2025 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award winners were announced today at a special ceremony hosted by Geraldine Hickey. With winners including Urzila Carlson, Garry Starr, Daniel Connell, Jessica Barton, Dan Rath, Noah Szto, Scout Boxall and Kate Dolan, they truly showcase the breadth of talent in the program.

By midnight on Sunday, when the Comedy Festival wraps up its 26-day run, a staggering 7,718 performances will have taken place across 184 performance spaces. Melbourne’s CBD has been bustling with eager queues, packed bars and full restaurants – an additional 341 shows were added due to demand – this year’s festival has been one of the most expansive and exciting yet. Over 1,000 performers – from emerging talent to household names – took to the stage, delivering a diverse mix of stand-up, sketch, improv, cabaret and everything in between. And with an average ticket price of around $35 the Festival remains one of the most accessible in Melbourne’s cultural calendar.

Out of a shortlist of 9 shows which were announced earlier this week including Gary Starr – Classic Penguins, Flo & Joan starring George Fouracres (UK) – One Man Musical, Ahir Shah (UK) – Ends, Olga Koch (UK/Russia) – Olga Koch Comes From Money, Lou Wall – Breaking the Fifth Wall, Brett Blake – Little Turd, Greg Larsen – Geggy, Rahul Subramanian (India) – Who Are You? and Scout Boxall – God’s Favourite, the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Most Outstanding Show award was given to Garry Starr for his show Classic Penguins a visual wordplay on the literature classics.

The Best Newcomer Award, for the best solo performer or group of performers doing their first Festival show, went to Jessica Barton for her impressive debut – a combination of song, dance, clowning – Dirty Work.

Best Newcomer nominations included: Anisa Nandaula – You Can’t Say That, Ethan Cavanagh – Bond, Lost My Bond, Kura Forrester (NZ) – Here if you Need, Meg Jäger – Renaissance Woman, Rapha Manajem – The Salmon Was Good and Robyn Reynolds – What Doesn’t Kill You.

The People’s Choice Award for the most popular show of the Festival, as determined by the ticket buying public, went to Urzila Carlson for her show You Don’t Say, which filled up the Palais Theatre a whopping 10 nights.

Directors’ Choice Award, awarded by the Festival Director Susan Provan in consultation with festival programming colleagues to a show they think deserves celebration went to both Dan Rath and Noah Szto.

The Pinder Prize, honouring Festival co-founder John Pinder and awarded in collaboration with Assembly Edinburgh will support Scout Boxall to travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with their show God’s Favourite.

The Golden Gibbo – in memory of the late, great Lynda Gibson – is aimed at finding a local, independent show that pursues the artists’ idea more than it pursues commercial gain. This year, the award went to Kate Dolan for The Critic in which she gives voice to her not-so-secret inner critic.

The nominees were: Kate Dolan – The Critic, Andy Balloch – The Wedding, Taylor Griffiths – Sublime Avenue, Conor Lynch – Chimp, Sugar Bits – Feminist Trash and Charlie Lewin – Frogaccini.

The Piece of Wood comics’ choice award, selected by past winners and presented to a peer literally for “doin’ good stuff ‘n’ that” was awarded to Daniell Connell.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from 26 March – 20 April. For more information and to buy tickets, visit comedyfestival.com.au