Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026 Funny Tonne Reviews Highlight Emerging Comedians
ArtsHub, in collaboration with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, is presenting critiques from the 2026 Funny Tonne competition. The announcement of the winner will be made by Richard Watts, ArtsHub's Performing Arts Editor, on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The festival will continue through Sunday, April 19, 2026. Featured acts include Ben Russell with an OP-1 synthesizer, Brynley Stent's Bird of the Year, Dan Rath's Help Me Please, Grace Jarvis's Getting Dragged Backwards Through a Hedge, Jay Wymarra's is a Tropical Fruit, Joe Kent-Walters as Frankie Monroe in Live!!! (& Dead!!!), Kate Dehnert's Echo, Kate Dolan's Trout, Lara Ricote's Inkling, and Meg Jäger's A Beautiful Mind. Reviews are contributed by Connor Fantasia-Serve and Maddison Verducci, along with additional insights from Alex Carpi and Joanne Zhou. This competition has been held since 2005.
Key facts
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs until Sunday 19 April 2026
- Funny Tonne winner to be announced Saturday 18 April 2026 by Richard Watts
- Kate Dolan won the 2025 Golden Gibbo award for The Critic
- Funny Tonne competition began in 2005
- Reviews cover shows by Ben Russell, Brynley Stent, Dan Rath, Grace Jarvis, Jay Wymarra, Joe Kent-Walters, Kate Dehnert, Kate Dolan, Lara Ricote, and Meg Jäger
- Reviewers include Connor Fantasia-Serve and Maddison Verducci
- Additional reviews from Alex Carpi and Joanne Zhou will appear later
- ArtsHub partners with Melbourne International Comedy Festival for coverage
Entities
Artists
- Ben Russell
- Brynley Stent
- Dan Rath
- Grace Jarvis
- Jay Wymarra
- Joe Kent-Walters
- Kate Dehnert
- Kate Dolan
- Lara Ricote
- Meg Jäger
- Connor Fantasia-Serve
- Maddison Verducci
- Alex Carpi
- Joanne Zhou
- Richard Watts
- Akon
- Don Bradman
- Basil Brush
- Reese Witherspoon
- Fiona Hamilton
- Sanaz Toossi
- Sting
- Maitreyi Karanth
- Anisa Nandaula
Institutions
- ArtsHub
- Melbourne International Comedy Festival
- ScreenHub
- Three Triple R FM
- Melbourne Queer Film Festival
- Melbourne Fringe Festival
- Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards
- Green Room Awards Association
- Seymour Centre
- Greek Centre
- VCE
Locations
- Melbourne
- Australia
- Edinburgh
- United Kingdom
- Torres Strait
- Sydney
- Brisbane
- Uganda
- Queensland
- Japan