Fresh Faces To Fest Vets: Our Picks For Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2021

Comedy is back! After a year's absence, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival season rears its head once again and, as usual, the overwhelming catalogue of stand-ups, sketch stars and so many more can be a lot to take in. So, if you’re not sure where to start or need a bit of a push in the right direction, have a gander at The Music’s 2021 picks for shows that are well worth keeping an eye out for.

Coming In Hot

Amid the festival is an underlying excitement that pulsates around those acts just a few great gigs away from breaking into the mainstream. 

Take the incredibly affable Luka Muller, who has gone from playing backrooms to headlining shows around the country and judging heats at the RAW Comedy talent comp. Muller has been chipping away at the scene for a few years now and Old, New, Other could well be the show that skyrockets him into notoriety. 

After taking out the Best Newcomer Award at the end of MICF 2019, Blake Freeman should well and truly be on everyone's watchlist. His laidback onstage demeanour makes him a thoroughly enjoyable performer to watch no matter your comedic preferences.

Finally, keep Aurelia St Clair on your radar. One of three recipients of the 2020 Stand Up! grant initiative supporting women in comedy, St Clair’s Woke 2.0 blends deadpan punchlines with brilliant observations on the world around her.

Stranger Zings

With over 300 shows this year, MICF 2021 is certain to stretch the limits of comedy far and wide. While the more traditional, mic-in-hand acts tend to take centre stage, the festival is brimming with weird and wonderful alt-comedy geniuses from all over the place. 

Want to see an immersive theatre piece about the modern plight of the bee? Well, Stuart Daulman isn't doing that show anymore. After a year of isolation, he's dropped Buzz, which he was set to perform at MICF 2020, and come back with what might actually be the weirdest choice for the died-in-the-wool absurdist: supposedly straight stand-up. Still, expect the unexpected from The Stuart Daulman Farewell Reunion Show.

Usually seen paired up with Laura Frew as Double Denim, Michelle Brasier is going stag to this year's fest. Or bear, more accurately. Her new show Average Bear is about living life with a hereditary illness, but also the story of Average, a fictional bear with a less than convenient phobia of hibernation.

Not weird enough for you? Then take a punt on Claire Sullivan. After her stellar 2017 show I Wish I Owned A Hotel For Dogs, Sullivan finally returns with her prop, costume, sketch and surrealist antics with Toast Rat, which took out Best Comedy 2020 at Fringe at the End of the World in Hobart.

Next Gen

It goes without saying that comedy gets better with experience, but there are plenty of young guns on the scene that are already making waves with their worldly wit and gags beyond their years.

Arron Chen has the kind of bulletproof stage presence that can leave an audience rolling on the floor at an awkward pause or an offhand "yeah sick". He won the Director's Choice Award at Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019 and got rave reviews for last year's Mr Cigarette, material from which Melbourne will finally get to see in new set, Sorry Forever.  

If musical comedy is more your thing, be sure to check out the incredible Alice Tovey. While still well and truly in the millennial bracket, Tovey has clocked in her MICF hours with numerous solo shows and ensemble pieces over the years. Armed with a back catalogue of hilariously snarky cabaret songs and an attitude to boot, she’s a talented human dynamo.

Lastly, there’s the wonderfully congenial Aidan Jones. Known affectionately as Taco, his new show (named after his moniker) chronicles the comic's transatlantic quest to meet his biological father.

Class Goofs

Not quite ready to take a punt on the newcomers? Or just fancy a tried-and-true stand-up style? Have no fear - the festival has the goods in spades. For every new wunderkind that nervously graces a MICF stage, there’s a seasoned veteran guaranteed to put on a well-crafted and slick gig. 

Returning for the umpteenth time is comic mainstay Wil Anderson. The six-time Melbourne International Comedy Festival People’s Choice Award winner is back with a show that has truly stood the test of time - his sensational, critically acclaimed 2018 show Wilegal. 

Also returning is the fantastic Geraldine Hickey. One of the hardest-working comedians in the country, Hickey was a nominee for best show at the festival in 2019 with Things Are Going Well, and What A Surprise promises even more from the stand-up powerhouse in 2021. 

Lastly, Damien Powers' status on the Australian comedy scene as a 'brash upstart' has well and truly progressed to 'proven powerhouse'. You don't get nominated for Most Outstanding Show of the Melbourne Comedy Festival three years running for being inconsistent, and his new show Regret Man is sure to be a winner.