The Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival Is the New Streaming-Only Laughfest Heading to Stan
See Wil Anderson, Cal Wilson, Nazeem Hussain, Dave Hughes and Zoe Coombs Marr share material from their cancelled 2020 gigs, as recorded at home.
UPDATE, MAY 2, 2020: The Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival has announced its full lineup and its premiere date. This article has been updated to reflect these changes.
When COVID-19 started having an impact on Australian events, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was one of the first to scrap its plans for 2020. The Brisbane Comedy Festival, which was already underway, also cancelled its final week — and in New South Wales, the Sydney Comedy Festival completely shuttered its event for this year, too.
That means that the country's funniest folks now have some extra time on their hands — indoors, while social distancing, of course. And, they still have plenty of jokes to tell, which is exactly what Stan's new Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival is aiming to capitalise upon.
Heading to the platform weekly from 7pm on Saturday, May 9 — dropping four episodes in total — the streaming-only laughfest will feature lockdown sets from comedians such as Wil Anderson, Cal Wilson, Nazeem Hussain, Dave Hughes and Zoe Coombs Marr, who'll all share material from their planned 2020 gigs. Also on the lineup: Tommy Little, Geraldine Hickey, Dilruk Jayasinha, Steph Tisdell, Aaron Chen, Sam Campbell, Michelle Brasier and Nath Valvo, as well as Tom Ballard, Randy Feltface, Claire Hooper, Becky Lucas, Sam Taunton, Nikki Britton, Demi Lardner and Tom Walker. Yes, it's a hefty list, and also features Lauren Bonner, Oliver Twist, Blake Freeman and Bec Charlwood.
Each comedian has recorded their set from their homes, so expect jokes told in their kitchens, bedrooms, lounge rooms and even bathrooms. They've also be handled all the tech requirements themselves, such as setting up and operating their own cameras, in order to abide by social-distancing requirements. That said, they did have access to a director via video conferencing.
Every Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival episode will feature at least six different comedians performing short standup comedy spots — including one MCing the episode.
And if you're looking for some local laughs before the fest starts streaming, Amazon Prime Video has just dropped ten comedy specials from MICF stars, too.
The Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival hits Stan weekly for four weeks from 7pm on Saturday, May 9.
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