The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is back and bigger than ever – featuring a diverse and dynamic mix of international superstars, beloved Australian comedians, and exciting emerging talent.
Running from 25 March to 19 April 2026, the Festival promises to be an unforgettable celebration of comedy. From stand-up and sketch to improv and musical comedy, line-up shows, special events, talks and laughter-filled nights out. With so much on, Australian Arts Review takes a look at sixteen shows worth checking out:
Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues
Trainscendence: 26 March – 19 April
Placing a side-splitting spotlight on the complex love-hate relationship of owning a Dyson vacuum cleaner, Katrina Mathers returns to Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her first show in 23 years: Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues. With direction by Roz Hammond, Anything But The Dyson is a series of clever and self-contained stories and reflections about midlife mayhem. Interwoven with other excellent monologues about slamming into your 50s, MICF audiences can expect a rollercoaster expose about the joys of sweating, swearing, dating, menopause meltdowns, cold-water triumphs, memory loss… and um, no…wait, I just had it, er, something else…
All Guts, No Glory!
Club Voltaire: 25 – 29 March
Artiste, Journalist and hot fucking mess- Jessi Ryan returns to Melbourne International Comedy Festival in All Guts, No Glory! An intensely physical performance that transcends the regular bout of stand up comics. Directed by the luminary and comedic Fiona Scott Norman, All Guts, No Glory! draws upon Ryan’s 20 year career as a dance and physical theatre artist. Set in the boxing ring, All Guts, No Glory! sees Ryan taking on the system one lethal upper cut at a time. Light on their feet, Ryan is ready to rumble in the red corner… Nothing and no one is off limits in this new knock out work.
A Succulent Chinese Musical?!
The MC Showroom: 25 – 29 March
Jack Karlson was a notorious crim: car thief, factory burglar and serial prison escapee, but he could never guess that for all his misdeeds, he’d become a world-famous meme for his verbose and theatrical 1991 arrest. This very serious theatre work tells Karlson’s life story, and shows us the pivotal moments in his life that (may have) inspired his great monologue. The musical numbers are 100% historically accurate. So get your hand off my p****, learn your judo well and ask yourself: what is the charge? Performing a musical? A Succulent Chinese Musical?!
Camp Culture
ACMI – Swinburne Studio: 11 & 12 April
A fun, fabulous circus adventure with laughs, flips and big camp energy. It’s all about being bold, proud and you! Can the Kumbayas, throw on Queen B and spark more than just the fire. This is your roll call for Camp Culture – an interactive circus show for campers of any age. This is no gammin summer camp. It’s serving up equal parts skill and sass. Hosted by seasoned and completely unqualified camp leader Dale Woodbridge-Brown, proud Kamilaroi man and circus artist from Mungindi. He can’t use a compass but will show that no matter where you come from, there’s always a way to earn your badge for being your most authentic self. From growing up as a Faboriginal kid from the bush to becoming one of Australia’s most prolific circus artists, Dale’s ability to use humour and heart to empower unrepresented voices will leave campers begging to stay just a little longer!
Circus Oz: Here, There and Everywhere!
Melbourne Town Hall: 8 – 18 April
Fresh from their holiday season on 42nd Street in New York City, Circus Oz returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a brand-new show, Here, There and Everywhere! Created and performed by Circus Oz’s multigenerational ensemble, Here, There and Everywhere! is bursting with big skills, sly jokes and sudden detours, powered by a raucous live band. The wonderfully silly cast ricochet between brilliance and nonsense, flinging themselves, and anything not nailed down, across the stage in a joyous explosion of acrobatics. The production is led by director and co-devisor Nicci Wilks, with an ensemble of talented performers and co-devisors including Sharon Gruenert, Leo Pentland, Angelique Ross, Hannah Richards, Spenser Inwood, Debra Batton and Mozes.
