THE FILM:

A hilarious tale of murder, blackmail, drug trafficking and rural police corruption. Two policemen must join forces to take on an international drug-smuggling gang – one, an unorthodox Irish policeman and the other, a straitlaced FBI agent. Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is an eccentric small-town cop with a confrontational and crass personality and a subversive sense of humor. A longtime policeman in County Galway, Boyle is a maverick with his own moral code. He has seen enough of the world to know there isn’t much to it and has had plenty of time to think about it. When a fellow police officer disappears and Boyle’s small town becomes key to a large drug trafficking investigation, he is forced to at least feign interest when dealing with the humourless FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) assigned to the case.

THE PRIZE:

We have 5 double passes to give away for entry to any session of The Guard once it commences screening exclusively at the State Cinema in Hobart on September 8, 2011.

THE COMP:

To enter for a chance to win 1 double pass, please email your name to offers@hobartcomfest.com by 5.00pm on Monday September 5, 2011.

Alternatively, if you ‘like’ the comment about this give-away on the festivals Facebook page, you will also be in the running.

It wrapped up with “The Big Finale” on Saturday 30 July. As well as the Damian Callinan as Master of Ceremonies and headliners Peter Berner and Denise Scott there were some surprises along the way. Australian comedy legend Anthony Morgan and ex-Burnie/now-professional comedian Josh Earl popped in. So did Janet A. McLeod from Melbourne and Hobart emerging comedian Peter Escott. The event was the perfect end to another highly successful year, with bums on 100% of all seats at “The Big Finale”.

Is Hobart is a good luck charm, or does it simply attract the best of the best?

Denise Scott flew direct from The Hobart Comedy Festival (after a visit to MONA) to Sydney to attend the 2011 Helpmann Awards on Monday 1 August – where she picked up the gong for Best Comedy Performer 2011. Hobart knows how to pick winners! DeAnne Smith from the USA, who appeared at the 2010 Hobart Comedy Festival, was in 2011 nominated for the prestigious Barry Award at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Hobart is also an incubator of exciting new projects. On Friday 29 July a new radio event was recorded by ABC Local Radio starring Damian Callinan and Cal Wilson. “Damian Callinan’s IN LOCAL NEWS” will hopefully be hitting the airwaves nationally soon. The live event had the audience in stitches and the edited-for-radio version is sure to deliver a tight package of cleverness, laughter and interaction.

On Wednesday 29 July at the Theatre Royal, UK comedy legend Jeff Green had them roaring with laughter and packed to the rafters, and he has already said “bring me back Hobart”, so that will be on the producers’ radar for the future.

The first week of the Festival ran a string of shows at the Theatre Royal Backspace – “The Blundstone Comedy Bootique” saw Justin Hamilton, Mel Buttle, Kate McLennan, European man, Mike Goldstein (USA) and Simon McKinney (NZ) tearing up the room with an array of comic styles and a wealth of laughter and entertainment. On saturday 23 July “Late and Local” also managed to squeeze some of Tasmania’s emerging comedians onto the bill, along with Hobart ex-pats John Campbell and Luke McGregor, now based in Melbourne.

The critical and public response to the event has been overwhelmingly supportive and the focus now turns to 2012 and some major plans to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Hobart Comedy Festival. Yes – it is turning 10!

ENDS