Comedy Fest success despite the big wet

WHILE the rain may have come down last week it didn’t stop the Bendigo Comedy Festival bringing cheer to town, for the most part.

Following the gala launch on Wednesday, proceedings were paused on Thursday due to restricted travel advice, but light-heated lols were soon back on the agenda for the remaining three days.

Co-organiser and comedian Ash Greblo said despite the interruption, the event was well attended and well received.

“There were definitely some high points, unfortunately some of those high points were water levels,” he said.

“Due to the floods, we did have to cancel the Thursday, but the rest of the festival was an overwhelming success in the end.

“There were great numbers for pretty much every show across all the different venues, and in turn, with the big crowd, it was big laughs from everybody.”

With parts of Bendigo and the wider region impacted by the floods, Greblo said it was important the shows went on and gave people an escape from the challenges being experienced statewide.

“The safe thing to do was not to encourage people to drive to the venues on Thursday,” he said.

“Then when we could excitedly say on the Friday, ‘hey, we are back on,’ people rocked up and they said they were so glad.”

Both the gala and the local showcase were sell-outs, and Greblo said the multi-show day passes also proved a hit.

“The day passes across the fest were the most popular,” he said. “We had people come in and see three or four shows a night.”

Yet there’s no rest for the wickedly funny, with organisers already planning for next year’s event.

“We’ve taken on a lot of feedback about how good the day passes are and how people would like package passes so they can pick the shows,” Greblo said.

“We’re taking all that on board and starting to try and work out what we can have for next year.

“We’ve decided to stay in the Engine Room. They are happy to have us, and we’re stoked too. One of the things people said was how good the old fire station is, it’s such a great venue.

“We’re just really thankful for the community. Not just the audience but the sponsors, and the volunteers. The organising committee is not huge but the team behind it feels pretty big.”