Comedy at MICF 2015

You could replace the banjo with a shotgun, in this pose. (photo courtesy Anne Edmonds)

32 shows, 26 nights.

Saw some great comedians at Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

“Don’t trust the reviews” is what I learned. Youtube, recommendations from comedians I enjoyed and friends proved to be the best strategy.

2015
The standout comedians for me were:

* – saw these performers more than once. It was the very talented DeAnne Smith who said to me “Come see my show it, it grows.”. Which was good advice.
(list sorted in alphabetical order)

Creepiest thing at MICF 2015
At Gen Fricker‘s show, turning to the bloke next to me
“So how do you pick which shows to see?”
‘I’m single and hope to pick up a female comedian.’

Ewwwww.

Comedians I missed from 2014
But firstly, out of the 10 comedians I missed last year, I saw four of them. (Celia Pacquola, Jennifer Wong, Rose Callaghan & Hayley Brennan). They were all good.

Had a ticket to Alexis Simmonds, but couldn’t make her show, darn it!

The other four didn’t have solo shows at MICF. Perhaps next year.
(Cam Knight, Sonia Di Ioria, Lana Schwarcz & Beau Stegmann)

More next year …
There were comedians I wanted to see, Claire Sullivan and Susie Youssef come to mind; as they asked me while they were flyering. I just couldn’t find a gap in my schedule. For MICF 2016, I’m going to try this advice from Erin Davidson

First step is to put in all the ones after 9:45pm and before 6pm. You should be able to see all of those.
All the shows over 1 hour go to the bottom of the list.
Next step is to pick venues that have 4 shows all in a row. I remember one night I stayed in the same room at the town hall. The only problem is you don’t always know which actual rooms the artists get until the festival starts.
Be prepared to be flexible. Sometimes shows are cancelled, shows are added, shows are moved and shows run late. If you can’t get to see shows at the same venue, at least stay in the one area.

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