The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is officially underway for 2026, and the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow was a glittering and hilarious way to kick things off for the year.
It was a fantastic display of all kinds of comedy – much like the Gala, showcasing an array of options for this year’s proceedings, as each act has their own show in the festival. The Supershow was hosted by Bron Lewis and Brett Blake, who in their own ways represented two different ends of the comedy spectrum: a more calm and collected, classic approach, versus a totally unhinged (as in. . . Literally hanging from the ceiling) approach. This made for a fun and engaging dynamic between acts.
The biggest highlights of this year’s Supershow, from this reviewer’s perspective, were primarily the women of the group – Celia Pacquola lamenting about her chin situation, He Huang on Melbourne actually being “a part of China”, Lou Wall trying virtual therapy (with a song and some visual media to help), Nikki Britton giving us a lesson on ponytails, and Abby Howells on autism and refusing to be in denial about loving trains.
Other stand-outs were an equal parts hilarious and adorable little keyboard ditty from David O’Doherty, a classically blokey and nonchalant few minutes from ‘lowbreed’ Luke Heggie, Tom Cashman's PowerPoint presentation on how bird idioms SHOULD be worded, and a gripping tale of a knife-wielding seagull from Ian Smith.
Comedy comes in so many forms. An event like this is a great way to get a handle on how far comedy has come, and also to gauge where it might be off to next.
Plus, it’s so much fun to try something new – the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow was a perfect way to see a few acts one might not normally choose from a list, but will buy tickets for immediately after leaving the Palais.
If you couldn’t make it, why not flick through this year’s Comedy Festival line-up and grab a ticket to an act you’ve either never heard of, or haven’t checked out before? You might just find your new fave.
