Five big names from the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival are coming to Thornbury Theatre next Friday for the Comedy Fest's Neighbourhood Sessions.
The first show that’s set to kick off the entire Comedy Festival Neighbourhood Sessions program in 2022 is happening in Thornbury at the Thornbury Theatre on Friday March 18 and it’s going to be a cracker.
MC Ivan Aristeguieta (Venezuela), Anna Piper Scott, Takashi Wakasugi (Japan), Andrew Hansen and Prue Blake are all taking to the mic in the first of the series, which aims to bring high-quality stand ups out of the city and into the suburbs.
Keep up with Melbourne’s latest comedy news, reviews and interviews here.
A familiar name to Australians, Andrew Hansen is the famed musical member of The Chaser’s War on Everything, while community engagement consultant Prue Blake was the winner of RAW Comedy 2021, describing community engagement as just like stand up, “except that everyone always yells at you, they’re really angry, and you never get laughs.”
Aristeguieta has been a perennial figure on the Comedy All Stars shows for the past few years, a Venezuelan who emigrated to Australia a decade ago, he delights audiences with a high-octane style that riffs on Australian culture from a foreigner’s perspective. Similar story for Takashi Wakasugi: “I love doing English comedy in Australia, because it was really tough doing English comedy in Japan.”
After Thornbury, the Neighbourhood Sessions series will venture to Bunjil Place in Narre Warren on Saturday 19 March, where the lineup will shift to two-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Carl Donnelly (UK), and feature Kirsty Webeck, Takashi Wakasugi, Emma Holland (as seen on Have You Been Paying Attention?) and rising star Dahn Rozario.
All shows go for a quality two-hours of cackling with a 20 minute interval, you can check out the rest of the shows and lineups here.
Future Neighbourhood Sessions gigs
Bunjil Place, Narre Warren
- Sat 19 Mar 7:30pm
- Carl Donnelly (UK), Kirsty Webeck, Takashi Wakasugi, Emma Holland, Dahn Rozario
Wyndham Cultural Centre, Werribee
- Fri 25 Mar 7.30pm
- Featuring: MC Sami Shah, Jude Perl, Josh Glanc, Carl Donnelly (UK), He Huang (China)
Footscray Community Arts
- Fri 1 Apr 8pm
- Featuring: MC Harley Breen, Sami Shah, David Quirk, Floyd Alexander-Hunt, He Huang (China)
Kingston Arts, Moorabbin
- Sat 2 Apr 8pm
- Featuring: MC Harley Breen, Kirsty Webeck, David Quirk, Dane Simpson, Lauren Bonner
Darebin Arts Centre, Preston
- Sun 3 Apr 5pm
- Featuring: MC Carl Donnelly (UK), Luke Heggie, Michelle Brasier, Dane Simpson, He Huang (China)
Town Hall Broadmeadows
- Fri 8 Apr 8pm
- Featuring: MC Harley Breen, Sami Shah, Chris Ryan, Jude Perl, Dahn Rozario
For all the deets, head to their Neighbourhood Sessions page on the MICF website here, or you can buy tickets to the Thornbury event now by heading to Oztix.
