Queer EIGHT COMEDIANS YOU CAN’T MISS!

AFTER A NOT-SO-FUNNY FEW YEARS OF COVID LOCKDOWNS THE CANBERRA COMEDY FESTIVAL IS BACK, AND IN A BIG WAY!

FROM OLD FAVOURITES TO SOME GREAT NEW TALENT, THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL IS PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS.

We spoke with James Stevenson, one of the festival organisers, about this year’s exciting lineup of talent and are super excited to share our eight favourite LGBTIQ+ comedians headlining this year.

FUSE: How long has the festival been running in Canberra, and what changes have you seen over the years?

JAMES: We’ve been running the Comedy Festival since 2013 so this year is our tenth anniversary. Probably the biggest change we’ve seen is that in our first year we stuck to mainly stand-up, but now we bring all sorts of acts, and people take a chance on a much wider variety of shows. This year we’ve got stand-up (of course) alongside music, theatre, absurd, and sketch — we even have some (almost) Shakespeare!

FUSE: The lineup is awesome this year. Is there anyone in particular you’re super excited about?

JAMES: A really exciting show is Jordan Gray — Is it a Bird? The show sold out its entire run at the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for the world’s biggest comedy award, so it’s a real coup to have Jordan play intimate shows in Canberra. I’m also beyond pumped to have Larry Dean back, one of the best stand-ups bringing his multi-award nominated show Fudnut!

FUSE: It’s fantastic to see so many queer comedians heading to Canberra; what do you think they bring to the festival?

JAMES: We love having a diverse range of acts — they bring so much to the festival! Great creative approaches to shows and different sides of thinking, but most of all, they just bring flat-out hilarity to the festival.

Jordan Gray describers herself as an amazing, evil, incredible, disgusting, ground breaking, god-insulting transgender comic that once broke the internet.

By Alexander Thatcher

FUSE: Do you ever find that there is controversy with some of the acts, and what are your thoughts about that?

JAMES: We haven’t had too much controversy over the years! We don’t shy away from boundary pushers, we luckily got to host a few early performances of Nannette before it went global, and that definitely pushed the boundaries. I think most comedians sit on the same side of the fence when it comes to their views anyway, so I wouldn’t call them controversial. I suppose at the end of the day, we aren’t going to police anyone’s content (nor can we — it’s live entertainment!) — but if we can see pushback from our staff, audiences or the other comedians, we definitely listen to that.

FUSE: It’s certainly so great to see so much diversity. Is that something that has just happened naturally, or is it something you have purposely encouraged?

JAMES: We’re glad to foster a diverse community of shows, and I think they go hand in hand with each other. We are a curated festival and actively encourage and ensure LGBTIQ+ folk in our programming. At the end of the day, if the festival is a good place to bring a show — word gets out, and more diverse acts approach us about being involved, which helps us grow naturally, too!

See our fav queer comedians over the page.

The 2023 Canberra Comedy Festival is running from 16 - 26 March; with a slew of incredible LGBTIQ+ talent, it’s a must-see! Here are our favourites!

Jordan Gray

Following a sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, UK’s premier transgender comedian takes on babies, boobies, bigots and Batman in a blistering hour of music and comedy.

This hilarious, bold show will change lives.

Geraldine Hickey

Geraldine is a master of relaxed and friendly comedy with hilarious stories about getting married, cameras and birds.

Geraldine promisies a very joyful show with plenty of laughs!

Stephen K Amos

UK funny man Stephen K Amos returns to Australia due to overwhelming popular demand with a collection of his best bits.

Don’t miss one of the most likeable gays in British comedy!

Frankie Mcnair

A peek into the anxious brain of an aggressively optimistic dyslexic queer nightmare who was raised by TV and is trying their best.

Frankie’s mum still frequently asks if they need money. They do!