Damian Callinan: Spoons
Member’s Lounge – Arts Centre Melbourne: 26 March – 5 April
A thoughtful examination of what it’s like for those who suddenly realise they are part of the fading generation, Damian Callinan presents Spoons. Recently widowed, Stan Coates (84), has been told he needs to move into a senior living facility, but he’s not having it. Sharp as a tack, but prone to falls brought on by orthostatic hypotension, he’s taken to wearing a bike helmet and knee pads to obviate the dangers at home. He eventually agrees to the move, but when he learns that he can’t bring his wife’s souvenir teaspoon collection, the deal is off. When his grandson starts filming his hilarious and heart wrenching riffs on the spoons and his scathing reviews of the homes that he’s toured, the clips go viral, and Stan becomes an unlikely poster boy for elder’s rights and aged care reform. Mixing Damian’s precise and relatable characterisations with hilarious monologues and moments of profound pathos, Spoons is laced with sentimentality, black humour and championing of the underdog, you’ll find yourself cheering for Stan and his mates as they keep their dignity as they walk out the door.
Dolly Diamond & Skank Sinatra: The Performers
Grouse (Room 7): 7 – 19 April
Melbourne’s most fabulous double act, Dolly Diamond and Skank Sinatra, are teaming up for a cabaret catastrophe of epic proportions and it’s going to be the funniest musical comedy failure you’ve ever seen. The Performers follows down-on-their-luck cabaret producers Dolly Diamond and Skank Sinatra as they hatch a scheme to save themselves from unpaid Edinburgh Fringe tax bills by producing a sure fire flop. But when their “guaranteed disaster” turns out to be a surprise success, chaos, comedy and showtunes ensue. Expect dazzling costumes, razor-sharp banter, and musical parodies of Broadway’s biggest hits as these two cabaret icons do everything in their power not to succeed.
Eva Seymour: The Understudy
The Motley Wherehaus: 13 – 19 April
She knows all the lines. She’s memorised every cue. Now she waits for a call to tell her Amy has gastro. Exploring the anxiety-fuelled existence of the professional swing, The Understudy dives into the desperation, jealousy, and gratitude for the gig that fuels the perpetual waiting. But that waiting has consequences… When you put everything on hold, what do you have left? After years of experience as the person in the wings, Eva Seymour brings her silly, surreal and sometimes mortifying experiences to a fast-paced laugh out-loud one-woman catastrophe.
Gabbi Bolt: Small Poppy
Malthouse Theatre (Playbox): 26 March – 19 April
Gabbi Bolt returns to Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a world premiere of a new hour of comedy, music and original songs. Poppies are tricky. Nurture them too much and they wilt; ignore them and they thrive until they don’t. Harvest too early? Disaster. Grow too tall? Well, we all know what happens to tall poppies. Gabbi returns with an hour of razor sharp musical comedy dissecting success, failure, Ancient Rome and the quiet tragedy of novelty mugs.
Reuben Kaye: Hard to Swallow
Athenaeum Theatre: 7 – 19 April
Internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning cabaret icon Reuben Kaye is back. Sharper, sexier and more political than ever. Kaye returns to Melbourne with his signature blend of razor-sharp wit, high-octane vocals, and unapologetic social commentary – expect glitter, guts and the kind of biting comedy only Kaye can deliver. It’s been a busy time for Kaye, with sold-out festival runs, three consecutive years captivating Sydney Opera House audiences in Opera Up Late, and a national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, where his acclaimed turn as King Herod drew rave reviews. Known for being unapologetically loud, politically charged and fabulously queer, Kaye has taken the world by storm.
In Pour Taste: A Comedy Wine Tasting Experience
Morris House: 28 March – 19 April
In an experience that could only be described as goon bag in quantity, champagne in quality, comedians Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh will be joined by a wine expert as they guide you through five wines and at least five jokes. Fresh from a residency in Las Vegas, a New York season at the Off-Broadway SoHo Playhouse, a smash-hit month in Toronto, an extended, sell-out season at the Edinburgh Fringe and multiple Australia-wide tours, this masterclass in mischief is finally returning home to Melbourne. Everyone from worldly wine wankers to clueless chardonnay chuggers will find something to make their glass half full, as all the wine industry’s most hard-hitting questions are answered: How far should I extend my pinky when sipping? What the f%*k is a tannin? And who’s parked in the clearway out front, you’re about to be towed?
