The team behind Dark Mofo will present the new Hobart Festival Of Comedy in March next year.
The festival will span three days and feature eleven headline shows. . . Plus, a free Festival Hub. It will encompass a wide spectrum of comedic performance, ranging from stand-up, to music, sketch comedy, and more.
Hobart Festival Of Comedy will take place in the heart of the city’s central cultural district, In The Hanging Garden, with events hosted in the Odeon Theatre and Altar. The precinct’s Cathedral will act as a Festival Hub with free entry, including Cathedral carnies, chaotic pop-up performances, live music, and a variety of food and drink offerings.
“We know that Hobart has a vibrant year-round comedy event circuit, so we’re really excited to add to the mix with the Hobart Festival Of Comedy,” Curator Phoebe Meredith says. “We wanted to present a festival with a good variety of artists from Australia and internationally, across a range of comedy styles and stories. We also plan on having a lot of fun with the free programming in Cathedral, to create a really vibrant Festival Hub over the three days.”
So what’s on offer? Well, Logie-nominated Aussie actor Heath Franklin will return with Heath Franklin’s Chopper – ‘Not Here To F**k Spiders’, plus multi award-winning comedian Urzila Carlson will premiere her new show ‘Just Jokes’, and globally renowned British comedy troupe ‘Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare’ will blend the seriousness of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ with one inebriated actor.
Irish stand-up comedian and actor Ed Byrne will trial the ‘comedy is tragedy plus time’ theory when he addresses the COVID-related death last year of his younger brother. He mines the most tragic event in his life for cathartic laughs in ‘Tragedy Plus Time’.
The new show from multi award-winning Australian comedian, singer and writer Reuben Kaye is ‘Apocalipstik’. It’s a cabaret which crosses continents, generations, and the political spectrum of the 20th century.
Award-winning stand-up comedian and podcaster Guy Montgomery’s charmingly offbeat improvisational humour will star in his new stand-up show, ‘Over 50,000,000 Guy Fans Can’t Be Wrong’.
‘Don’t Tease Me About My Gloves’ sees comedian, broadcaster and actor Geraldine Hickey explaining why she wears gloves when it’s not cold enough to warrant wearing gloves – it’s because she has something called Raynaud’s Syndrome.
As seen on ‘Deadloch’, ‘Taskmaster Australia’ and ‘Utopia’ is Nina Oyama – comedian, writer, actress and director, who doesn’t really now what she’s doing or where she’s going. . . But one thing is for sure: ‘Nina Oyama Is Coming’.
Schalk Bezuidenhout just wants to stay ‘hip with the youth’, but can he do it? Find out in his hilarious new show ‘Keeping Up’.
Stand-up comedian and actor Lizzy Hoo’s new show ‘Hoo’s That Girl’, directed by Tom Ballard, will have her riffing about love, grief, and sharing custody of her dog.
Plus, there’ll be a showcase of local comedy talent called ‘Resident Comedy’, curated by DarkLab Music Manager and National Live Music Awards 2023 annual industry award recipient, Sam Dowson, in collaboration with local comedy hero Rob Braslin.
Tickets go on sale 17 November at 10am.
Hobart Festival Of Comedy 2024 is on at Odeon Theatre, Altar and In The Hanging Garden from 22-24 March.
