Sydney Comedy Festival 2016

By Ben Stephens.

As you read this, an International Comedy Festival is currently taking over our rival city. Filling the Hi-Fi Bar with the top comics on a nightly basis, Melbourne holds a tight grasp around the award for ‘favourable city to host a comedy festival’. However, the Sydney Comedy Festival 2016 programme just dropped and it’s packed – over 200 individual shows are scheduled, with more guerrilla events still to be named. With this in mind, it seems Sydney is about to put on a solid fight for the Aussie comedy city crown. Either way, the people of Sydney are the real winners here, with international hilarious humans and heaps of our favourite national funny figures, the festival has something for everyone. Now you can’t actually make it to all of the 20+ shows, so you’ll need to focus on who’s hot at the moment and the acts that you don’t want to miss. So please read on for our highlights of the Sydney Comedy Festival 2016

Daniel Sloss

All the way from Scotland, Sloss received four solid stars at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, on top of selling out eight consecutive Fringe seasons, Ted Talks and managed to throw in a season in New York. He is 25 and absolutely slaying the stand up scene. This year Sloss will be bringing his show Dark to Sydney for one night only, cleverly on May 13… or Black Friday. See what he did there. It was probably a coincidence. These tickets are selling fast, get moving.

A photo posted by Daniel Sloss (@danielsloss) on Feb 24, 2016 at 7:17pm PST

Joel Creasey

Fresh from the South African jungle where he co-hosted the up late version of I’m A Celebrity, Joel is ready to unleash all that comic goodness that is The Crown Prince. Joel has been everywhere over the last year, mainly his five-star review from Time Out New York and then another five-star review of his Edinburgh Fringe show. Joel will whack a giggle out of before you know it, from stories about his loving mother to those old school days. Interestingly enough, Joel will be the taking the earlier slot on the same day as Sloss… Friday 13.

A photo posted by Joel Creasey (@joelcreasey) on Feb 13, 2016 at 5:51pm PST

Lawrence Mooney

Some in the industry refer to Mr Mooney is the godfather of Australian comedy… actually no one ever has said that about him, not yet anyway. Recently Mooney got fairly vocal on twitter after a rubbish review of what was being called a solid show on all other fronts. That same show, Moonman, will be at he Comedy Store for three nights in late April. Hot tip, grab the front seats.

A photo posted by Lawrence Mooney (@lawrencemooney) on Aug 20, 2015 at 12:55am PDT

Sydney Town Hall Gala

For the first time ever and on top of the already sold out gala show at the Opera House, the Sydney Comedy Festival will be taking over Town Hall to bring a rather Melbourne vibe to the festival. This one shouldn’t be missed. No line up, just a guarantee of a hilarious night with who ever is in town.

Wil Anderson

So this show isn’t an official Sydney Comedy Festival, though what is a comedy festival without Wil. From the Glass House to Gruen, the ABC host has been very busy over the last couple of years establishing his career in the US. This along with a Gruen season dependant on when the federal election will be called, leaves Ando with limited time for Sydney. One night, two shows. Tickets are almost gone for the earlier one but there are still a solid handful for the later show, you know, when Wil has had more to drink. Grab those tickets from the Sydney Opera House.

A photo posted by Wil Anderson (@wilarious) on Dec 1, 2014 at 8:09pm PST

Sydney Comedy Festival 2016 runs from April 18 to May 15. To grab further info and tickets check out the festival website.