Stuart Daulman

This Is Your Comedy Life marks a major milestone for Melbourne favourite Stuart Daulman – 20 consecutive years performing at Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Two full decades of characters, chaos, storytelling and the kind of beautifully strange humour that only Stuart can deliver. This brand-new 2026 show is both a celebration and a reckoning –  a look back, a leap forward and a loving tribute to the city and Festival that shaped him.

Across 20 years, Stuart has created a small universe of oddballs, eccentrics, fragile men, confident idiots and deeply committed characters that live somewhere between theatre, sketch and stand-up. In This Is Your Comedy Life, he opens the doors to that universe with a warm sense of reflection and a knowing wink. Expect old favourites, new creations and a few surprises pulled from the vault. It’s part retrospective, part fresh hour, part fever dream.

But this isn’t a 'best of' show – it’s a show about why someone keeps coming back. About what it means to grow older inside a festival that has watched you grow up. About the gigs that soared, the gigs that cooked themselves alive and the strange, heartfelt moments in between. Stuart explores the highs, lows, left turns and late-night $5 pint-fuelled revelations that come with dedicating 20 years to comedy in Melbourne.

With his signature blend of theatricality, warmth, absurdity and impeccable timing, Stuart Daulman guides the audience through slices of his comedy life: the moments on stage, backstage, off stage and other stages (lol). It’s nostalgic without being sentimental, silly without being shallow and full of genuine love for the Festival, the craft and the community that has kept him going.

Stuart Daulman, This Is Your Comedy Life is a celebration. A thank-you. And a brand-new chapter. Not to be missed.