The Sydney Comedy Festival is Sydney’s biggest annual comedy event. Every April and May, over 250 of the best comedians from Australia and beyond take to stages across Sydney for a massive month of comedy, followed by a national Showcase Tour from May to December.
The Festival kicks off in grand style with lavish gala events: the Sydney Comedy Festival Gala at the Sydney Opera House, Enmore Theatre, The Concourse Chatswood, Performing Arts Centre Sutherland and Riverside Theatres in Parramatta.
The Festival program features performances from the finest Australian acts, the biggest international stars and the most promising emerging talent offering up everything from stand up to sketch, satire, impro, musical, absurdist, theatre, magic and kids comedy.
Advocating & Supporting New Comedy
Advocating & Supporting New Comedy
In addition to presenting the biggest international stars and local legends, the Festival is a keen advocate and supporter of new Australian talent.
Through the FRESH program, the Festival offers new Australian talent financial assistance, marketing support and professional advice to allow them to present a successful show, gain valuable experience and grow their audience.
FRESH’s many success stories include the likes of Ronny Chieng and Matt Okine (joint Winners of the MICF Best Newcomer, 2012), Lou Sanz (Winner: Best of the Comedy Festival: Critics Choice, 2012), Cassie Workman (Winner: MICF Best Newcomer, 2011), Rhys Nicholson (Winner: SCF Best Newcomer, 2012), Corey White (Winner: SCF & MICF Best Newcomer, 2015). Phew, that’s a lot of awards!
2024 AWARD WINNERS
2024 AWARD WINNERS
On Sunday 19 May, Sydney’s biggest annual comedy event, the Sydney Comedy Festival, drew to a close with the announcement of its 2024 award winners: Lou Wall,David Correos, and Elouise Eftos who each took home along with their trophy a $1500 prize.
This year, the prestigious Best of the Fest Award went to Lou Wall for The Bisexual’s Lament. The show, which was directed by Zoe Coombs Marr was a masterclass in storytelling, joke-telling and power point delivery which ran through a compelling list of things that made the artist laugh and what a list it was. From hard to believe social media interactions, to family in-jokes and quirky observations, it was a laugh out loud hour of comedy that left all of the award judges aching from laughter. Lou will be performing a special encore performance of their show at the Comedy Store on the 7th oh of June. Tickets can be purchased here.
The Best Newcomer Award, presented to an act presenting at the Sydney Comedy Festival for the first time, went to the outrageous New Zealand comic David Correos, who’s show I Can’t Stop Vibrating saw a mix of physical theatrics, jokes and stories from his life, and the culmination of years putting his body and mind on the line for the sake of entertainment.
The Festival’s Director’s Choice award went to Elouise Eftos for her show Austalia’s First Attractive Comedian, which is a raucous romp through the life of a quadruple threat, tackling outdated feminism and disgusting men through stand-up, extensive dance training, a trained singing voice and professional acting.
A huge congratulations to the award winners of the 2024 Sydney Comedy Festival!
