Mini comedy festival primed for mid-January

COMEDY fans looking for a great night out during the doldrums of the period between New Year’s and Australia Day can look forward to a hard-to-resist gap filler – the new Bendigo Mini Comedy Festival (16-18 January).

The program’s debut is an opportunity for local and nationally known comedians to trial new routines destined for a slew of capital city festivals in the first half of 2026, safe in the knowledge that Bendigo audiences are well known for their enthusiastic receptions.

Organiser and Comedy Victoria lead producer Luke Morris said the concept comes off the back of a hugely successful festival proper last October.

“It went really well,” he said. “We had our biggest audiences, biggest number of shows and we had to add on extra because so many sold out.

“Having sold out shows kind of flies in the face of the economy at the moment but people were really happy – I kept waiting for something to break and nothing did.”

Mr Morris said the modus operandi of the new festival is to provide as much variety as possible while keeping the entry prices low.

“You can’t tell people to come and see shows if there’s not something for everyone,” he said.

“Some of the acts are bringing all their best jokes from the year of writing.

“If you’re a nudist, there’s a (comedian) who’s going to perform nude.

“If you’re into storytelling you’ve got Simon Taylor, who’s been all around the world.

“Then you’ve got Danny McGinlay, who’s basically going to do an hour of crowd work and he’s excellent.

“Different acts, different ways of approaching comedy.”

Mr Morris said there’s plenty of reasons why ticket prices can be kept reasonable.

“I’ve got to thank the volunteers for their support to be able to do that and the venues too,” he said.

“The artists are also aware that you can’t keep putting the prices up (even though) coming to Bendigo isn’t free petrol and isn’t free accommodation.”

While this is the first time around for the abbreviated festival, there’s hopes it will be ongoing.

“We’ve built up enough of a reputation that people know that (our events) are worth putting the money towards – they’re going to be good,” he said.

“The end goal is for people to liken us to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

“It used to be, ‘oh it’s at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, it must be good’. We want people to think, ‘it’s at the Bendigo Comedy Festival, it must be good’.

“You’ve got to maintain a high quality because trust is more important than ever. There’s a lot out there trying to get people’s attention so you never want to let your audience down.”

The Bendigo Mini Comedy Festival takes place from 16 to 18 January.

Find out more on the Bendigo Comedy Festival website.