The MICF Outta Town Tour features a taste of what’s to come at the nation's biggest comedy festival later this year.
There’s an overwhelming amount of stand-up comedy coming to Melbourne this year, and lucky for us and our stomach muscles here in regional Victoria, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is delivering us a comic canon with a sneak peek at the festival’s best.
Set to deliver the most refreshing and belly-achingly funny acts from Australia’s largest comedy festival, MICF is hitting the road ahead of the official festival to bring a whole bunch of comedy to regional towns with ‘Melbourne International Comedy Festival Outta Town’.
Check out Melbourne’s latest stage shows, stand-up comedy and theatrical events here.
The Outta Town shows will take place in Geelong, Mildura, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Hamilton, Portland, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Wodonga, gifting comedy fans a sneak peek of what’s to come before the festival officially kicks off on 30 March in Melbourne.
Kicking off on Friday 11 February and running through March, the series of comedy weekends will showcase local favourites including, Lizzy Hoo, Nath Valvo, Geraldine Hickey, Lano & Woodley, Lewis Garnham, Claire Hooper, Luka Muller, Danielle Walker, Rhys Nicholson, Lloyd Langford, Peter Jones, Dilruk Jayasinha and more.
The new initiative aims to bring more comedy to a wider audience and expand into a broad range of venues, boosting regional tourism, providing more shows and greater access for audiences in rural areas.
Already the touring festival has hit up Geelong and Warrnambool, with some seriously huge and hilarious shows coming up in our region, including Ballarat, Hamilton and Bendigo.
To get the ball rolling and the belly’s aching, the comedy extravaganza has an epic night planned for the people of Ballarat this weekend, on Saturday, February 26 with an incredibly funny live show featuring Dilruk Jayasinha, Daniel Connell and Alex Ward. Kicking off at 8pm at the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, the show will run for two hours and deliver a hilarious sample of these brilliant comedians from the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
From antelope meat in the ‘I’m a Celeb’ jungle to fine dining cooking in the MasterChef kitchen, Dilruk Jayasinha has tasted the full spectrum of reality TV cuisine. He returns to where he does his best work – the stage – and has cooked up a brand-new set of delicious stand-up. With the innate ability to make even the worst of the worst worth a hearty laugh, Dil will gift Ballarat audience some hilarious snippets from his new show, Dil’icious. Prepare to tuck into a serving of comedy from one of the most in-demand live performers in Australia.
Dilruk will be joined by award-nominated stand-up comedian Daniel Connell (as seen on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala and Kinne Tonight) with bits from his new show Gutless Wonder alongside Alex Ward, a regular guest on Have You Been Paying Attention? by night and a writer for The Project by day.
Deserving of your time and laughs, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Outta Town tour then heads to Hamilton Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, March 3. Kicking off from 7:30pm, comedy fans are in for a treat with three very special performers.
Nominee of the Best Newcomer at 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and as heard on triple j, ABC Radio and Triple M., Lewis Garnham will take to the stage to deliver the laughs.
During the last two years, for reasons we’re all painfully aware of, this hilarious comic has had too much time to think, taking his brain to strange places and thus inspiring his new show ‘Too Much Time To Think’. Fans in Hamilton will be privy to the best bits of this brand-new show, alongside the esteemed Claire Hooper who is bringing a slice of her freshly brewed show to Melbourne International Comedy Festival Outta Town tour. A born storyteller with a sharp wit, when she isn’t busy eating cake on The Great Australian Bake Off, she’s bringing the roof down at comedy clubs and festivals across the country.
These comics will also be joined by the awe-inspiring Rhys Nicholson, who will deliver a nice little comedy show with your ol’ pal with ‘Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!’.
The great regional city of Bendigo will also get in on the MICF action when the Outta Town tour takes over the beautiful Bendigo Capital Theatre on Thursday, March 10.
Gifting comedy fans a weekend getaway with added laughs from Australia’s funniest, Melbourne comedian Luka Muller will deliver jokes about myself, the world and the guy that ate an aeroplane; alongside 2016 RAW Comedy National Champion Danielle Walker and Aussie favourite Nath Valvo, who will bring his hilariously physical, high-energy comedy to Bendigo fans. Described as an absolute ‘crack-up’ in true Aussie lingo style, Valvo has won a number of awards for his show and was the runaway hit of the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2018, adding 5 extra dates to meet demand. You also may have seen Nath on popular television programs The Project, ABC’s Breaky Show and ABC’s Comedy Up Late.
If all that isn’t enough, you can also get amongst the action in Portland on March 4, Wangaratta on March 11 and Wodonga on March 12.
Whether they’re stopping by your town, or you’re looking for a cheeky weekend away, the MICF has got your entertainment sorted.
You can purchase tickets to see MICF’s best in a regional town nearby here.
