Comedy in a broom cupboard
BECAUSE THE FESTIVAL is open access to Australian and NZ performers – meaning any local who can front up the $375 registration fee and find a venue gets into the festival – it can be hugely competitive. This year there are 616 shows at the festival, a significant step up from the 56 in the inaugural program in 1987. But the Comedy Festival, headed by longstanding director Susan Provan, is very happy to say no to international acts who won’t add to a diverse and vibrant program. Especially if they’ll be competing with locals like Tanjutco. “We don’t think there’s much point in a huge number of twentysomething, young, emerging stand-ups from the UK who don’t have a great deal that differentiates them from artists of the same level in Australia,” Provan says.
This year, the international program includes regular favourites like Arj Barker, Ross Noble, Stephen K Amos and Urzila Carlson. There are also less frequent visitors: UK comic Simon Amstell, Netflix’s Maria Bamford and Trump-roaster extraordinaire Michelle Wolf. But while those acts are in conventional theatres, those without a massive public profile can often find themselves in unexpected rooms. “One of my favourite things to do is find a broom cupboard and turn it into a venue,” Provan says. Such as at Melbourne Town Hall, the festival’s home since 1996, where every available room becomes a venue. One of Provan’s picks from the international program – the littleknown Sarah Keyworth, a nominee for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards – is per forming in the Town Hall’s cloak room.
Sarah Keyworth: Dark Horse
Melbourne Town Hall, 90-130 Swanston St, Melbourne 3000. comedyfestival.com.au. $26-$33. Mar 28-Apr 21.
Simon Amstell: What Is This?
Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. comedyfestival.com.au. $31-$39. Apr 9-21.