2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival - first shows now on sale

Friday 1 December, 2023

DON’T MISS THE BEST INTERNATIONAL & LOCAL COMEDIANS IN 2024!

The 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival will take over the streets, venues and bars of Melbourne from 27 March to 21 April 2024. The first round of shows have been announced with many tickets now on sale – and lots more still to come.

Riding on the success of the 2023 Festival – which had the highest ticket sales ever and a record-breaking box office – the 2024 Festival is already set to be bigger and better.

The first International comedians announced for 2024 include:
Atsuko Okatsuka (USA) who made Variety's "Top 10 Comics to Watch" last year; straight from an Australian tour supporting Kevin Bridges comes Carl Donnelly (UK); gracing us with his musical interludes and dry wit – David O’Doherty (IRE); Scotland’s queen of comedy Fern Brady; award-winning comedian, writer and actor Larry Dean (SCO); stars on the rise from Europe include Chloe Petts (UK), Rob Auton (UK) and Estonian clown and Edinburgh Comedy Award Best show nominee Julia Masli.

Joining them is one of the “50 funniest comedians of the 21st century” according to The Telegraph, Mexican-American-Venezuelan stand-up Lara Ricote, who returns to Melbourne for her second year. The much-loved hit of 2023, Comedy Zone Asia returns with a fresh new cast of comedic voices from the Asian region. The Festival also welcomes back award-winning comedian John Hastings (CAN) ­– fresh from a near sell out Edinburgh run touching down in Australia with a brand-new hour, along with the 2023 Director’s Choice Award Winner Takashi Wakasugi (JPN), a line-up of the next big thing comedians from the Edinburgh Fringe in Best of the Edinburgh Fest, and Hong Kong’s Vivek Mahbubani – with his 100% Cantonese stand-up. Everyone’s favourite Malaysian comedian Dr Jason Leong will also be back with another dose of laughter, after the success of his second Netflix special, along with Australian fav (and adopted local) Arj Barker (USA) and Lloyd Langford (UK).

Plus, there’s the New Zealand invasion with the likes of Chris Parker, Guy Montgomery, Guy Williams, Melanie Bracewell, Ray O’Leary and Urzila Carlson all descending on the cultural comedy capital from next March.

Local acts announced include: Aaron Chen, Aboriginal Comedy Allstars, Anne Edmonds, Akmal, Bron Lewis, Bronwyn Kuss, Cameron James, Celia Pacquola, Claire Hooper, Damien Power, Dane Simpson, Daniel Connell, Dave Thornton, Dave Hughes, Emma Holland, Ivan Aristeguieta, Jenny Tian, Jimeoin, Joel Creasey, Josh Thomas, Kirsty Webeck, Lizzy Hoo, Luke Heggie, Mel Buttle, Nath Valvo, Nazeem Hussain, Nina Oyama, Rhys Nicholson, Tom Ballard, Tom Gleeson, Tommy Little, Wil Anderson, Zoë Coombs Marr – and that’s just the beginning. More acts will be announced in the coming months. 

There’s plenty of dates to fill up the diary, with the Festival’s flagship special events returning for another year. The Gala, proudly supporting Oxfam, will kick off 2024 with a showcase of the Festival’s brightest stars at Melbourne’s iconic Palais Theatre. Then one week later, the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow will officially launch the Festival with a star-studded line-up featuring comedy royalty from around the globe. Two of the Festival’s most popular events are back in 2024, The 34th Annual Great Debate (always a sell out) and Upfront, a night of stereotype-smashing comedy as the funniest and boldest female and non-binary artists take to the stage.

Other main events on the comedy calendar again include: Festival Club with an intoxicating mix of the best stand-up, cabaret, burlesque, lip sync, drag kings and queens; school holiday fun at Comedy Club for Kids; plus, the discovery of the next big things at the RAW Comedy, Deadly Funny and Class Clowns National Grand Finals. The Festival’s Neighbourhood Sessions will also venture back to the ‘burbs for a fourth year, with a carefully curated mix of familiar and fresh faces.

Comedy fans can get in early with tickets to a number of artists and events now on sale, with more shows added weekly. And if you know someone who loves a laugh there’s no better Christmas gift than laughter – buy a Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gift Voucher!

To be the first to know all the comedy news, on sales and announcements sign up to the Festival's eNews here – see you for a laugh in 2024!