The 12 Best Shows to See at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2015

One of the biggest standouts of last year’s comedy festival was The Reunion, the manic, preposterous and yet oddly touching two men show from UK comic duo Max and Ivan. Their follow-up once again invites audiences on a madcap journey through the personal lives of an array of colourful weirdos, this time in the sleepy English town of Sudley-on-Sea. There’s just one small problem: the world is about to end. With pitch perfect timing and a daggy sense of humour, Max and Ivan are as funny as they are endearing.

For those who like their comedy a little more introspective, you can’t go past Sydney’s Michael Workman. Combining wry observational humour with surreal long-form storytelling, he’s a rare kind of comedian capable of transcending genre, moving audiences to tears even as they’re cracking up with laughter. We Have Fun Don’t We explores Workman’s first-hand experience with heartbreak and depression. Sounds hilarious, right?

One of the bright stars of Canadian comedy, the pint-sized, high-energy, ukulele-playing DeAnne Smith (self described as looking like “a nerdy Justin Bieber”) is back at MICF for the fifth time in her career. Get Into It is the name of her latest show, one that she says you’ll enjoy “if you like super fun and great things that make you laugh and also feel less alone in the knowledge that everything is meaningless”. Despite that, she’s probably one of the cheeriest comics you’ll see at the festival. She even has a song about love… sort of.

Comedians held up as the voice of Generation Y tend to make us a little bit sceptical. Still, after winning the Best Newcomer Award at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, we’re willing to give New Yorker Alex Edelman the benefit of the doubt. Millennial marks the 25-year-old Edelman’s first trip to Australia, although we suspect it’ll be the first of many. Get in on the ground floor so you can brag about seeing him first.

In 2012, journalist Clem Bastow moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming a screenwriter. Unfortunately, so did tens of thousands of other people. Now she’s back in Melbourne with a cautionary tale about a place where the sun never stops shining. Joined by her very own Hollywood mix-master, the gas mask-wearing DJ Slig, Bastow weaves an elaborate, self-effacing story about her time in the City of Angels, from existential crisis to an encounter with Steven Spielberg.

Cult UK comedian Daniel Kitson knows how to tell a story. True to form, his latest show is less a stand-up act than it is a play, or rather an elaborate radio production. With somewhere in the realm of 20 different actors recorded in isolation and played back on tape, Polyphony promises to be Kitson’s magnum opus, described by the comic himself as “a real humdinger”. Notorious for avoiding the press, he’s kept the plot of the show strictly under wraps, but early reactions from audiences in the UK have been unsurprisingly stellar.

In some ways, Fake it ‘Til You Make It is a kind of dark sequel to the achingly funny Sex Idiot, in which Kimmings traced her sexual chronology back through time. Now her real-life partner Tim Grayburn has become her co-star and collaborator, as the pair craft a narrative that intertwines his experience of chronic depression with hers as the woman who loves him. It’s a ruptured, messy form that marries content with style, and its messiness ultimately says a lot more about its subject than any conventionally polished play ever could.

You’ve seen him on Would I Lie to You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Stewart Lee’s Alternative Comedy Experience, and now you can see him in person. Paul Foot is so left field, he’s unlike any other comedian to grace the Brisbane Comedy Festival stage — and yes, that’s a good thing. If the unusual title of his show doesn’t let you know that you’re in for something special, perhaps his many awards — including Best International Act at both the Sydney and Perth Comedy Festivals in 2014 — will. And if you’re not familiar with his stream-of-consciousness collection of random thoughts, that might even be for the best. You can only discover him for the first time once, after all.

Last year was a big one for Aussie comic Sam Simmons, selling out shows at Soho Theatre in London and scoring his second nomination for the top prize at Edinburgh Fringe. Returning to home turf, the latest show from the former Triple J trivia master has been described by the comic himself as “55 minutes of me being a full-bore dickhead.” With his trademark blend of surrealism and irritability, the performance got great reviews when it played in Adelaide last month.

She’s the star of her own ABC show, a recent addition to the cast of Please Like Me and a mainstay of the Aussie festival circuit since winning Raw Comedy back in 2006. On paper it would seem like Hannah Gadsby has got plenty to be happy about. But of course, you wouldn’t know it from her stand-up. With her signature brand of awkward honesty and self-deprecation, Gadsby’s latest show tackles the latest in a series of medical issues, namely her recent diagnoses with ADHD. She’ll also flaunt her real-life art history degree at a separate engagement at the NGV, where she’s giving a lecture on Picasso. Seriously.

Prepare yourself for a night of whimsy, wonder and a weird, scaly, hermaphroditic fish man named Old Gregg. Noel Fielding, the androgynous co-lead of the surreal British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, is bringing his live show, An Evening with Noel Fielding, to a capital city near you. Combining stand-up comedy with animation and original music, as well as special appearances from some of Fielding’s most beloved and baffling characters, including Fantasy Man and The Moon, the April 2015 show marks Fielding’s first time in Australia since his sold-out tour in 2012. This time he’ll also be joined by his younger brother Michael, best known for his recurring role on The Mighty Boosh as Naboo the Enigma, an alien shaman from the planet Xooberon.

The hills are alive with the sound of music. Most of it pretty sweary and horribly out of key. From the creators of last year’s comedy fest hit