Eight Events That'll Get You Giggling at Brisbane Comedy Festival 2023 Beyond the Usual Stand-Up Sets

Feel a hankering for some chortles at this year’s Brisbane Comedy Festival, but don’t have the funds to fork out for any of the event’s international acts? Trying to squeeze in as many laughs as possible into your life in general? Keen to finish your working week with some laughs? All of the above situations are catered for at BCF’s Knockoff.

It’s similar to Brisbane Powerhouse’s old free comedy nights, but happening during the comedy fest — and it’s perfect for kicking off the weekend in the funniest way possible. This free Friday night comedy show on the Turbine Platform runs from 6pm each week between May 5–26, and will play host to some of the biggest up-and-comers in comedy (so, down the line, you can say you saw them when they were starting out).

When is a comedy show more than just a comedy show? When it is also supporting an excellent cause beyond getting audiences giggling, chuckling and guffawing. That’s what’s on the agenda at Frocking Hilarious, which isn’t just about showcasing Australia’s comedy queens — although that’s definitely a highlight — but also about raising funds to help champion women’s rights around the world.

Hitting Brisbane Powerhouse’s outdoor Pleasuredome from 8pm on Saturday, May 6: Claire Hooper as host, plus Michelle Brasier, Rose Callaghan, Emma Holland, Jo Gowda and Alexandra Hudson among the hilarious ladies busting out bite-sized comedy sets. They’ll be telling jokes to champion ActionAid’s work in 45 nations, and to fly the flag for battling gender inequality, poverty and injustice.

Laughing in a doubled-over, can’t breathe, feels-like-you-have-a-stitch kind of way isn’t a planned thing. It happens spontaneously. It happens without warning. It happens at times and from sources you mightn’t expect. That’s what Brisbane Comedy Festival‘s After Hours component is all about when it returns for 2023: making the humorous magic happen in a different fashion, away from the usual routines, well-oiled jokes and hilarious shows that unleash the same comic gems night after night.

Taking over The Studio at Brisbane Powerhouse on Saturday evenings throughout the fest — on May 6, May 13 and May 20, to be exact — this always-changing late-night show is a chance for everyone involved to get loose. As for who that might be each evening, well, that’s part of the surprise. The lineup changes weekly, and tickets to this variety show cost $25.

If you’re looking for laughs, there’s no wrong way to dive into a comedy festival program. Already splitting your sides just thinking about the big-name headliners? Keen on new comic discoveries? Like late-night giggles? They’re all options. And, at the 2023 Brisbane Comedy Festival, so is celebrating both cultural and comedic diversity during one hilarious afternoon at the fest’s Multicultural Comedy Gala.

In Brisbane Powerhouse’s Powerhouse Theatre from 4pm on Saturday, May 13, five supremely funny folks will make all the jokes they can — well, as many as they can fit into a gala set. On the bill: He Huang, Andy Saunders, Khaled Khalafalla, Neel Kolhatkar and Fiona O’Loughlin. That roster of talent means a lineup that spans everything from recent national RAW Comedy finalists to veterans. John Safran is also part of the fun, taking on hosting duties — aka adding his comedic stylings between the night’s other stars.

Any Sunday you like, you can tuck into a roast at home. If you’re particularly fond of the oven-baked meal, as everyone should be, you can enjoy a Sunday roast each and every week. But only Brisbane Comedy Festival‘s annual version combines its food with a different kind of roast — aka comedians busting out their most biting remarks.

Returning for 2023, Sunday Roast has a two-course feast and laughs on its menu, all at The Tivoli on Sunday, May 14. That date coincides with Mother’s Day, so if your mum is fond of a giggle and you’d like to treat her to a meal, here’s a rib-tickling solution. The lineup of talents taking to the microphone hasn’t been revealed, but expect a range of BCF’s best. Food-wise, you can opt for the sit-down meal for $120, or sit on the mezzanine and order snacks as you like for $70 (with whatever you eat costing extra). Both tickets include a glass of sparkling or beer on arrival.

Everybody, be cool. This isn’t a robbery — but it is a raucous rush through the filmography of one of the most distinctive directors of the past three decades. Two Man Tarantino is exactly what it sounds like, with two people hopping up on stage to re-enact diamond heists, twist dancing contests, blowing up bad guys, hunting down the hateful and more.

Running Wednesday–Sunday between Wednesday, May 17–Sunday, Saturday, May 28 as part of the 2023 Brisbane Comedy Festival, it’s a 70-minute-long recreation that also has the perfect framing device: it’s set in a video store. Everyone knows that’s where Quentin Tarantino‘s love of movies blossomed long before he was asking Samuel L Jackson to wax lyrical about royales with cheese — and revisiting the kind of shop that has died out in recent years is also part of the fun.

Love a murder-mystery? Frequently sleuthing your way through the genre’s very best? You might be feeling like you’ve seen every whodunnit ever. Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit is a cure for that sensation. In fact, even if you’ve seen it before — it debuted in Brisbane in 2016 — you haven’t seen it before.

Given that everything is made up on the night at each show by creator, director and star David Massingham and his cast, this production really isn’t ever the same twice. It still takes its cues from Agatha Christie, however, just like it’s one of the prolific author’s 1950s novels. And, as the title makes plain, it all happens in a village where anyone could’ve gotten murderous. From there, the audience helps suggests where things go — and the show’s actors react. You can see the results at the 2023 Brisbane Comedy Festival on Saturday, May 20–Sunday, May 21.

Top image: Mark Gambino.

If you’ve caught more than one or two shows at Brisbane Powerhouse in your time, as every Brisbanite has, then you’ve likely watched a thing or two at the Brisbane Comedy Festival. But The Kaye Hole by cabaret star Reuben Kaye isn’t any old performance — it’s a blend of circus, comedy, burlesque and drag (and cabaret, of course), and it’s a big highlight on 2023’s BCF lineup.

This is also firmly an adults-only affair, watching a performer who’s nabbed the Best Cabaret Awards at Fringe World Perth and Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, and also earned a nomination for the most outstanding show at 2021’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Kaye will unleash his cabaret variety act with a little help from his friends, and backed by a live band. You can check out their delights from 10pm on Friday, May 26–Saturday, May 27.

Image: Joel Devereaux.