Squid's Sunday Sideshow review | Samora Squid | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Tote

Samora Squid has been a sideshow freak artist for over 25 years, and it is now, at this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival, that they are presenting their first solo show with Squid's Sunday Sideshow.

The show opens with a straightforward triple dislocation of their arm. Yes, really. They then shake it all about like they just don’t care. As the performance progresses, it becomes increasingly challenging to watch the things Squid does to their body. It’s an intense experience at such close proximity. That said, I noticed I was one of the few people covering my eyes or looking away -  perhaps I’m more of a wuss than others. Although there was one guy who gasped "what the fuck!"

Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex To My Mum) review | James Barr | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Trades Hall

If you’re expecting gay comedian James Barr to deliver a steady stream of dick jokes in Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex To My Mum), a show built around the domestic abuse and trauma he experienced at the hands of his partner, well… you’d be right. But what’s striking is how effortlessly that humour is folded into the piece. The jokes don’t undercut the story, they sit alongside it, disarming the audience just enough to let the harder beats land.

Barr begins lightly, walking us through his search for Prince Charming, recounting a series of dates before arriving at the night he met Chris at a Spice Girls concert. It’s framed as a turning point, the moment he thought that two souls would become one.

Too Clowns review | Damien Warren-Smith | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

Most people will recognise Garry Starr more readily than Damien Warren-Smith himself. Garry is Warren-Smith’s over-the-top comedic persona, known for high-energy, absurd productions that parody classic works through exaggerated, physical, and deliberately chaotic storytelling. His show Classic Penguins is currently playing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and you would be mad to miss it. But Warren-Smith is presenting a work-in-progress during the festival, offering audiences a chance to see another side to his clowning and performance style.

Too Clowns is a silent clown show that explores loneliness, with chalk-written words reading “Bella + Puzzo” introducing us to the characters. Puzzo arrives upbeat and ready to go, but Bella is nowhere to be seen. The show must go on, so Puzzo turns to the full-house at the 11pm showing to help fill the gap. What sets Too Clown apart is its commitment to silence and audience dependency, using participation not as a novelty but as the core structure of the piece, where the performance genuinely shifts based on who steps up.

Trout review | Kate Dolan | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Malthouse Theatre

in 2025 Kate Dolan opened her Melbourne Comedy Festival show, The Critic, as a plant. This year, she begins as a trout, a dancing trout, while wearing a trout mask. And this time, the show is about trout, fish in general, and the idea that life might be simpler, easier, if she were one. Unsurprisingly, the show is called Trout.
 
Dolan is a stand-up comedian, but this performance marks a complete 180-degree turn from what she presented last year. For starters, there is some contemporary dancing and some rapping. But the most noticeable change is Dolan herself. The shift feels amplified by the larger Malthouse space, which seems to give her the space to expand her presence and lean into a bigger, more unrestrained energy. Dolan uses the entire stage, constantly in motion, swinging her hips, and jumping between beats with a physicality that drives the rhythm. She is loud, erratic, and deliberately so, channelling that unpredictability into a style that appears loose at first glance but is structured underneath.

Nosferatu Looking For Love review | Rhiannon McCall | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

Nosferatu, we’re told, is the German word for “sexy bachelor”, and that sets the mood perfectly for Nosferatu Looking For Love. Tired of his old life, this infamous vampire is chasing a sea change, heading to Australia with two clear ambitions, to become a star and to finally find a partner.

From the instant Rhiannon McCall appears, the character is fully realised. Dressed in black with stark white makeup, sunken eyes, exaggerated brows, a bald cap and pointed ears, the look is striking without being overdone. The hunched neck is a particularly nice touch, subtle but effective, adding to the physicality.

Evil Dead the Musical review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Chapel Off Chapel

You just can't keep a good Deadite down. It's been 45 years since The Evil Dead was unleashed on cinema goers. In that time, we've had sequels, reboots and reimaginings, including a musical that was first staged in 2003. And now this cult classic has made its way to Australia, and what a ride it is. With Book and Lyrics by George Reinblatt, Evil Dead the Musical leans all the way into the madness, chainsaw in hand, splattering its way through the source material with a knowing wink, buckets of blood (literally), and enough self-awareness to make the whole thing horrifically brilliant.

