It’s April, which besides all the pranks going on, it’s the start of the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.  What’s with putting International in every festival and show? The only thing I know about the Flower show is that I noticed the parking lot underneath was full and loads of people bustling around at 9AM this morning. As for the comedy…

This year’s international headliner is Janeane Garofalo, in which I haven’t heard anything from her in about 10 years.  All of her shows have sold out so apparently she is appealing to an audience.

• No Daniel Kitson on the lineup this year is a bit disappointing.
• Ross Noble doesn’t seem to be in this year’s festival either.
• Steven K. Amos seems like a good alternative English pick to Kitson and Noble.
• Dylan Moran is back in the festival after missing last year’s festival.
• Reginald D. Hunter, a man brave enough to appear on QI without sounding stupid, could be worth seeing as well.
• Former lawyer and convict Andrew Fraser’s show could be interesting although I doubt that funny.
• Puppetry of the Penis, a show that never ceases to go away.
• A meal and a show with the Faulty Towers dining experience could be good value.
• Absolutely Silly Old Buggers seems to be a show about 4 old people complaining.

It’s hard to make heads or tail of which shows are good. The Age has a small summary of interesting shows but as they are one of the sponsors, I can’t see them saying any of those shows are crap.

links

Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show

April 1- April 5, Carlton Gardens

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

April 1-April 26

The comedy fest is in full swing, yet once again everyone is left with the task of figuring out what to see. As usual, The Age is useless and only ever gives good reviews or no review at all. Here’s my shortlist.

Patton Oswalt-Spence from King of Queens seems to have a vast resume of comedy. Fat weird looking dudes are usually pretty funny. A clip from his standup shows.

Daniel Kitson-Always funny and always odd looking. He seems to get more angry and cynical every year.

Mark Watson’s Earth Summit- A presentation of “An Inconvenient Truth” in a comedic style.

Ross Noble , Jason Byrne, Arj Barker, Stephen K Amos

What the?

Busting Out- The opposite show to Puppetry of the Penis. This show looks strangely interesting.

I Want to be a Mokbel- A comedy act on Melbourne’s underworld and Tony Mokbel. Ok sure, why not.

Faulty Towers-The Dining Experience – Fawlty Towers was probably the best Britcom ever. I’m not too sure about this one but $69 for a three course meal and a show is not too bad.

Happy Yoga with Guru Dudu – Comedic yoga where the audience participates.

Missing in Action this year

Shappi Khorsandi-I’m not really into female comedians but this one had me laughing. Looks like her show is postponed.

Dylan Moran, Danny Bhoy, Adam Hills

Then there’s the hundreds of other shows on this year. Anyone have any recommendations?

Links:

Last Laughs: The Comedy Elite

2008 Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Picture by jsarcadia