the National Art Gallery.
Radio station Nova holds another edition of their ROFL Room. Tom Ballard will host Cal Wilson, Tommy Little, Karl Chandler, Matt Stewart, and Matt Ford. 5pm at Trades Hall, entry is available via the Nova website.
Meshel Laurie Talks Funny. 5.30pm at the Town Hall.
Comedy-dining experience A Dinner to Die For takes place 7.15pm at the Retreat Hotel.
Squeaky Clean Comedy holds their own clean comedy gala 7.30 at the Melbourne City Conference Centre.
And Heath Franklin brings back Chopper for Repeat Offender. 8.30pm at the Yarraville Club.
EXTRA SHOWS: Extra shows have been added due to popular demand:
Ronny Chieng has added two extra editions of You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About. Saturday April 18 at 6pm, and Sunday April 19 at 4.30pm. Both of those at the Melbourne Town Hall.
Nazeem Hussain’s Legally Brown has an extra Saturday April 18, 9.15pm at the Melbourne Town Hall.
Denise Scott adds a late edition on Sunday April 12. 8.15pm at Hamer Hall.
Jason Byrne has a late night edition of 20 Years A Clown, 11pm on Saturday April 18 at the Forum.
The Doug Anthony All Stars have added a show Thursday, April 9, 8.30pm at the Yarraville Club.
HOT TICKETS: Hot tickets today at the festival:
Nazeem Hussain – Legally Brown
Ronny Chieng – You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About
Ruby Wax – Sane New World
Joel Creasey – The Hurricane
Fiona O’Loughlin – The One Where She Left Her Husband and Moved to Melbourne!
Celia Pacquola – Let Me Know How It All Works Out
TOFOP
LATE NIGHT: In late night news Jameson Festival Club party this Saturday night with Comedy Bonanza. MC Dave Thornton will be joined by Karl Chandler, Chris Taylor & Andrew Hansen, Xavier Michelides, Luisa Omielan, and ONGALS. Hang back after the comedy for the Lip Sync Battle, featuring Susie Youssef, Steen Raskopoulos, Nikki Britton and other comedians fake singing your faves. 11:15 at the Hi-Fi Bar.
A whole host of other late night shows take place tonight, including:
Angus Brown & Demi Lardner – Best Good Show
Angus Hodge – Slow Death of the Spirit Animal
Ben Russell – The Tokyo Hotel
Dr Brown & Sam Simmons – Ceremony
Bear Attack
FNC
The After Party
The Fancy Boy Variety Show
Gamze Kirik, Ruben Francis & Sahil Saluja – The Late Night Show
Hayley Brennan – Date Night
Nick Capper – Capper
Sean Michaels, Ruvan Govender, Kyle Legacy, Sam Kissajukian – Comedy Roadshow
Facty Fact: Sleepover Club
Eddie Sharp – Magnum Opus
Thomas Jaspers – Always The Bridesmade
Joshua Ladgrove Talks at You for 52 Minutes in Exchange for Some of Your Money
Heckle!
After Hours: Late Night Laughs at Society
Capital Punishment
Ali McGregor’s Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night
Late Night, Every Night
Sinful Stories
Late Night Impro – The Bingo Board of Doom
Greg Fleet – Ad Lib-Oration
Lee Naimo – Finding Lee
The Comedy Confessional
Mark Watson’s Comedywealth Games
REMINDER: Don’t forget, daylight savings ends tonight. You have an extra hour to party at Festival Club – or getting some shuteye as of Sunday.
