Melbourne International Comedy Festival acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands upon which we work and live. We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' spirit, imagination and rich history of storytelling and humour that is an inspiration to all Australians.

We accept the invitation to walk together with First Nations people towards a more positive future for Australia, as described in the Uluru Statement From The Heart.

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Congratulations to our Festival Director Susan Provan AO!

We’re delighted to congratulate and celebrate with our Festival Director Susan Provan AO, honoured with appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia at Monday 11 June 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

The Order of Australia recognises those who have made outstanding contributions that benefit their communities and our country. Susan was recognised for distinguished service to arts administration through festival leadership and governance, to the tourism sector in Victoria, and to the promotion of Australian comedy.

From its humble beginnings in 1987 with 56 shows across 33 venues, today the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has become one of the most loved events on Australia’s cultural calendar and one of the biggest comedy festivals in the world. The 2018 Festival showcased the work of over 2,500 artists in almost 600 shows, bringing laugher to more than 760,000 live audiences and millions more tuning into the Festival broadcast specials on tv, radio and online.

More than an (almost) four-week Festival, under Susan’s leadership the Festival has proudly delivered nationally renowned development programs to support a flourishing comedy industry that have paved the careers of many Australian performers turned international comedy stars including; RAW Comedy (Australia’s largest and most popular open mic competition), Class Clowns (workshops and comedy competition for teens) and Deadly Funny (developing and showcasing Indigenous comedy). The Festival’s annual three-month Roadshow tours around 40 comedians annually to 80 destination across Australia and into Asia.

The Queen’s Birthday honours list included a record number of distinguished Australian women and also honoured others for their services to the arts and entertainment industry, including Tom Gleisner and film editor Jill Bilcock (Muriel's Wedding and The Dressmaker).

We send a warm congratulations to everyone honoured (full list here).