The Six Best Things to See at Brisbane Comedy Festival 2017

Another year, another Brisbane Comedy Festival, another Sam Simmons set, another entry on our festival picks list. There’s a reason for all of that. We’d waffle on about anticipating a tried and true comedy formula, but where this absurdist talent is involved, that’d require knowing what to expect — and if there’s anything Simmons’ previous shows have taught us, it’s that expectation is futile. This is all the clues you get from Brisbane Powerhouse:

“Forty year old man sits on stage and reads the phone book. G Jones 08 323 7261. I wonder what he’s up to these days.”

His new show, A-K, does make one thing plain from the outset, though: he’s moving up in the Brisbane Powerhouse world. Indeed, for seasoned fans who’ve caught his work over the years, watching him evolve from the depths of the venue to the main stage is quite something. Between then and now, he’s casually sold out seasons at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival, the West End and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Sit down, get comfy and prepare to gain a whole new appreciation for the emerging local comedy scene at QLD Born and Bread‘s showcase night.

Every comedian has to start somewhere, and if you want to see the Sunshine State’s comedy stars of tomorrow today, this is your Brisbane Comedy Festival event. See up-and-comers Danielle Walker, Tim Hewitt, Joe Shaffer, Dan Rath and Cameron Duggan before their tickets are very expensive.

It might be hard to imagine how Australia’s contentious immigration and asylum seeker policies could be fodder for comedy, but Tom Ballard has somehow managed to produce a ‘comedy lecture’ that is at once moving, thought-provoking, and piss-your-pants funny.

The award-winning comedian’s latest show Boundless Plains to Share (which takes its title from that oft-forgotten line in our national anthem) tackles the history, inhumanity, and hypocrisy of Australia’s immigration policies. It’s that rare kind of performance that will leave you both furious and introspective, and also belly-sore from all the laughter. This is one Brisbane Comedy Festival event you definitely don’t want to miss.

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 — 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 Brisbane Powerhouse Turbine Studio on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the fest, 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.

Remember the name Becky Lucas. So far, the Brisbane comedian has amassed quite the resume, dominating stages in support slots for the likes of Wil Anderson, Jim Norton and Joel Creasey, flexing her comic writing skills for Please Like Me and Matt Okine’s upcoming TV show, serving up a riotous newsletter, and generating some of the best Twitter banter around. And that’s just the beginning.

So, what comes next? Little Bitch. That’s Lucas’ latest Brisbane Comedy Festival show, and her second in as many years. If you’re after fresh, grassroots standup, this is your jam.

What does Islam have to do with Baywatch? ABC’s Sami Shah can probably answer that. An ex-Muslim and Pakistani comedian, Shah has been crafting his unique experience of Islam in Australia into a multi-award winning show, as heard on ABC’s Radio National.

How many types of Muslims can Shah identify? Grab a ticket. In the current global climate, this show honestly couldn’t be more timely for Brisbane Comedy Festival.