Acts (2011)
JEFF GREEN
Jeff appears for one night only in JEFF GREEN Live at the Theatre Royal
Award-winning British comedian Jeff Green has become a well known face and voice on Australian TV and radio since arriving for his first Melbourne International Comedy Festival performance. Amongst his many Australian TV credits are Spicks and Specks (ABC), Good News Week (TEN), The Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala (Ten) and Between the Lines (Nine). Now an Australian resident (he has an Australian wife, some have accused him of social climbing but he disputes that), Jeff is hugely in demand in the UK, Europe and Asia and his stand-up comedy background is impressive with a solo West-End season and three full length UK TV comedy specials under his belt.
“Pin-sharp comedy beautifully delivered” – The London Evening Standard
“Jeff is one of the best comedians in the land” – The Guardian, UK
“Jeff Green is fast becoming a national treasure” – Daily Mirror, UK
“One of the greats of pure laugh-out-loud comedy” – Herald Sun
DENISE SCOTT
Denise appears for one night only in The BIG Finale at the Theatre Royal
As career breakthroughs go, this one took a while. Denise first started working as a professional actor and comedian nearly thirty years ago, but it has been in the last five years that Scotty has been selling out theatres and finding her books creeping towards best seller status. In 2004, Scotty received a Barry Award nomination for Best Show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival for her sold out festival hit, Scotty and Son, which featured her 19 year-old son. She also penned a book, All That Happened at Number 26, a memoir that Scotty brought to the stage in 2009. Quickly a sell out hit with seasons in the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Sydney Opera House, it was then reprised in 2010 with two sold out shows at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre. Scotty’s 2011 stand-up show, Regrets, toured to the Brisbane Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Comedy Festival where Denise was awarded the Directors’ Choice Award.Scotty is a favourite guest on many of Australia’s favourite TV shows, including Spicks and Specks, The 7PM Project, Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation, The Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala and Good News Week. You can also now see her as a regular on Channel 7’s new high rating drama Winners and Losers
“Scott affirms her status as one the country’s funniest” – The Age
“Scott only has to look as if she’s going to say something and everyone laughs” – Sunday Herald Sun
DAMIAN CALLINAN
Damian appears to MC The BIG Finale at the Theatre Royal… and maybe more…
Damian Callinan (Skithouse, Spicks and Specks, Before the Game, Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala) is one of the most prolific, versatile and creative comic artists working in Australia today. As an award-winning standup comic, TV sketch show star, broadcaster, director, actor and writer, Damian delights in creating and inhabiting off beat landscapes of ridiculous but fully realised, sympathetic characters. He works consistently in the corporate sector and is an accomplished comic actor, appearing in productions including the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), in venues from the Sydney Opera House to the Victorian Arts Centre. In 2010, Damian presented his 10th solo show, The Merger, a special commission from Vic Health and Regional Arts Victoria. Nominations include – Barry Awards Nominated Best Show, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2010, 2002, 2001; ABN Amro Award 2003; Moosehead Award recipient 2006 (Melbourne International Comedy Festival).
“Callinan is deserving of the wildest of applause” – Herald Sun
“Callinan is clever, intelligent and terrifically talented” – The Age
PETER BERNER
Peter appears for one night only in The BIG Finale at the Theatre Royal
Peter Berner has been constantly employed on TV and radio since 2001. He is known and loved nationally from ABC television’s BackBerner and more recently Einstein Factor as well as being a regular guest on Ten’s Good News Week. All up he has presented more than 300 hours of national television. Without doubt one of Australia’s most popular and respected entertainers and stand-up comics, in 2008 he commenced hosting his own program on the Triple M Network, The Peter Berner Experiment. This is extraordinary proof of unique talent – solo shows are rare in the world of FM Radio. It proved a ratings winner. Peter started his career as a stand up comic in 1988 and has performed nationally and internationally. He has written and performed solo comedy shows in festivals in Australia and the UK. His intelligent humour has always set him apart as one performer who can comfortably straddle comedy styles as disparate as satire, observational comedy and reactive comedy with ease, always leaving audiences in hysterics. His versatility and skill have made him a true icon of Australian comedy.
“Berner wants your laughter – and gets it without compromise” - Adelaide Advertiser
“Berner his audience eating from his hand” – The Australian
“Hellishly funny” – dbMagazine
“Will leave you wondering how it is BackBerner no longer graces our television screens” – The Pun
JUSTIN HAMILTON
Justin appears in the 9:15 Comedy Showcase
Justin Hamilton has carved out an incredibly successful career as a stand up comedian, writer and director. In 2010, Justin appeared in The Librarians as the recurring character Biscuit. A regular guest on television and radio on Triple J and Mix FM Perth, in 2009 he wrote and starred in Goodbye Ruby Tuesday a play that Aussie Theatre Review stated was “…intelligent and surprising storytelling”. 2010 saw Justin return to what he does best with his stand up show Idiot Man Child touring Australia. He won the 2007 Melbourne Comedy Festival Director’s Award for his show Three Colours Hammo, a show that also won the Adelaide Advertiser’s best show award at the 2008 Adelaide Fringe. His 2008 show The Killing Joke was nominated for best show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. He has toured Australia as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow from 2002 to 2011, and supported Wil Anderson on national tours from 2006 to 2010. His new show Circular was a hit at the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
MIKE GOLDSTEIN (USA)
Mike appears in the Blundstone Comedy Bootique
Having toured extensively in Australia and abroad, American stand-up comedian Mike Goldstein has established himself as a unique and refreshing young talent on the comedy circuit. Mike’s credits include: Green Faces National Finalist 2005, Raw Comedy State Finalist 2006, State Finalist ‘Catch a Rising Star’ 2009 Comedy Competition in New York, People’s Choice Award – Golden Gavel 2009, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2009, Winner – RottoFest Comedy Competition 2009.