Five college students: the hero, his best-friend, his girlfriend, his sister and ... Shelly, decide to spend the week in an abandoned cabin in the woods with no one knowing where they are. What could go wrong, they knowingly ask. Apart from freeing a demonic force after reciting a few ill-advised incantations, and *spoiler* watching your friends lose their souls and having to brutally kill them.

Best House Party Ever review | Roxie Halley & Michele Owen | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

In 2008, Melbourne ended up in the global spotlight when 16-year-old Corey Worthington threw a house party that got wildly out of hand. His parents were away, and after posting an open invite on MySpace, over 500 people showed up to his suburban home. Total madness.
 
Now, he might want to keep an eye out, because two Nunawading locals are ready to make him old(er) news. In Best House Party Ever, best mates Big Mike and DJ JayJay, somewhere in their 30s and 40s, see an empty house as an opportunity. The moment DJ JayJay’s mum heads out, it’s game on. There’s booming music, questionable life choices, and the kind of party energy that escalates rapidly.

Lobster in a Glass review | Jenna Suffern | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

Every now and again, life decides to absolutely wreck your plans, your ambitions, and your carefully curated sense of self. In Lobster in a Glass, Jenna Suffern dives headfirst into those moments, drawing comedy from the chaos when things go slightly or spectacularly wrong. Across the hour, she revisits a series of derailments, shaping them into sharp, engaging anecdotes.



From a career-ending sports injury in school to realising she was gay and later non-binary, Suffern’s life has been stopped in its tracks more than once, requiring several realignments along the way. Through it all, she mines these disruptions for humour, turning detours into stories that are recognisable and somewhat absurd.

Articulate review | Gumboot Theatre Company | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

There’s nothing like a board game to bring out the best - or worst - in people. In Articulate, two share houses come together for their annual tradition: a fierce game night where the stakes are simple but brutal. The losing team must display a photo of the winners on their fridge - a daily reminder of their defeat and inability to guess even the simplest words.

In one corner we have the reigning champions: Tilly, Nadia and Jules: confident, composed, and fully expecting to take out the title once again. On the other are Lilo, Ben and Rommy, who are more than prepared. Warmed up and ready, they’re determined to prove they have what it takes to claim victory this year. The way each household is seen preparing for the evening is well directed and executed by the cast. 

Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza review | Elliot Wood | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Spielhaus

Having survived being thrown into an oven, along with a few other mishaps across the decades (and centuries), Mrs Lovett is back and ready for her grand reopening. Her ethically sourced human meat pie shop has set up in the heart of Melbourne at Queen Victoria Market, and this is no quiet return. With a handful of celebrity friends, including Jamie Oliver, lending a hand, Mrs Lovett invites her audience into a live pie-making demonstration that quickly spirals into something far more chaotic. And it all begins with a tuba. Yes, really.

Created and performed by Elliot Wood, Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza is an unhinged, wild ride comedy that wastes no time finding its rhythm. When a performer starts at an energy level of 11 and somehow escalates to 15, with the audience happily swept up in this madness, you know you are in good hands.

Gossip review | Abigail Banister-Jones | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Bauhaus

Don’t tell anyone I told you, but … it’s a phrase many of us have uttered - or at least been told. That tantalising morsel of someone else’s business that gives us a strange, guilty pleasure. But why? In Gossip, Abigail Banister-Jones sets out to investigate whether gossip makes us a better person, and why it feels so good.

Banister-Jones brings a great energy to the stage, with playful banter that draws the audience in. She bounces off a wide range of sources like the Bible, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Gossip Girl, creating a mix of perspectives and cultural touchstones that keeps the exploration lively and relatable.

The Ex Files: A Comedy True Crime Tour review | Matt Bell | Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Hell hath no fury like a gay man scorned. What starts with sweet dates and musical theatre singalongs descends into something far more sinister. In The Ex Files: A Comedy True Crime Tour, Matt Bell blurs the line between true crime and total fabrication in his 'investigation', guiding audiences around the Melbourne CBD to uncover the evidence behind a crime that may or may not exist.

With each audience member armed with a pair of Bluetooth headphones, Bell guides us through a series of locations tied to the relationship at the centre of the story. We move from the bar where the first date occurred, to a cinema shaped by a wicked lie, to a restaurant that ends in heartbreak on the most romantic night of the year. Bell has clearly put thought into the structure, and standing at each location as he reminisces, makes the experience immersive, like we're re-living it ourselves.

Sugar Bits clean up the trash with their feminist chaos | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Bauhaus

Sugar Bits are back with their riotous sketch show, Feminist Trash, and they are ready to wreak hilarious havoc on Melbourne once more. Nicola Pohl, Tessa Luminati, and Stephanie Beza are the three brains behind the operation - so perfectly in sync it’s almost unfair to the rest of us. Unsurprisingly, when asked to do an interview, they answered as a single, terrifyingly witty entity.

Both the group name and the show title are boldly chosen, feeling playful, ironic, and a little provocative, teasing out how the group’s identity is reflected in - or upended by - these names. "It genuinely comes from very shallow beginnings: Sugar tits, but because we’re sketch comedy, we do Bits! Sugar Bits! Whereas Feminist Trash was born from a tagline when flyering for our first show, Hit n Hope, where we would say to people 'this show is feminist trash'," they tell me. "It just caught on and became an idea we wanted to make a show about. Feminist Trash subverts the name Sugar Bits because the name is ultra-femme, but the way Feminist Trash is grotesque, stupid, and dark, can be seen as unfeminine or ugly, which happens to be the way we like to be femme!"

Beyond The Neck review | Theatre Works

In Beyond the Neck, Tom Holloway’s raw and unflinching script brings four strangers together in the shadow of tragedy, each carrying their own pain. As their paths cross, the play quietly unravels how trauma lingers, how memory presses in, and how people navigate the fragile spaces between loss and connection. Set in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, one of Australia’s darkest tragedies, the play traces how the echoes of violence ripple through ordinary lives, shaping the way people remember, mourn, and try to move forward.

The characters are all coping with grief in different, haunting ways. The Boy embodies disturbing tendencies; The Teenage Girl channels fear into obsession and speculation; The Young Mother and Wife carries memories she can’t let go; and The Old Man, a survivor of the massacre, bears the lingering impact of what he witnessed, giving the audience an intimate view of loss.

What happened when Rachel Tunaley lost her eldest daughter crown | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Spielhaus

Eldest Daughter Syndrome describes the pressure that often falls on the oldest daughter, who can end up taking on a lot of emotional and practical responsibility within the family. Recovering Eldest Daughter is Rachel Tunaley's new cabaret, sparked by the moment a surprise gender transition from her older sibling suddenly shifted her from eldest to… not so eldest.

Eldest Daughter Syndrome was something Tunaley had been acutely aware of for some time, and as with all great shows, “write about what you know” became the starting point, right up until her sibling’s transition changed the family dynamic. "I was seeing a lot of conversation online, especially on TikTok, about Eldest Daughter Syndrome and I resonated with the 'symptoms' for lack of a better word, and decided to unpack it more. While it’s not a formal syndrome, there are plenty of similarities in experiences for eldest daughters such as the burden to be perfect or successful whether that’s in career or romantically, struggling to articulate your own boundaries and needs with others and feeling like the caretaker of the family," she tells me.

West Gate review | Melbourne Theatre Company

The construction of the West Gate Bridge in the late 1960s was one of those 'Melbourne is growing up' moments. It wasn’t just a bridge, it was a statement, a declaration that the city was expanding into something faster, louder, and unapologetically modern. Spanning the Yarra River, it promised to connect a booming, industrial west with the CBD, easing congestion and fuelling economic growth. It carried a forceful optimism, the belief that infrastructure could reshape not only how people moved, but how the city itself functioned.

That optimism, however, was undercut by warning signs that were raised but not fully heeded. When the West Gate Bridge collapse occurred on 15 October 1970, killing 35 workers, the bridge’s meaning suddenly flipped. What had symbolised progress and ambition came to represent the human cost behind it, a reminder that rapid growth and grand vision can come at a devastating price.

Someday We’ll Find It review | Meat Market

Where can you swim with pigs on the beach? It’s one of the many questions Zachary Sheridan hurls into the void of the internet in Someday We’ll Find It. Over a tight 50 minutes, the work makes clever use of its time, playing with form and structure to probe our compulsive need to search for answers online. Some questions are absurd, some surprisingly profound, and others sit in the realm of the unanswerable, yet all speak to that endless, almost instinctive urge to keep typing, scrolling, and seeking.

Sheridan’s performance is notably restrained and grounded, a deliberate and necessary choice for a solo work built on such an unrelenting stream of text. Carrying long passages without pause, he allows rhythm and accumulation do the heavy lifting without over-performing. The stillness and control required to sustain that tone indicates a performer who understands exactly when to hold back. In doing so, he creates opportunities for the audience to project meaning onto the questions themselves, turning what could easily be repetitive into something absorbing, and at times, unexpectedly affecting.

Eva Seymour on the comedy of waiting in the wings | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

Eva Seymour’s The Understudy shines a hilarious and unflinching light on the backstage world, as we follow an understudy juggling nerves, endless preparation, and the strange suspense of being ready to step in at a moment’s notice. We spoke to Seymour about crafting this performance, laughing through the mayhem, and how the show resonates far beyond the stage.

The Understudy centres on the long wait that comes with being on call, unfolding into a deeper dive of what it means to be an actor, largely defined by job insecurity and the shifting demands of the industry. "Writing a show about understudying made me realise it’s a microcosm of the actor’s life," Seymour explains. "Waiting for the call as an offstage cover puts you at the whim of many things beyond your control, and you have to do mental gymnastics just to manage the anxiety. Actors are constantly doing that, whether they admit it or not. You can follow every rule, make every 'right' choice, and still not be where you want to be. That uncertainty, the missed opportunities, and the sacrifices it requires - sometimes it strains relationships, makes you question yourself, and reminds you how much of your life gets put on hold for work you may never even do."

Laughing through sharehouse horrors with Amelia Pawsey | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Trainscendence

Amelia Pawsey has spent years immersed in Melbourne’s performing arts community, thriving in ensemble work and collaborating with a range of directors and artists. Now, she’s stepping out on her own with her first solo production, Love Letter to Heephah, a playful and poignant blend of comedy and songwriting drawn from her experiences in a share house where everyday moments of chaos, absurdity, and everything in between are revealed with humour, honesty, and a bit of mischief.

"I absolutely cherish ensemble work, in particular, within the Melbourne independent theatre scene. I have worked with many talented artists since graduating drama school and have always felt inspired by the work of Aussie creatives! I've had a lingering thought for years to give stand-up a go but I've been too scared to back myself, making excuses why I wouldn't be good at it," she explains. "Then this year I thought, that's not a valid reason to not try something! It was in conversation with my housemates about Heephah the random fox statue in our living room, where I realised I could combine my passion of songwriting with stand-up, that Love Letter To Heephah was born, and I could not be more excited to share this with MICF audiences."

The Pandas of The Adelaide Zoo review | Cub Voltaire

Two giant pandas, Fu Ni and Wang Wang, are trapped in captivity at Adelaide Zoo, staring down the ultimate ticking clock: Fu Ni’s three-day mating window. Zookeeper Trev and ranger Hayley are on high alert, praying these bamboo-loving divas finally produce the cubs everyone’s been waiting for. But will Fu Ni embrace motherhood or reject Wang Wang for the elusive, commitment-phobic male nature has said he is? In The Pandas of the Adelaide Zoo, Ryan Smith turns a true story into a whimsical, slightly tragic comedy of errors, where these pandas’ romantic misadventures are as endearing as they are exasperating.

Smith’s script tells two stories in parallel. One follows Wang Wang (Smith) and Fu Ni (Elizabeth Harvey) as they pass their hours, days, and years within the zoo, relying on nothing but each other for company. The second traces Trev and Hayley (Jake McNamara and Charli Lewis) as they record an episode of Totally Wilderness, observing the pandas, with each person bringing their own intentions, curiosities, and emotions to the encounter.

Mature Skin review | Northcote Town Hall

Written by Gabrielle Fallen, Mature Skin traces the charged connection between Paul, a successful cis gay fragrance designer in his 40s, and Jasmine, a young trans woman and retail worker who sells his products. A chance encounter in the bathroom of a work event quickly deepens, leading them into a relationship that probes passion, kink, fetishisation, queerness, trans identity, and shifting power dynamics. The play navigates intimacy and attraction, highlighting the vulnerability and complexity of their interactions.



Peter Paltos and Bailey Ackling Beecham bring an affecting chemistry, built on a tension that sits somewhere along seduction and resistance. Their characters circle one another with a mixture of fascination and discomfort, and the actors maintain that equilibrium with poise. The result is a volatile entanglement, where magnetism and hesitation are never quite separate.

Handful of Bugs is turning late-night radio into a playground of chaos | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Malthouse Theatre

Handful of Bugs are back with their latest creation, Hello Mr. Radio!, a wild dive into late-night radio mayhem and surreal comedy. At the centre of it is Fergus Mackerel, an outlandish host whose bizarre 3am broadcasts turn sound into spectacle and audience into co-conspirator. We spoke with Alex Donnelly, one third of Handful of Bugs, about bringing Fergus to life, pushing the boundaries of form and narrative, and why unpredictability has become the company’s calling card.

The idea for Hello Mr. Radio! didn’t come from anywhere obvious - it came from a sudden spark in the middle of chaos and artistic panic. "We were scouring the vast corners of our collective minds one evening. We were lost. We were afraid. We knew that jesters, big feet, monster trucks and assassins were funny. There couldn’t possibly be a fifth funny thing. And then it hit us," Donnelly tells me. "We were LOOKING in the wrong places, we needed to be HEARING in the right place! The radio. A medium dominated by ears alone for far too long, what if we let the peepers in on the fun? Thusly, Hello
Mr. Radio! was born. Then swiftly put in a drawer so we could finish our fringe season."

Maitriarchy sees Maitreyi Karanth take the throne of laughter | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Ballers Clubhouse

Maitreyi Karanth’s journey to comedy has proven that it’s never too late to chase your passions, make people laugh, and leave a lasting mark one joke at a time. She’s already made history as the first woman in Hong Kong to sell out ten nights of a one-woman headliner show. Now she's on her way to Melbourne with her show Maitriarchy, where she explores midlife, family chaos, and global adventures, with sharp humour, candid reflections, and a playful look at life’s surprising twists.

Karanth’s path to performing has been anything but conventional. It began when she turned 40 and came to terms with having outlived her father, who died when she was nine. It wasn’t until she reached 44 - an age when most people are clinging to stability - that she chose to trade certainty for a microphone. "Growing up in a small town in India, all I ever wanted to be was an actress. I was always in school plays, giving speeches, and performing. But when my father, a passionate public speaker himself, passed away, and with my mum being blind and no money at all, life changed completely. At that time, a fatherless girl going on stage was a big no-no," she explains.

How a pub joke became a comedy show teaching Auslan for Ben Richardson | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Wheat, Wine & Whiskey

What began as a tipsy joke in a pub has evolved into one of Ben Richardson’s most inventive performance yet. Drawing on his life as a CODA - a Child of Deaf Adult(s) - and his years as both a comic and Auslan interpreter, Richardson blends stand-up with hands-on language learning, inviting audiences to laugh while picking up the fundamentals of Auslan along the way. In this interview, he reflects on the accidental origins of the show, the influence of growing up between Deaf and hearing worlds, and why signing to a song could be the funniest way to learn.
 
