The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is returning in 2026, including a one-night-only spectacular to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
The festival will run from March 25th to April 19th, 2026, packed with longtime icons, exciting new voices, and international favourites. From intimate bar gigs to packed theatres and late-night antics at the Festival Club, comedy will take over every corner of Melbourne for the month.
But it is the special 40th anniversary spectacular that will shine in 2026. “The Big 4-Oh” will celebrate the milestone, bringing together standout comedians from this year’s program and legends from across the Festival’s four decades.
An expanded outdoor program will take place at Fed Square, while the comedy short film competition will return, rebooted as “Funny Shorts”, blending cinematic storytelling with big laughs.
The festival’s director, Susan Provan, said: “We’re looking forward to celebrating the funny and fearless artists who have bought us four decades of good-times. From what’s-a-website to Whatsapp, faxes to iPhones, the constant has been the joy of sitting in a room sharing genius live comedy. Long live the best art form on the planet!”
International stars touching down including the UK’s Sam Nicoresti (who won the 2025 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show), Ian Smith, Chloe Petts, Joe Kent-Walters, Luke McQueen, and Phil Wang, as well as Scotland’s Connor Burns, Daniel Sloss, and Larry Dean, and Ireland’s David O’Doherty and Joanne McNally.
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The festival will also feature the US’ Sam Jay, Abby Govindan, and Zainab Johnson. Other international comedians include Douglas Lim (Singapore), Fadzri Rashid (Singapore), Jason Leong (Malaysia), Schalk Bezuidenhout (Sth Africa), Sofie Hagen (Dnk), Takashi Wakasugi (Japan), and Tarang Hardikar (India).
Local legends on the bill include Denise Scott, Dilruk Jayasinha, Celia Pacquola, Alex Ward, Dave Hughes, Tom Cashman, Kitty Flanagan, Luke Kidgell, Tomy Little, Urzila Carlson, Tom Gleeson, Emma Holland, Wil Anderson, and many more.
A strong program of shows from First Nations artists will once again take centre stage, including Kevin Kropinyeri, Leon Filewood, Steph Tisdell, Tarsh Jago, Kylan Ambrum and Elaine Crombie – many of whom have come through the Deadly Funny development program.
Family favourites such as the Comedy Club for Kids, The Tricky Nick Magic Show, Trash Test Dummies, and more are also returning in 2026.
For more information and to book tickets, see here.