Hannah Gadsby, Sammy J & Anne Edmonds Nominated For Melb Comedy Festival Award

Local comedy stars Hannah Gadsby, Sammy J and Anne Edmonds are amongst the nominees for this year's prestigious Barry Award.

The annual honour is awarded to each year's "most outstanding comedy act" at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

The three well known comics are nominated for this year's Barry alongside burgeoning comedic talents Richard Gadd, Damien Power and Tom Walker.

One stand-out of this year's nominees is the not-so-comic nature of two shows nominated. Both Gadsby and Gadd have caused debate amongst festival goers as to what exactly is defined as comedy with both tackling darker-than-usual topics.

The UK's Gadd has garnered rave reviews for his deconstruction of a personal trauma in Monkey See Monkey while Gadsby's Nanette deals with issues that have led her to announce her retirement from stand-up (scoring a four-star review from us). 

Edmonds has also been reviewed enthusiastically for her show No Offence, None Taken, and it lands her a second Barry nomination — last year she was beaten by Zoe Coombs Marr. Already a regular on Ten's Have You Been Paying Attention and ABC's Fancy Boy sketch show, Edmonds will this year star in her own ABC series The Edge Of The Bush.

Also local, Power is nominated for the Barry for a third year in a row as his show Utopia — Now In 3D as buzz continues to build around him. Fellow Aussie Walker has also been creating buzz for both Bee Boo, the solo show he is nominated for (another four-star review from us), and his hot ticket MotherFather gig with Bridie Connell (four-and-a-half stars from us).

If Sammy J's Hero Complex (which also received four-and-a-half stars) takes out this year's Barry, it would make J the first comedian to win the gong twice. The star of ABC's Playground Politics previously won the Barry in 2010 for his Ricketts Lane show with puppet partner Randy (it was later adapted into a sit-com for the ABC). 

Past Barry winners have included Mighty Boosh, Ross Noble, Maria Bamford, Daniel Kitson, Rich Hall and Sam Simmons.

Nominees were also announced for the annual Golden Gibbo award — honouring local independent shows that "buck trends" and pursue artistry over commerce, in memory of the late Lynda Gibson. This year's candidates include A Visit With Nan In The Caravan, Clara Cupcakes, Double Denim, Rama Nicholas, Fran Middleton and Game Boys.