Every new year brings much to look forward to; however, if you like a laugh in Melbourne, the city's annual comedy festival should always be marked in your diary. Hundreds of folks that are handy with a joke take to the Victorian capital's stages for a month filled with giggles. Well-known international acts head Down Under, local favourites join in and up-and-comers score a shot at getting audiences chuckling. In 2025, Melbourne International Comedy Festival will return from Wednesday, March 26–Sunday, April 20 — and from the names announced already, there's plenty to tickle funny bones. The lineup revealed so far includes Mark Watson, Sara Pascoe, Danny Bhoy, Rhys Darby, Nazeem Hussain and Zoë Coombs Marr, as well as Ruby Wax, Michael Hing, Melanie Bracewell, Claire Hooper, Joel Creasy, Andrew Hansen, Lizzy Hoo, Wil Anderson, Jenny Tian, John Safran, Jimeoin, Reuben Kaye, Ray O'Leary and Sh!t-faced Shakespeare doing A Midsummer Night's Dream. From there, the talents keep coming, with Amy Gledhill on the bill fresh from winning the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2024 Best Show prize, Jin Hao Li also on the roster after being nominated for Best Newcomer at the same accolades and 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award-winner Ahir Shah making the trip as well. Chloe Petts, Rahul Subramanian, Chris Parker, Guy Montgomery, Guy Williams, Urzila Carlson, Pierre Novellie, Rosie Jones, Anirban Dasgupta, Urooj Ashfaq, Charlene Kaye, Sarah Keyworth, Arj Barker, Carl Donnelly, Ed Gamble Elf Lyons, Iliza Shlesinger, Kai Humphries, Kemah Bob, Schalk Bezuidenhout, Sofie Hagen: from the international lineup, the list clearly goes on. The Aussie contingent spans Alex Ward, Amy Hetherington, Becky Lucas, Bron Lewis, He Huang, Luke Heggie, Michelle Brasier, Tommy Little and a whole heap more, too — and MICF isn't done unveiling its program yet. The fest's gala is returning, taking place at the Palais Theatre to open the year's guffaws, while the Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow, The Annual Great Debate, the Asian Allstars Gala and Upfront's focus on female and non-binary artists are all making welcome comebacks. To discover your next favourite comedians, the lineup also features RAW Comedy, Deadly Funny and the Class Clowns National Grand Finals, so you'll be able to say you saw tomorrow's stars when they were starting out. As proves the case every year, this is an event for comedy-loving Melburnians to get excited about, then plan their entire schedules around. So, if you're fond of a giggle, you won't be able to say you've got nothing to do across late-March to mid-April. The 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from Wednesday, March 26–Sunday, April 20. Head to the festival's website for further details and tickets. Images: Nick Robertson / Ian Laidlaw / Nicole Reed.