DeAnne Smith: "Welcome To Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2017"

Guys! Hi! It's comedy fest time again and I'm PSYCHED!

A month of amazing shows, packed into every nook of the city. Being a part of the excitement is definitely a highlight of my year! Oh, I'm sorry. This everything-is-awesome North American attitude doesn't always translate well in Melbourne, the hippest city on the planet. You really are, and I love that about you. The Fitzroy cafe I was in the other day was so cool the songs were Unshazamable. I tried to find out what I was listening to and Shazam said, 'Nope!' Then a guy in a vest and an 1800s-style beard offered me an heirloom tomato on ancient grain bread and I think we ripped a hole in the space-time continuum. You're so cool it's almost dangerous.

Let me dial down my enthusiasm and start over. Hey, guys. Do you wanna grab an organic, micro minibrew, bike over to the vegan deli and then, like, maybe check out a comedy show?

"Go see your favourites, but do me a favour and take a chance on someone you've never heard of before. "

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is my favourite and I've done a bunch: Just For Laughs, Edinburgh and Icelandic Comedy Festival among others. (That last one was just a show my Icelandic friend Rokkvi produced, but in a nation of 300,000 people, one Canadian-American comic showing up counts as a festival.) If you haven't experienced MICF yet, strap in. You'll find every style of comedy, from stand-up to storytelling, sketch to clowning and maybe even a young man dressed as a gorilla dressed as an old man sitting in a rocking chair for 56 minutes and then leaving. Really, I saw that show once. That was the title. It was weird and surprisingly fun.

There's so much on offer. Go see your favourites, but do me a favour and take a chance on someone you've never heard of before. Maybe you like their poster or you appreciate how their cheerfulness just barely covers up their desperation as they accost - I mean, flyer - people outside the Town Hall. There are a lot of as-yet-unknowns out there doing innovative and gut-busting comedy. The best part of the festival is discovering someone amazing, whose show is hidden away in a 30-seat venue next to a skip behind a wall that doesn't even look like it has a door. I'm exaggerating (am I? Where is Tuxedo Cat this year?) but this truth is, comedy fest time is alive with possibility. Get out there and take a chance.

If you're reading this, you're already one step closer to being a part of MICF, the greatest festival in the world! Capitalise on this momentum! Quick, put down your micro minibrew and book some tickets! I'll see you out there, either from the stage or in the seat next to you. Please say hi, and let's recommend shows to each other! It's comedy fest time! I'M PSYCHED!

Read about DeAnne Smith's MICF show, Post-Joke Era, in our exclusive interview.

Full details of all shows at this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival are available on the MICF Website.