Melbourne’s annual transformation into the funniest city on the planet is back, and this year, it comes with a birthday cake. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival has grown to host a program of almost 700 shows and thousands of performances across more than 130 venues, cementing it as the world’s largest dedicated comedy festival.
On the program this year, we can expect a world-class mix of returning legends, fresh international talent, and a handful of special anniversary events that promise to be genuinely unmissable. Whether you’re a festival regular with a notebook full of shows already booked or someone who’s been meaning to make the pilgrimage for years, this is the one to do it finally.
If you’re in the latter camp and are wondering where to start, we wanted to wrap up a few of the very funniest performances locked in for the 2026 edition to take the guesswork out of it. The 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from March 25 to April 19, so there’s still plenty of time to book tickets.
Daniel Sloss – Bitter
Scotland’s international comedy superstar Daniel Sloss has toured through 55 countries, sold out nine New York off-Broadway theatre seasons, and has been performing stand-up for more than half his lifetime.
Bitter is his 13th solo show, and if history is any guide (his Netflix specials Dark and Jigsaw both becoming touchstones for a generation of comedy fans), it will be one of the hardest tickets to secure at this year’s festival. It will sell out, so book early.
Dates: April 12 to 18
Tickets: $79 to $89
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne – Hamer Hall, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Josh Thomas – Jiggle Jiggle
There’s a version of this festival that doesn’t include Josh Thomas on the programme, but no one remembers what it looks like, because Thomas started doing stand-up more than two decades ago. In that time, he’s won prizes, lost more than his fair share of celebrity reality TV shows, and created international sensations with Please Like Me and Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.
His particular talent is a kind of wide-eyed, slightly manic sincerity that translates just as well to stand-up as it does to television, confirming him as one of those rare comedians who make vulnerability feel equal parts effortless and amusing. Jiggle Jiggle is his latest hour, and if you’ve not seen him live before, there’s no better time.
Dates: March 26 to April 19
Tickets: $42 to $52
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne – Fairfax Studio, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Hannah Gadsby – The Evening Muse
It was 2018 when the world took proper notice of Hannah Gadsby, when their groundbreaking comedy special Nanette launched on Netflix and earned them an Emmy, a Peabody, and Most Outstanding Show awards at both MICF and Edinburgh Fringe. Since then, three more Netflix specials have followed, each a masterclass in using comedy as a structural device for social commentary.
For 2026, they’re back in Melbourne with something genuinely different. The Evening Muse is a live talk show, serving up different content each night of the week, and one that invites audiences to join Hannah on a mission to reconnect with the world. It’s part event, part experiment, and entirely worth your time.
Dates: March 26 to April 19
Tickets: $45 to $64
Venue: Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank
Wil Anderson – Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout Wil?
After a 2025 sold-out national tour of his completely improvised stand-up show, Wil Anderson is back for more of the same, with no script, no recordings, and every night promising a different show that’s been tailored for the audience in the room.
For anyone who’s not seen the improvised format before, it’s well worth a closer look, with Anderson’s comic instincts among the sharpest in Australian comedy and the same that have led him to a Helpmann Award winner, six-time MICF People’s Choice Award recipient, and host of ABC TV’s Gruen.
Dates: March 26 to April 19
Tickets: $39 to $49
Venue: Comedy Republic, 231 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Urzila Carlson – Fatty On a Yacht
Urzila Carlson is one of Australia and New Zealand’s biggest comedy stars. In 2025, she won the prestigious MICF People’s Choice Award for most tickets sold for an incredible fourth time, after wins in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
She is also one of the most reliable acts at this festival, consistently delivering exactly what she promises, which is sharp, deadpan, and unpretentiously funny material about the experience of not quite fitting in anywhere. Her new show, Fatty On a Yacht, is for anyone who’s ever had the experience of not fitting in, standing out, and laughing about it anyway.
Dates: April 7 to 19
Tickets: $40 to $60
Venue: Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda
Tom Gleeson – Out of Touch
Tom Gleeson is a gold-plated comedy superstar, and love it or loathe it, Hard Quiz has blitzed the ratings as it enters its 11th season, earning him Australian television’s gong of gongs: the Gold Logie.
Out of Touch leans fully into Gleeson’s carefully cultivated reputation as someone with natural disdain for the public, showcasing exactly why he’s one of those rare comedians who’s actually funnier live than he is on television. The Regent is a proper room for a proper headliner, and this should be one of the livelier, more combative evenings you’ll spend at this year’s festival.
Dates: April 9 to 19
Tickets: $49 to $69
Venue: Regent Theatre, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne
Sam Jay – We The People (USA)
Sam Jay, fresh from a Best Show nomination at Edinburgh Fringe, explores how a woman who never truly felt a part of her country grapples with its certain demise.
Jay is one of the most talked-about voices in American comedy right now, working as an SNL writer and a comedian who consistently earns the kind of critical reception that matters, with the New York Times calling her “one of the most exciting provocateurs in comedy right now.”
For anyone keen to see a show that’ll leave them thinking well past the final punchline, Jay’s MICF debut is the international act to catch at this year’s festival.
Dates: From 25 March
Tickets: $29 to $35
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall and various festival venues
If you enjoyed this wrap-up of the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, you might enjoy some of Boss Hunting’s other Melbourne-focused content below:
