Melbourne Comedy Festival
The Largest Cultural Event In Australia

March and April is the best time to visit Melbourne. Not only the weather is very nice during this period but also because Melbourne hosts the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, one of the best comedy festivals in the world. Like a lot of Melburnians I will stay in the City after work more than usual during that time of the year. I will enjoy a live performance and go home with a belly full of laugh. That's Melbourne! The cultural city of Australia! Let me give you below the information you need for this fantatic festival.

What is the Melbourne Comedy Festival?

The Melbourne Comedy Festival is the third-largest international comedy festival in the world, behind Edinburgh's Fringe Festival and Montreal's Just For Laughs.

This festival welcomes hundreds of local and international artists with over 400 shows. Although it is mainly a vehicle for stand-up and cabaret acts, the festival has also included sketch shows, plays, improvisational theatre, debates, musical shows and art exhibitions.

In addition to over 200 nightly shows which play during the festival there is a number of special one-off events. The best-known of these is the Comedy Festival Gala, the Opening Night Super Show, which showcases short acts from many headline and award-winning comedians performing shows at that year's festival.

You need to book very early if you want to have a chance to have a ticket for the Opening Night show. This show is a fantastic opportunity to discover well-known performers and new talents.

Melbourne Comedy Festival: Venues and Tickets

How To Book The Ticket?

The best way to book any type of event in Melbourne is "Ticketmaster". There are different ways to book.

1) Book Online

You can book online and print your ticket at home.

Alternatively tickets for most shows can be collected at the show venue. When collecting tickets, please bring your ID, booking account number and the credit card you have used to purchase your tickets.

Box Office queues at the Melbourne Town Hall can be long. When picking up pre-paid tickets arrive at least 30 minutes prior to show time.

2) Book by phone

You can call Ticketmaster direct on 1300 660 013.

3) Book in person

Tickets for Ticketmaster shows can be purchased at the Melbourne Town Hall Box Office. To purchase tickets on the night, arrive at least 30 minutes prior to show time.

Tickets can also be purchased at the door of most venues on the night of the show.

Where to go?

The Melbourne Town Hall is one of the main venue for Melbourne Comedy Festival.

There are also many other venues such as The Hi-Fi, Capitol Theatre, Forum Theatre, Portland Hotel, Victoria Hotel, Swiss Club, The Famous Spiegeltent at Fed Square, ACMI, The Swamp at Gin Palace and many more.

You can also enjoy free family entertainment at Fed Square and City Square.

I already said before: It is just the best time to be in town.

How To Choose Your Show

This is probably the most difficult question each year for me!

There are so many great shows that you do not know which one to pick.

I have the performers that I usually like such as:

• Adam Hills
• Tom Gleeson
• Will Anderson
• Cal Willison

But I also want to discover new Australian and International performers. Yes I know life is all about making choice!

To help me I go to youtube to have a taster.

You can also visit comedyfestival.com.au for more information.

If you're overwhelmed by choice then go for one of the special events I mentioned previously. The best one is the Opening night show.