2020 Stand Up! grant recipients announced

Stand Up! – Supporting a new generation of strong funny women serious about comedy

2020 GRANT RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

We are pleased to announce the three recipients of the 2020 Stand Up! grant are Aurelia St. Clair, Emma Holland and Jacqueline Mifsud.

Inspired by the great promise and ambition of Eurydice Dixon, and now in its second year, the Stand Up! grant is an Andrews Labor Government initiative. Designed to support the professional development and Melbourne International Comedy Festival seasons of a new generation of local women in comedy, the grant will enable the women to focus their energies on creating and presenting their new work and maximising the opportunity the Festival offers as an important, career-developing showcase.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley:

‘Congratulations to Aurelia, Emma and Jacqueline – three talented Victorian women poised to take the next big steps in their careers in comedy and our creative industries.’

‘Through the Stand Up! initiative, we’re proud to be helping them realise their ambitions, further develop their craft and build their audiences.’

‘We look forward to celebrating their achievements while remembering and honouring Eurydice Dixon.’

Quote attributable to Susan Provan AO, Festival Director Melbourne International Comedy Festival:

‘The 2020 Stand Up! grant recipients are outstanding representatives of the funny, clever generation of women emerging from our dynamic comedy scene right now. These are the voices that will be gathering fans across all media in the coming years and we can’t wait to celebrate their successes!’

The 2020 recipients:

This year’s recipients represent a broad range of experience: from a Melbourne Comedy Festival solo show first-timer, to a recent RAW Comedy and Comedy Zone alumna, as well as a more experienced performer who is looking to take the next big step in her career.

All three are regular faces on the Melbourne year-round comedy scene, as well as maintaining strong presence across many forms of media – from television to radio and online.

Aurelia St Clair

Aurelia St Clair is a German-Cameroonian-Melbournian comedian, radio host and meme creator.

She started doing stand-up at the RAW Comedy competition in 2017 where she reached the Victorian State finals. Since then she has performed in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne Fringe, Sydney Fringe Festival and Brisbane Funnyfest. She has worked as a correspondent and writer for Channel 31’s The Leak and currently co-hosts In Joke on Syn 90.7 FM.

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Emma Holland

After doing her first open mic in 2017, Emma Holland has since taken her absurd and dead-pan style to the Canberra and Melbourne International Comedy Festivals, as well as snagging the title of RAW Comedy Runner Up at the 2018 national final. She followed this up with an appearance at the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival as part of the cast of The Comedy Zone. Now based in Melbourne, Emma continues performing stand up and continues her search for the perfectly spherical cherry tomato (yet to be found).

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Jacqueline Mifsud

Jacqueline Mifsud is a Maltese-Australian award-winning comedian, actor and presenter. She’s been performing since high school, when she starred as Miss Hannigan in Aquinas College’s production of Annie. As well as being a Melbourne International Comedy Festival regular, she co-hosted The Wildcards for Tennis Australia throughout the 2018 Australian Open, and hosts Tuesday drive’s ‘Jacq and Dene’ on community Radio Station JOY94.9, Melbourne’s only LGBTIQA+ station.

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