First shows of the 2025 program are unveiled

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 26 March to 20 April 2025, 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 unforgettable nights out.

International Stars Take The Stage

The Festival is renowned for bringing the biggest international names to Australian stages, and 2025 will be no exception. This year’s line-up includes top-tier acts from the UK, the US and Asia, delivering fresh, funny material and boundary-pushing performances. Audiences can look forward to seeing:

• Celebrated comedian, author and honorary Brit, Ruby Wax in her most compelling and critically acclaimed show yet, I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was based on her best-selling memoir of the same name. Ruby will tour eight-cities across Australia and New Zealand.
• Winner of Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2024 Best Show for Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, Amy Gledhill (UK).
• Jin Hao Li (Singapore/UK), whose debut hour Swimming In A Submarine earned him a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2024.
• 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award winner Ahir Shah (UK), who will share his intellectual brand of stand-up featuring a blend of philosophical inquiry, political vigour and sweet gags.
• Honorary Australian, comedian and novelist Mark Watson (UK) will visit Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide.
• After a successful Australian debut hour, comedian and football lout Chloe Petts (UK) will return with a brand new, and personal show, packed with her trademark ladishness to tell you who she really is (touring to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney).
• UK’s finest confessional comedian Sara Pascoe, hitting Melbourne for the first time since 2022.
• Brand-manager-turned-comedian and now Indian TV star Rahul Subramanian, returning to Australia fresh off a sold-out run at Edinburgh Fringe for a special limited season.
• The New Zealanders return in strength - with the likes of Chris Parker, Guy Montgomery, Guy Williams, Melanie Bracewell, Ray O’Leary, Rhys Darby and Urzila Carlson (Sth Africa/NZ).

Plus more international artists go on sale in the coming weeks including South African-born comedian and writer Pierre Novellie (Sth Africa/UK), British comedian and TV panel extraordinaire Rosie Jones, the charming and easy-going Anirban Dasgupta (India), winner of the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2023 Urooj Ashfaq (India), American singer-songwriter Charlene Kaye with her one-woman comedy show Tiger Daughter: Or, How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame, and a return season for the Festival’s 2024 Most Outstanding Show winner Sarah Keyworth (UK) – including a tour to Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

But the list of international stars doesn’t end there, with Adam Kay (UK), Arj Barker (USA), Carl Donnelly (UK), Danny Bhoy (Scotland), Elf Lyons (UK), Iliza Shlesinger (USA), Kai Humphries (UK), Kemah Bob (USA), Schalk Bezuidenhout (Sth Africa), Sofie Hagen (Denmark) and more!

Australia’s Best On Show

The Festival will also feature the very best of Australia’s comedy scene, with stars of TV, radio, and social media joining the fray. Whether you’re a fan of stand-up, satirical commentary, or absurdist humour, these local acts have you covered:

Alex Ward, Amy Hetherington, Anisa Nandaula, Becky Lucas, Bron Lewis, Cameron James, Claire Hooper, Daniel Connell, Daniel Muggleton, Emma Holland, Geraldine Hickey, Gillian Cosgriff, Grace Jarvis, He Huang, Ivan Aristeguieta, Jenny Tian, Joel Creasey, John Safran, Josh Glanc, Jude Perl, Lizzy Hoo, Lloyd Langford, Lou Wall, Luke Heggie, Luke McGregor, Michael Hing, Michelle Brasier, Nath Valvo, Nazeem Hussain, Oliver Coleman, Sammy J, Sez, Suren Jayemanne, Sweeney Preston & Ethan Cavanagh, Takashi Wakasugi, Ting Lim, Tommy Little, Wil Anderson, Zoë Coombs Marr and more!

Special Events

The Festival’s flagship special events return for another year. The Gala, proudly supporting Oxfam Australia, will kick off 2025 with a showcase of the Festival’s brightest stars at Melbourne’s 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 2025, The 35th Annual Great Debate and Upfront, a night of stereotype-smashing comedy as the funniest and boldest female and non-binary artists take to the stage. The second annual Asian Allstars Gala will present a one-night-only epic showcase featuring extraordinary talent and irresistible humour from India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and more.

Audiences can also get a peek into the future of comedy with the RAW Comedy, Deadly Funny and Class Clowns National Grand Finals, featuring the boldest and funniest new talent from across the country.

But it’s not just the big kids who get to have all the laughs this autumn, the Festival’s kids and family program will include Comedy Club for Kids running through the Easter holidays, free-flowing family fun at The (Very) Big Laugh Out in Fed Square, The Listies and more to be announced soon.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of the largest and most celebrated comedy festivals in the world, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Over its 39 years, the Festival has become a cultural icon in Melbourne, offering a platform for comedians to showcase their craft and for audiences to experience the best in live comedy from across the globe.