Joshy In Paris
The Motley Wherehaus (The Salon): 6 – 19 April
After lighting up stages on tour in Paris, London, Melbourne and Sydney, and recent knock-out runs at Perth Fringe and Adelaide Fringe, gay Australian comedian Joshua Hauville brings his outrageously camp, high-energy solo comedy show to Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026. Cabaret meets stand-up in an energetic, heartfelt, and unapologetically queer tale of life as an Aussie creative trying to “make it” in the piss-ridden streets of Paris filled with savage punchlines, sweaty dance breaks and ridiculous physical comedy. From battling French wankers to existential erections in a pilates class, Joshua spins comedy gold out of culture clashes, heartbreaks, and his misguided attempts at Parisian stardom. Although Paris attempts to smoke this f*g just like every other, Joshy discovers that it’s the person you become in the pursuit of your dreams that makes it all worth it. Additionally, Joshy will be debuting a French-language version of his show with French Fridays – each Friday of the run, the show will be 100% in French.
Little Miss Typecast
The Motley Wherehaus (The Candy Room): 23 – 29 March
Fresh from a critically acclaimed season at the Adelaide Fringe, Chloe Halley returns to Melbourne with her smash hit show Little Miss Typecast. Stuck playing the kid while her peers get to grow up, Chloe Halley is pint-sized, pigeonholed and politely losing it. Little Miss Typecast is a cheeky, sharp as a tack cabaret, packed with killer songs, dance breaks for days, and a desperate attempt to prove she can grow up too. She’s done playing the kid. Unless, of course, the role is still available. Directed by Dom Hennequin alongside Associate Director and Creative Consultant Dolly Diamond, Little Miss Typecast promises an evening of high-energy comedy, dynamic vocals and tongue-in-cheek storytelling about life as a performer who never quite grew out of the child roles.
Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin
The Motley Wherehaus: 6 – 19 April
After selling out in Adelaide and Edinburgh in 2025, the award-winning fringe sensation about the life of Charlie Chaplin is coming to Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2026! There is mime, music, lots of audience interaction and even a bit of ballet! This is a show in the spirit of Charlie Chaplin… a show with a laugh, and maybe a tear. This is a one-man physical comedy created and performed by Marcel Cole.
The Ex Files: A Comedy True Crime Tour
Melbourne: 24 March – 5 April
Dionysus Award-winning and Melbourne International Comedy Festival award-nominated comedian Matt Bell returns to the streets of Melbourne with his hilarious and scandalous new comedy true crime walking tour. Melbourne has a dark secret. A crime has been committed – and comedian Matt Bell knows where the bodies are buried. Join Matt as he unravels one of the city’s most shocking true* crimes – a tale of desire, obsession and gay dating gone horribly wrong. How does he know all this? The killer left one loose end…
Urinetown: The Musical
Gasworks Theatre: continues to 28 March
Winner of three Tony Awards, Urinetown: The Musical (Music & Lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Book & Lyrics by Greg Kotis) is a wickedly funny and sharply insightful musical satire that skewers everything from corporate greed and municipal politics to populism, bureaucracy, social inequality and even musical theatre itself. Set in a Gotham-like dystopia, a crippling 20-year drought has led to a government ban on private toilets, forcing citizens to queue for the privilege to pee and pay for access to public amenities controlled by a single malevolent corporation. Amid this struggle, a reluctant hero rises to challenge the system, sparking a riotous revolution that proves both hilarious and unexpectedly heart-felt.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from 25 March to 19 April 2026. For more information and full program, visit: www.comedyfestival.com.au for details.
Images: Katrina Mathers – photo by Brent Lukey | Jessi Ryan (supplied) | A Succulent Chinese Musical?! (supplied) | Dale Woodbridge Brown – photo by Joel Devereux | Circus Oz – photo by Aaron Walker Photography | Damian Callinan (supplied) | Skank Sinatra and Dolly Diamond star in The Performers (supplied) | Eva Seymour stars in The Understudy (supplied) | Gabbi Bolt – photo by Chris Hillary | Reuben Kaye – photo by Jax Moussa | Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh (supplied) | Joshua Hauville stars in Joshy In Paris (supplied) | Chloe Halley stars in Little Miss Typecast – photo by TNS Studios | Marcel Cole stars in Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin (supplied) | Matt Bell (supplied) | Urinetown: The Musical – photo by Tongue & Groove Entertainment