ABC is thrilled to be partnering with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) once again, in a shared commitment to showcase the best comedy creators from Australia and around the world.
Whether it’s from the comfort of your living room or on a packed peak-hour train, the MICF and ABC partnership brings side-splitting comedy to audiences across Australia.
Featuring a star-studded line-up of ABC favourites, Festival highlights include Charlie Pickering, Celia Pacquola, Kitty Flanagan, Becky Lucas, Sammy J, Susie Youssef, Tom Gleeson, Aunty Donna and many more Australian comedians, plus the very best international talent.
Lavish, loud and full of laughs, The Gala, hosted by Matt Okine, and the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow raise the curtain on ABC’s MICF programming. These two premiere nights of laughs showcase a stellar line up of the best comedians from across the globe, Festival legends, and the brightest new stars on the comedy circuit.
The Great Debate returns in 2018, this year moderated by the brilliant Magda Szubanski. Magda will do her very best to keep our feisty bunch of debaters in line as they try to sway the audience to their point of view. Upfront: The Queens of Comedy sees the fiercest and funniest ladies of comedy join forces to deliver a night of outstanding wit, charm and lip; and Comedy Up Late, hosted by Susie Youssef, brings the Festival’s breakthrough performers to a new national audience.
The laughs keep coming with ABC Radio Melbourne’s special comedy broadcasts. Join Lindy Burns and Sami Shah for live Festival preview show Comedy Bites, featuring 20 comics dishing up bite-size morsels of their shows. Jon Faine and guests will discuss What makes you laugh? during Conversation Hour with Jon Faine; and presenters Richelle Hunt and Brian Nankervis will host a special edition of The Friday Revue.
Exclusive to iview, Three Minutes with… is a 20-part series featuring a variety of comedians answering relevant – and some irrelevant – questions!
This month of non-stop laughter is available across all ABC broadcast and streaming platforms. From Wednesday 28 March to Saturday 22 April 2018.
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Full list of Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s 2018 programs:
ABC, ABC COMEDY and ABC iview
The Gala
Sunday 25 March at 8.30pm on ABC, ABC iview and simulcast on ABC COMEDY
Hosted by Matt Okine, The Gala is Australia’s premiere night of giggles and giving, showcasing a star-studded line-up of local and international comedians to raise funds for Oxfam.
Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow
Sunday 1 April at 8.30pm on ABC, ABC iview and simulcast on ABC COMEDY
This one-night-only mega-show features Festival legends, the brightest new stars and lots of sure-fire favourites.
The Great Debate (the 29th Annual Great Debate)
Saturday 14 April at 8.30pm on ABC COMEDY and ABC iview
The sharpest tools in the comedy shed will once again take to the stage for the ultimate competition of minds and mirth. Two teams of three competitive comedians will battle it out using laughs, logic and all manner of wily words to prove their team supreme. Moderated by Magda Szubanski.
Comedy Up Late
From Thursday 5 April at 10.10pm on ABC COMEDY and ABC iview
Shot at Max Watt’s, the home of the Festival Club, this hilarious 11-part series features some of the best breakthrough performers in the Festival strutting their stuff. This year’s host is Susie Youssef.
Upfront: The Queens of Comedy
Saturday 21 April at 8.30pm on ABC COMEDY and ABC iview
Comedy’s fiercest and funniest ladies join forces to deliver a formidable night that sees the most popular and irreverent comics on the scene shattering stereotypes and raising the roof with laughs.
Three Minutes With...
From Sunday March 25 exclusive to ABC iview
A variety of emerging and established comedians answer relevant and irrelevant questions.
ABC Radio Melbourne and ABC listen
Conversation Hour with Jon Faine
Wednesday 21 March at 11am AEDT
A prelude to the MICF, and to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week in partnership with the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Jon Faine and guests will discuss What makes you laugh? Held in front of a live audience in the Beckett Theatre at Malthouse Theatre, we ask the question “how is your sense of humour influenced by your cultural background?”
Comedy Bites
Tuesday 27 March from 8-10pm AEDT in VIC and TAS, 8-10pm ACST in NT and 9-11pm AWDT in WA
ABC Radio Melbourne’s annual Festival preview, Comedy Bites will be hosted by Evenings presenter, Lindy Burns, and Breakfast presenter, Sami Shah. Comedy Bites is a scrumptious selection of the funniest local and international artists from the 2018 Festival program, performing a bite-sized morsel of their show at the Comedy Theatre.
Brian Nankervis and Libbi Gorr will also chat to comedians performing at the Festival during a live one-hour backstage broadcast from 7-8pm AEDT.
The Friday Revue Comedy Edition
Friday 6 April at 2pm AEST
A special comedy focused edition of The Friday Revue hosted by Richelle Hunt and Brian Nankervis. Held in front of a live audience, this edition will feature music and cabaret acts.