As well as performing stand-up on his frequent trips back to America, Mike has also recently performed to sell out crowds in South East Asia and appeared on Melbourne’s Champagne Comedy TV special, the Rove Daily web-site and Triple J’s radio show J-Arts.
SIMON McKINNEY (NZ)
Simon appears in the 9:15 Comedy Showcase
Simon McKinney is NZ’s #1 stand up Character Impressionist and a much sought after comedian. His impressions are now so well known in NZ that they are mimicked by the public. Simon returned from a 2 year stint on the UK pro circuit in 2004, where he performed at two Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and then went on to do a massive 300 gig run across Britain. Since then his appearances at the NZ International Comedy Festival have earned him a Billy T Award Nomination and in 2007 he was voted by his peers as NZ’s “Best Male Comedian” at the NZ Comedy Guild Awards and in 2010 was awarded the “Reilly Comedy Award”, by the Variety Artists of New Zealand. At the 2011 NZ International Comedy Festival, Simon was nominated for the Festival’s supreme award “The Fred” for his show “People”. In 2011 Simon was invited to open for Irish comedy legend, Tommy Tiernan and the USA’s Greg Proops when they toured NZ.
MEL BUTTLE
Mel appears in the 9:15 Comedy Showcase
Possibly Australia’s only juvenile delinquent-teaching, rap-battling, twitter-ific gourmand to ever don a vintage frock on the comedy stage, to say that Mel Buttle is a hilarious bundle of contradictions is an understatement. Perhaps her background teaching in some of the toughest schools in Queensland, and a passionate obsession with gangsta rap aren’t so inconsistent. Mel is a regular feature of Richard Fidler’s program on ABC Local Radio Brisbane and also the Meshel, Tim and Marty show on Nova Brisbane. She is a prolific writer and blogger, with a regular column in the Brisbane Courier Mail, co-writing Josh Thomas’ 2011 live show Everything Ever and contributing to a number of live and TV projects in development. Mel was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award for her debut show at the 2010 Melbourne Comedy Festival. She has sold out two seasons of solo shows in Melbourne and the Brisbane Comedy Festival, and tours on the national circuit extensively. But perhaps her proudest achievement has been to score three tweets on ABC TV’s Q&A in three straight weeks.
KATE McLENNAN
Kate appears in the Blundstone Comedy Bootique
Kate McLennan has gained a reputation as one of Australia’s funniest ladies, most notably working as a character comedian on The Mansion for the Comedy Channel, Ben Elton’s Live from Planet Earth and the 2009 Logies ‘Road to Gold’ sketches. Kate’s award-winning one-woman stage show, The Debutante Diaries, recently toured Australian capital cities, regional centres and country areas. This critically acclaimed show was nominated for a Barry Award in the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and also won the award for Best Newcomer and Best Comedy at 2006 Melbourne Fringe. She also received glowing reviews for the show in the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She regularly performs both stand-up and character based comedy at various clubs around Melbourne. She also records a comical football podcast called The Downlow with Anne Edmonds and Geraldine Hickey. Her television credits include Ben Elton’s Live From Planet Earth, Offspring, The Mansion, Studio A, Let Loose Live, The Nation, MDA, Vulture and Stingers.
GAVIN BASKERVILLE
Gavin appears to MC Late and Local
Gavin has been performing as a comedian and MC since 1999 when he won the WA State Final of the national Raw Comedy competition. He performs regularly in Hobart, Melbourne and WA, and runs education courses and other workshops to teach people about writing and performing comedy.
He has hosted a wide range of events, dinners, awards nights and other functions. Among Gavin’s TV credits are appearances on ‘Stand Up! Australia’ (Comedy Channel), ‘7PM Project’ (Channel Ten), and a number of TV commercials. He has been a regular guest on ABC local radio and has written, produced and performed in seven different Melbourne International Comedy Festival shows.
EUROPEAN MAN
European Man appears in the Blundstone Comedy Bootique
Imagine if a man from Europe moved to Australia. Well, one did. That man was European Man. Now he lives in Melbourne with his cat and Sally Carmichael. European Man has a job and catches the train to work! Last year, European Man performed his first comedy show at the 2010 Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festivals, European Man 1. In 2011 he performed his second show, European Man 2.
European Man may exist with the assistance of expat Tasmanian Ted Wilson, now resident in Melbourne. The Hobart Comedy Festival is proud to bring them home / from Europe.
“Brilliantly inept…European Man won the crowd over and kept them laughing” - Chortle
LUKE McGREGOR AND JOHN CAMBO CAMPBELL
Luke and Cambo appear in Late and Local
Luke McGregor is now a favourite around the Melbourne comedy scene and is a regular guest on Channel 31′s Studio A . He has performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, was a national finalist in the Raw Comedy competition in 2008, and has been a guest on Nova’s Summer Lovin’ podcast with Ed Kavalee and Tony Martin. Cambo (John Campbell) is best known for his narrative “comedy noir” style of delivery but also has experience in sketch comedy and improv. He currently writes and performs on Melbourne television’s Studio A (Channel 31). In 2011 the duo performed their debut show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in the show Luke and Cambo – Get all the bitches.
