Fest’s best warming up outta town

AHEAD of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s launch in late-March, some of Australia’s best comics, and Ballarat’s newest, will perform locally.

As part of the MICF Outta Town initiative, Dilruk Jayasinha of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! fame, Daniel Connell notable for the 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, and Alex Ward as seen on Have you been paying attention? will perform at the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute from 8pm on Saturday, 26 February.

The following Friday, 4 March, will see brand-new local stand-up performers take to the BallaRatCat Comedy stage at 8pm for a short set as part of a district RAW Comedy heat.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival director Susan Provan said she’s looking forward to making quality live comedy more accessible.

“We are excited to be partnering with Visit Victoria to deliver greatly expanded opportunities for comedy fans in the coming months,” she said.

“The series of comedy weekends in regional Victoria will be a wonderful opportunity to bounce back and reconnect with our audiences and is a great excuse for a weekend getaway.”

MICF is seeking fresh, funny, unique comic voices to be part of RAW in 2022, which will conclude with a final at the Melbourne Town Hall. The annual competition has regional heats in all states and territories, and is the largest open mic in Australia.

MICF Outta Town is also heading to more regional centres including Geelong, Warrnambool, Hamilton, Portland and more.

Visit bit.ly/3uF5GFQ for tickets to the BMI show with Dilruk Jayasinha, Daniel Connell and Alex Ward, or ballaratcat.com.au to attend the RAW Comedy heat at The George Hotel.