"This came about from a drunken night out, as all good shows do," Richardson explains. "We were at a country pub and there was a live band playing the usual country pub songs. I drunkenly started singing them in sign language. My mates joined in after I showed them how to do the chorus. Then others on the dance floor jumped in and it became quite the scene. I realised hearing people enjoy doing these in Auslan and I also realised the only way people are ever going to want to hear me sing is if I do it quietly in sign language. Hence, Welcome to the Auslan Jungle was created."

Black Widow: Sex, Bugs & A High Death Toll | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Speakeasy Theatre

In Black Widow: Sex, Bugs & A High Death Toll, Isabel Knight invites audiences back into the web of Arachne, her razor-sharp, silk-spinning alter ego who blurs the line between seduction and satire. Part cabaret siren, part mythic avenger, the half-woman, half-spider creation returns to Melbourne stages with sharper legs, stronger vocals and a newfound depth. We spoke to Knight about how this remount is not just sting and spectacle, but a deeper dive into vulnerability, power and the messy thrill of transformation.

Knight admits that Arachne has never left her and has slowly been weaving her way back to Melbourne stages. "Honestly, I haven’t stopped thinking about her," she says. "She has made an appearance at some cabaret nights singing songs and finding a new lover or two, but nothing beats her in her full form, web and all. She is still itching to say more and who am I to stop her?"

Back to Te Maunga review | La Mama Theatre

In Back to Te Maunga, childhood Māori friends Tāne and Isaac reunite after many years apart, with Isaac living in England and Tāne remaining in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Coming together in a rural cabin, where Tui beer flows, whiskey disappears, and a feast is shared, this quickly becomes more than a simple catch-up. In a moving story by Joel Te Teira, secrets and shame surface, challenging their friendship and their connection to the land.

Joe Dekkers-Reihana and Jordan Selwyn generate compelling chemistry on stage. Their performances are naturalistic and deeply authentic, capturing the fractured tenderness of two men whose lives have diverged but whose bond remains intact. Verbal exchanges hit with impact, matched by some dynamic fight choreography by Lyndall Grant. Their dialogue reflects a long familiarity, and the emotional weight each actor brings elevates every scene.

Jenna Suffern on faking it, finding it and performing it | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

There is a particular kind of delusion required to work in comedy, the sort that tells you to spend money you do not have, back yourself anyway and commit to the bit no matter how unhinged it sounds. For Jenna Suffern, that delusion comes served with a posh accent and the rallying cry of a show that skewers ambition, image and the fine line between confidence and chaos.

"The back story for Lobster In A Glass is that I was at my friend's birthday and I asked them what they wanted to drink. They were taking aggggges to decide so I said in a posh English accent 'what do you want, a bloody lobster in a glass or something?' This then became a bit of a vocal stim for my friend and I and we adopted the mantra of 'fuck it, just order the lobster in a glass'. So when it came time to bring together what the heck this would be about, I realised Lobster In A Glass was perfect since it represents so many different things," she says.

All eyes on Samora Squid: The sideshow daredevil goes solo | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Tote

For 25 years, Samora Squid has been twisting, bending, and testing the limits of the human body in sideshows and circus acts around the world. Now, alone for the first time, they’re turning the spotlight fully on themselves in Squid's Sunday Sideshow. Equal parts daring, absurd, and unexpectedly funny, Squid’s solo debut promises a ride where the audience never knows whether to gasp, squirm, or laugh - and often all three at once.

After nearly three decades performing in circus and sideshow nights, it came down to alignment and timing for Squid to finally take the stage on their own. "It was all about opportunity, and simultaneously having the motivation and discipline," they tell me. "I met the right people who were running the right venue, and they gave me a space to present something unusual and original and at the same time that registrations for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival were happening."