Cheeky and loud, black and proud, Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s national comedy competition, mentoring and workshop program is about unearthing the freshest, fiercest and funniest Indigenous talent from around the country. Deadly Funny is Australia's only Indigenous program dedicated to the art of comedy.

Stand up, sketch, physical, musical, storytelling comedy is welcome, as long as it's funny!

Heading into its 11th year, this one-of-a-kind comedy competition and workshop program is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 18 and over.

Entrants can register for free to take part in the competition where they present up to 5 minutes of material. These Deadly Funny Heats are a public performance hosted by a visiting professional comedian. Prior to the Heat, participants are invited to a workshop with the visiting comedian to refine their act/content before performing in front of an audience.

Selected participants are flown to Melbourne to perform in the Deadly Funny National Final and Showcase, alongside Australia's best Indigenous comedians during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The overall winner receives $2000 and further mentoring opportunities.

We can also provide crash course comedy workshops for people aged 12-18 or for peeps aged under 12. For more info go to deadlyfunny.com.au

Venue Format
Theatre, Hall, Black Box Venue, Outdoor
Technical Rating
D, The production can be modified to suit most venues
Touring Party
3 (Comedian Host/Producer/Crew)
Considerations

Performances may contain media even adult content and occasional course language.

Technically we require a basic lighting rig, a microphone and a stand (please see co-presenter notes for more info)

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival celebrated its 30th year in 2016. It's one of the three largest comedy festivals in the world, alongside Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival.

An annual event, the Festival literally takes over Australia's comedy capital, Melbourne, each autumn with an enormous program of stand-up comedy, cabaret, theatre, street performance, film, television, radio and visual arts.

Although the actual Festival only runs for three and a half weeks each year, the Comedy Festival is active all year round. We're committed to bringing the art of comedy to as many punters as possible, while at the same time ensuring those who want to get into the game have every opportunity to develop skills. Our annual Roadshow travels nation bringing Festival highlights to over 80,000 eager comedy lovers. The popular open mic comedy competition RAW Comedy, and Class Clowns, our national secondary school comedy competition held throughout the year around the country, provide proof that it's never too early or too late to learn the comedy craft.

Deadly Funny is our latest national initiative - a workshop and showcase program that is creating a whole new career path for indigenous comedians.

Company Website
comedyfestival.com.au

Unique Selling Point

Deadly Funny provides unique opportunities for audiences to see a cheeky and fun showcase of the best Australian Indigenous comedy.

The program provides a welcoming and nurturing space, designed to allow Indigenous Australians the forum to tell stories and connect with Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences through the accessible medium of comedy. It can also help improve understanding of Indigenous culture and address unjust and inaccurate stereotypes.

Through local and national platforms, Deadly Funny provides a voice to many Indigenous Australians, who may otherwise go unrepresented in the media and society, and empowers performers to tell stories that otherwise go untold.

Marketing Materials

Melbourne International Comedy Festival is able to provide the following promotional resources:

  • Umbrella marketing campaign, including through Deadly Funny Facebook page and Comedy Festival social media
  • National publicity support
  • A3 posters that the Festival will send out to you
  • Generic press releases
  • Promotional footage
  • Deadly Funny 2017 asset materials and artwork files for collateral (for approved use only).

Community Engagement

The Festival is committed to ensure Deadly Funny is delivered nationally and enjoyed by a broad audience. Workshops, with performance outcomes, are currently delivered in all five states, in addition to the ACT and NT, and the national final and showcase is programmed as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival encouraging a diverse audience.

The national final is also recorded, with performances uploaded and distributed via the Festival’s YouTube channel (16,000+ subscribers).

Deadly Funny's workshop and competition model creates opportunities for emerging artists to both develop new work and be supported by experienced mentors, as well as small scale (local heats) and large scale (national final) performance opportunities. The program is committed to building a group of Indigenous comedians who are able to sustain long term careers as comedy professionals, whether as writers, performers or stand up comedians, whilst building Indigenous humour and Indigenous comedians as an integral part of the contemporary comedy sector.

Deadly Funny was established to address a lack of Indigenous representation in the comedy industry, and since its inception has been responsible for establishing the careers of Kevin Kropinyeri and Shiralee Hood, whilst also increasing the profile of comedians such as Andy Saunders and Sean Choolburra.