Today on the show, Mike Brown has a chat with Sydney stand-up Michael Hing about having your wallet stolen at gigs, learning lessons from previous festivals, and whether white people should be afraid of seeing his show. See Michael tonight in Occupy White People, 7.15pm Tuesday through Saturday at the Portland Hotel, 6.15pm Sundays. Get your tickets from Ticketmaster.
Also mentioned: Stand-up goes artistic at Picture This! See the show at the Tuxedo Cat tonight at midnight, tomorrow night at 11pm, and returns to 8:30 from Monday April 15th through the 20th, no shows Wednesday. Tickets through TryBooking and at the venue.
Today’s MICF Daily News:
SPECIAL EVENTS: Three big special events take place this Saturday. First off at 2pm, it’s the Doug Anthony All Stars reunion at the Town Hall. Paul McDermott, Richard Fidler and Tim Ferguson – the men who built the legend will reunite to launch their new DVD DAAS Capital. Get your tickets at Ticketmaster. At 4pm, comedy returns to the Wheeler Centre at the State Library with Web Comedy: The New Joke? The panel discussion will be ran by Todd Abbott with guests Alex Williamson, Sam Kinken, and previous MICF Daily guests Tommy Dassalo and Jennifer Wong. The event is free, but bookings are recommended – book at wheeler centre dot com. And at late night comedy slot of 11.15pm, a special sneak preview screening of Greg Fleet‘s stand-up TV pilot – Die On Your Feet will take place at the RMIT Capitol Theatre. Entry is free, register by e-mailing [email protected].
LAST CHANCE: Several shows are finishing up this weekend. Amongst the big names finishing this weekend: Tracy Morgan – Excuse My French, Tripod in Men of Substance, Dixie Longate‘s My Bags Went Where?, Nina Conti‘s Dolly Mixtures, and Pictures of You Live: The Comedians.
EXTRA SHOWS: A few extra shows have been announced for this weekend. A early bonus performance of Judith Lucy and Denise Scott in The Spiral happens at 5.15pm today at the Princess Theatre. Aamer Rahmen will perform extra editions of his new hour tonight at 6pm. Matt Okine has managed to sell out all his remaining shows, so he has added an extra show tonight at 11pm. Tommy Little adds two late shows tonight and tomorrow at 6pm. And Tracy Morgan wraps things up with a late night Sunday show, 10pm at the Arts Centre. A full list of events finishing up this weekend is located on the festival website.
PODCASTS: Three podcasts tape live episodes today. I Love Green Guide Letters with special guests Charlie Pickering, Ronnie Chieng, and ABC radio host Libby Gorr, 4.15pm today at the Town Hall. Open Mic Life, the Melbourne comedy podcast features yesterday’s MICF Daily guest Stuart Goldsmith, Dave Fairclough, and Craig McLeod. The taping starts from 5.30pm at the Sahara Restaurant & Bar on Swanston St. And one podcast has it’s festival finale recording today – Doctor Who celebration Splendid Chaps hits record with a late night edition at 10.45pm at the Trades Hall.
WALKING TOURS: Is 2013 the year of the comedy walking tour? A crazy five walking tours take place today at the festival. Rod Quantock gets the tours going at 11am and 1pm today with his Fourth Annual Mystery Comedy Walking Tour – meet under the Portico at the Melbourne Town Hall. Tickets are on sale for the event from Ticketmaster – no tickets will be sold at the Meeting Point. But if you want to review the year 2013 (despite it only being April), Xavier Toby and Micah D Higbed lead their walking tour 2013 – When We Were Idiots at 2pm and 6pm. Meet at the Bourke & Willis Statue in the City, tickets from TryBooking and by the statue. And Ged and Jamie get the laughs going on This is History… Melbourne: A Walking Tour – Involving Walking… A Questionable History of The History of Melbourne. The tour departs 7.30pm, from the Exford Hotel, get your tickets from the venue.
KIDS COMEDY: Want to take the kids to experience the comedy festival? The (Very) Big Laugh Out is on today, and better yet it’s totally free. Today at the City Square, Pedro Tochas feature at 11.30am, with Hacki and Mappi out in the elements at 12.30pm. Then at 2pm, a mini-gala of family comedy takes place at Federation Square, featuring Lords of Strut, Pedro Tochas, Hilby, and Hacki and Mappi. Other family shows on today include The Man Who Planted Trees, Candy B & Busty Beats, and the Comedy Club for Kids. For a full list of all family friendly comedy on today at the fest, check out the Comedy Festival website.
Can’t get to the Comedy Festival today? Make sure to turn on the TV as the festival comes to you. Tonight, the 2013 Melbourne Comedy Festival All Stars Supershow will air on Network Ten. Hosted by Tom Gleeson, the special will feature acts such as Sammy J, Pete Holmes, Mike Birbiglia, and Ali McGregor. See it on Ten from 8.30pm. Then at 10.33pm, flick it on to ABC2 for the final episode of Comedy Up Late. Recorded live at The Hi-Fi Bar just last week, episode seven will feature Simon Munnery, Kevin Kropinyeri, Trevor Noah, and Geraldine Quinn. Previous episodes of Comedy Up Late can be watched on ABC’s catch-up service – iView.
DAYTIME SPECIALS: Saturday contains plenty more daytime specials, so skip the footy and head out to the festival. For those early risers, a Comedy Op Shop tour starts at 9.30am today. Meet at the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, tickets from TryBooking. Daniel Kitson presents his sold out Work in Progress, 11am at the Tuxedo Cat. Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience returns to The Aegean Restaurant at 1pm. Australian and English comics go to war at Ashes: The Comedy Showdown, 1.30pm today at the Exford. Matthew Grant presents his art installation and character piece Me, Me, Me and Me. 2pm at Kado in Richmond. Huggers, the family friendly comedy and cabaret showcase takes place 3pm at the Red Violin. The Best of British showcase, 3.30pm at the Exford. And wrapping things up at 5.30pm today, FanFiction Comedy returns to the Victoria Hotel with special guests Cal Wilson and David O’Doherty.
LATE NIGHT: Festival Club had another Comedy Bonanza tonight at the Hi-Fi Bar. MC Joel Creasey will be joined by Genevieve Fricker, Gordon Southern, Paul Foot, Daniel Townes and James Adomian. Once the comedy is done, the 2013 award nominations will be announced, plus music from DJ Rainbow Connection. The show starts at 11.30pm, tickets at the door.
But if you want to get the dancing going earlier, get yourselves down to Trades Hall for Hang the DJ. The show, put together Andrew McClelland and Kieran ‘K-dogg’ O’Sullivan take you behind the decks for a view from the sober side of the dance floor. Following the laughs, a spontaneous dance party breaks out featuring your favourite pop and indie hits. Hit the decks from 11pm tonight, tickets at Ticketmaster.
Other late night shows include Facty Fact, Picture This!, Capital Punishment, Shaggers, Ali McGregor‘s Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night, Stand-Up Sit-Down: Comics in Conversation, The New Conway Tonight Show, and The After Party. Check out the MICF website for the full listings of all of tonight’s shows.
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