FRESH
The Sydney Comedy Festival is proud to present the FRESHest acts of the festival. Spanning from all corners of the country, these comedians are taking part in the festival for the very first time.
With all tickets being under $22, come along and catch some of Australia’s up-and-coming acts before they become household names.
STELLA WU – ASIAN BABY GIRL
Asian Baby Girl is part cultural roast, part motherhood panic spiral, and part rebellious love letter to the next generation. From superstition and beauty standards to family guilt and “good girl” conditioning, Stella Wu (Hong Kong-born, Sydney-based, dangerously honest) is rewriting the rule book — before her daughter gets issued one.
TOBY BEROWNE – GEN Z: WHO ASKED?
Kicking off the show with Toby’s fever dream-like, edgy, surreal stand-up comedy. One moment he’s roasting Zoomer brain-rot and jean shorts; the next, he’s mocking Millennials for burning CDs, hoarding video-store memories, and insisting they had it so hard.
Pulling stories from backpacking, nearly getting expelled from school, and the curse of dysfunctional family genetics. He may not be the sharpest knife in the block — but at least he’s in there.
GRANT MUSHET – GOOD DICK ENERGY
Good Dick Energy is an award-nominated show performed by finalist of 2025 Australian Comedian of the Year – Grant Mushet. The show is high energy, part improvised, part storytelling, slightly dark, daft and brilliant! Touching on adolescence, trauma, addiction, immigration, starting over, finding purpose, sex, travel, family life and much more.
MANDY SCOTNEY – MARRIED FOR 6 WEEKS
Mandy’s incredibly honest debut solo comedy show explores the rocky terrain of whirlwind romance, ignoring all the red flags and navigating the aftermath of saying “yes” when every instinct screamed “no”.
As a ‘woman of a certain age’ Mandy Scotney is one of Sydney’s oldest emerging comedians. She’s also a PhD candidate – so she’s smart, funny … and modest. But like her mum says, she may be smart but she doesn’t always make great life decisions (as this show proves!).
RAPHA MANAJEM – THE SALMON WAS GOOD
Best Newcomer Nominee, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2025.
I went through Tom Gleeson’s trash for a year to get an insight into the nation’s greatest artistic product since Blue Heelers. What I found will delight and disgust you. It will change the way you see the world and understand the human condition.
This show was nominated for an award – and I am no longer allowed within 2km of any of Tom Gleeson’s homes.
ETHAN CAVANAGH – BOND, LOST MY BOND
Coming in hot from a world tour and a Las Vegas residency in 2025, comedian and serial renter Ethan Cavanagh makes his long-awaited Sydney Comedy Festival solo debut.
As well as obliterating Ethan’s prospects of home ownership, Bond, Lost My Bond promises a cathartic barrage of laughs with material covering everything from serial killers to property managers (same difference, let’s be honest), plus a smattering of Venn Diagrams for the PowerPoint fans.
SUMA IYER – JESUS CHRIST SUMA STAR
Because I most closely resembled a Middle-Eastern man of all the students in my year, I was asked to be Jesus at the Easter Mass at my Catholic girls’ school. Up on stage, I revealed that I was not just a teenage girl wearing a fake beard pretending to be the Son of God. I was the real thing – the brown queer Messiah.
SEAN COLLIER – SHITEGEIST
After his award-winning debut show “Write-off” notorious Kiwi comedian Sean Collier brings his fresh new hour to Sydney for the very first time!
A late twenties lawyer-turned-comedian with too much comprehension for his own good, Colliers comedy is equal parts absurd and existential, covering topics from societal collapse and internet culture to concussions in rugby and meat pies.
KIRSTY CARR – ME & MY DRUNKEN INNER CHILD
Kirsty Carr’s one-woman whirlwind, ‘Me and My Drunken Inner Child’, is a show that delivers lols and hard hitting truths in a gloriously chaotic package.
This isn’t just comedy; it’s a comedic catharsis.
Expect laughs with genuine introspection, Kirsty offers a comedic exploration of personal growth and resilience that will leave you feeling seen, entertained, and maybe a little less alone in your own beautiful mess.