From the Gala to the Allstars Supershow, these are the must-attend special events at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2024.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- March 27 – April 21
- Venues across Melbourne
- Tickets here
Explore Melbourne’s latest arts and stage news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival: The best shows to see in 2024
The Gala
Hosted by Aussie comedy legend Lizzy Hoo, the renowned festival Gala is a night of nothing but the brightest stars in comedy, all coming together to support Oxfam’s mission in tackling global poverty. The perfect combination of doing good and feeling good, the Gala is an event in the festival calendar not to be missed.
Palais Theatre St Kilda, 20 MARCH
Comedy Bites
Broadcasted live on the airwaves and hosted by ABC Radio Melbourne’s David Astle and Alice Zaslavsky, Comedy Bites will be featuring bite-sized chunks of some of the festival’s best local and international performers. A great way to try-before-you-buy this comedy festival season.
The Capitol, 26 MARCH
Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow
Comedy Festival: Lizzy Hoo to host The Gala, Guy Montgomery to host Allstars Supershow
To kick-start the funny festivities is a night of comedy legends and soon-to-be legendary comedians. With all the stars of comedy royalty all in one place, this Opening Night event is the perfect way to begin the festival.
Palais Theatre St Kilda, 27 MARCH
Class Clowns National Grand Final
The finalists for the National Class Clown competition are coming together from all over the country to prove that they have what it takes to be Australia’s funniest high schooler. These teenage comedians will also be joined by a special line-up of guest appearances of festival favourites.
Melbourne Town Hall Supper Room, 28 MARCH
The Festival Club
The first rule of Festival Club is please talk about Festival Club. This is an event it’ll be hard to shut up about, with an array of interchanging themed nights to showcase some of the best new comedians and comedy legends taking the stage to keep you up late laughing.
Max Watt’s, 28 MARCH-20 APRIL
Comedy Zone
Full to the brim of the country’s rising stars of the comedy scene, Comedy Zone will be presenting up and comers on the circuit Frankie Rowsthorn (WA), Henry Yan (VIC), Meg Jäger (QLD), Rapha Manajem (VIC) and William Wang (VIC).
Trades Hall Common Rooms, 28 MARCH-21 APRIL
The 34th Annual Great Debate
The festival’s famous Annual Great Debate is returning with a truckload of laughs, comic timing, and maybe just a little bit of critical argument. In two teams of three, comedy heavyweights will go up against each other in this epic fight for the best laughs, with perhaps some intelligible debating on the side.
Melbourne Town Hall Main Hall, 7 APRIL
Upfront
To showcase some of the best female and non-binary artists in the comedy scene, Upfront will be a night of spotlighting those that are trailblazing in an industry they’re changing from the inside. A mix of both big names and new names, this is the event to catch all the boldest comedians all in one place.
Melbourne Town Hall Main Hall, 8 APRIL
Raw Comedy National Grand Final
RAW Comedy: You can see the future stars of Australian comedy before they’re famous next month
Australia’s largest and most prestigious open mic competition, the past finalists of the RAW Comedy competition have gone on to make no small waves in the nation’s comedy circuit (Hannah Gadsby, Aaron Chen and Rhys Nicholson are just a few of the competition’s alumni). RAW Comedy is one of the best ways to discover the best new thing in Australian comedy.
Melbourne Town Hall Main Hall, 14 APRIL
Deadly Funny National Grand Final
Hosted by Andy Saunders, the finalists of this festival season’s Deadly Funny competition will be competing to unveil the funniest comedians and yarn-spinners from the oldest culture on earth. Joined by special guests performers, this will be a night of nothing but deadly funny laughs.
Arts Centre Melbourne, 15 APRIL
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
