Melbourne International Comedy Festival brings ‘Outta Town’ tour to Geelong this weekend 
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08.02.2022

Melbourne International Comedy Festival brings ‘Outta Town’ tour to Geelong this weekend 

Our stomach muscles have a rather large workout ahead of them, as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival heads outta town with a sneak peek at the festival’s best

The beloved Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is just around the corner, and with only a few weeks to go the beloved comedy extravaganza is hitting the road early to bring a whole bunch of comedy to regional Victoria with ‘Melbourne International Comedy Festival Outta Town’.

Set to deliver the most refreshing and belly-achingly funny acts from Australia’s largest comedy festival, the Outta Town shows will take place in Geelong, Mildura, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Hamilton, Portland, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Wodonga, gifting comedy fans a sneak peek of what’s to come before the festival officially kicks off on 30 March in Melbourne.

Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here

Kicking off on Friday 11 February and running through March, the series of comedy weekends will showcase local favourites including, Lizzy Hoo, Nath Valvo, Geraldine Hickey, Lano & Woodley, Lewis Garnham, Claire Hooper, Luka Muller, Danielle Walker, Rhys Nicholson, Lloyd Langford, Peter Jones, Dilruk Jayasinha and more.

The new initiative aims to bring more comedy to a wider audience and expand into a broad range of venues, boosting regional tourism, providing more shows and greater access for audiences in rural areas.

To get the ball rolling and the belly’s aching, the comedy extravaganza has an epic night planned for the people of Geelong this Friday, February 11 at the Geelong West Town Hall with an incredibly funny live show featuring Geraldine Hickey, Nath Valvo and Brett Blake. Kicking off from 8:30pm, the show will run for two hours and deliver a hilarious sample of these brilliant comedians from the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

With hilariously physical, high-energy comedy, Aussie comedian Nath Valvo is quickly becoming a favourite for many comedy lovers and enthusiasts, on a global level.

Described as an absolute ‘crack-up’ in true Aussie lingo style, Valvo has won a number of awards for his show and was the runaway hit of the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2018, adding 5 extra dates to meet demand. You also may have seen Nath on popular television programs The Project, ABC’s Breaky Show and ABC’s Comedy Up Late.

Winning the Award for Most Outstanding Show 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Geraldine Hickey will also be bringing the laughs to Geelong this week.

With her deceptively effortless knack for turning low-key yarns about agapanthuses and bouncy-castles into high-stakes, helplessly funny narrative rollercoasters, it’s no surprise she continues to be a firm favourite of and in the Australian comedy scene. Here you can expect smart, observational comedy at its absolute best.

Rounding out the show is Brett Blake, a whip-smart, high-spirited stand up who has performed widely across Australia and the UK.

Self-identifying as a bogan genius, Blake is renowned for his raucous, side-splitting comedy which runs the gamut of living with dyslexia to truck licenses. A regular sell-out at the Melbourne International Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, he is the only comic who physically built the venue he performed in at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

 

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A post shared by Brett Blake (@brettyblake)

Following another wild year, you can bet these comics have some killer new material to unleash on stage. If your stomach muscles are braced and your cheeks ready for what will no doubt be an endless fit of laughter and cheeky grins, grab your tickets soon! As always, full dining and bar facilities are available.

If you feel like getting some extra laughs in, head down to the Geelong West Town Hall early for Australia’s biggest open mic comedy competition RAW Comedy, which returns for another attempt at finding the nation’s next belly-busting performer. Every year hundreds of funny folk from across Australia sign up for their time in the spotlight as part of RAW Comedy, and this year it’s back and covering all corners of the country to lure out of hibernation the next generation of comedy superstars.

Hosted by Daniel Connell with special guest Prue Blake, the regional heat will see Geelong’s funniest people mounting the stage from 6:30pm and taking the plunge in the qualifying heat of the Melbourne International Comedy Festivals competition. Each contestant will present five minutes of new, original comedy material including stand-up, sketch, double and triple acts, as well as musical comedy.

Sounds like the perfect Friday night to us.

You can purchase tickets to see MICF’s best here

If you’re keen to head to the RAW comedy heat, you can get tickets to that here. Or, to go to both and save some cash, purchase these tickets