The Melbourne International Comedy Festival

I got my copies of 'The Age' for today and yesterday this morning and sat down in one of my free periods. Out from the paper slipped the nice glossy Melbourne International Comedy Festival guide. Now my family are not Age readers under normal circumstances so this was the first time I had seen this very exciting booklet. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many theatrical events are being held during the comedy festival and the amount of venues that shows are being put on at (this includes stand up and various other acts). Clearly this is a very important time for both the comedians and theatre people from Melbourne- and I suppose the world. If it wasn't such a big year of theatre for me the way it is (way over budget already with all the shows I plan on going to) I won't be able to see any Comedy Festival shows this year but I was wondering is anyone on the site here involved in the festival? Is anyone performing or working backstage? Has anyone here been involved in a previous Melbourne International Comedy Festival? I assume it's a great atmosphere with all the shows and comedians in town! Anyone have any picks for shows to see during the festival? Oh and has anyone seen 'Keating: The Musical'? I was looking at the poster with great interest.

Whoa! So many questions... I'm producing a show as part of the festival. It's interesting that this festival is quite different from the Fringe - of course - but also in the way you can get involved. You should try getting involved in The Funny Tonne - a competition to see the most shows during the fest, which offers free tickets to participants. See here: http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/specialevents/tonne/ There are plenty of publications that do reviewing, including InPress, Beat, etc. and you should try and get involved. Many shows would love to have a reviewer at their show, so if you plan on seeing something and review it here, then they will likely offer you a comp ticket. That's the easiest way... Also, venues often have volunteers helping out on front of house, which means you get to see some shows... I've been involved in 6 Fringe festivals (as vollunteer, employee and performer), as well as the Comedy Festival, and they are both great times to get involved in the local arts/theatre scene. There's so much to do, see, and be a part of. ...I won't give a pick of the festival, since I'm biased! :) But if you want to review my show, please contact me - I'll give you a comp! By the way, the free guide in The Age has been a regular thing for years - and there's always heaps (heaps!) of shows on during the Festival. (Did you know the Melb Int. Comedy Festival is the third largest comedy festival in the world?) The Prompt Copy www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.freewebs.com/puppetsinmelbourne Treading the Boards www.treadingtheboards.thepromptcopy.com

Sorry about all the questions! This festival is beginning to sound very appealing and the Funny Tonne scheme sounds great! I was truly surprised at the vast quantity of shows on across the festival...I knew it was big but not this big. 3rd Largest in the World- that's great! quote: "so if you plan on seeing something and review it here," By that do you mean review it on this website? Currently working on: "The Ultimate Broadway Musical" The Three-Person, Audience Interactive, Little Bit Of Improv, Mini-Musical event of 2007.

Yes, this festival is quite large; although personally, flipping through this year's guide it seemed like there were less than previous years. It could be that last year, due to the Commonwealth Games, there was less of an audience. Hard to compete with! But when you think about it, there is a lot. Trades usually has about three or four shows in one room (with about five, don't quote me, rooms in the venue), and other large venues do the same thing... Plus there are all the clubs, pubs, fringe venues, church halls, etc.... Well, you can post a review in the reviews section. This site gets a *huge* amount of web traffic, and I'm sure local shows wouldn't mind getting reviewed from someone who posts it here. Basically, most people just want a review to a) say they got reviewed b) have something to put on their next poster (ie "it was great" etc) c) have something to show funding bodies, producers, directors, agents, etc. The musical sounds interesting; improv is always good, and in a musical it should be quite exciting! The Prompt Copy www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.freewebs.com/puppetsinmelbourne Treading the Boards www.treadingtheboards.thepromptcopy.com

"The musical sounds interesting; improv is always good, and in a musical it should be quite exciting!" Thanks, yeh we're looking forward to it. Currently we're writing the music for it while we complete another show we're in. Somewhere I posted a post about the show...it's called "The Ultimate Broadway Musical" if you're interested in checking it out. b) have something to put on their next poster (ie "it was great" etc) I can agree to that one, it was good to get the feedback from the last show I did (my first attempt at writing and directing) as it was handy to place in some of the publications that it appeared in at the end of the year. _____________________________________________________________ Currently working on: "The Ultimate Broadway Musical" The Three-Person, Audience Interactive, Little Bit Of Improv, Mini-Musical event of 2007.

Cool, I do a search for the musical. Yeah, I got some reviews from three years ago, that I'm quoting for the Comfest show - it's very handy to have that sort of thing. And feedback is always good :) The Prompt Copy www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.freewebs.com/puppetsinmelbourne Treading the Boards www.treadingtheboards.thepromptcopy.com