The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has unveiled its 2026 award nominees, shining a spotlight on some of the most exciting and diverse comedic talent in this year’s program – and with just five days of the Festival remaining, there’s never been a better time to catch a show. Winners will be announced on Saturday 18 April.
Ten nominees have been revealed for the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award for Most Outstanding Show: Abby Wambaugh (USA/Denmark) – The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows, Cassie Workman (AUS) – You Are Here, Celia Pacquola (AUS) – Gift Horse, Dan Tiernan (Ireland/UK) – Quartz and All, Emmanuel Sonubi (UK) – Life After Near Death, Frankie McNair (AUS) – Huge Ass Mindset, Kitty Flanagan (AUS) – Glad Game, Lara Ricote (Mexico/USA) – Inkling, Reuben Kaye (AUS) – Hard To Swallow and Sam Nicoresti (UK) – Baby Doomer.
Best Newcomer nominations for performers doing their first full, eligible, Festival show are: Barney Pollock (AUS) – King of the Pigs 2, Caitlin Duff (AUS) – Freidah Will See You Now, Dana Mitchell (AUS) – The Lady Will Have, Elliot Wood (AUS/NZ) – Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza, Jo Gowda (AUS/India) – Don’t Deport the Fun, Nathan Chin (AUS) – Chinese Comedy Party and Tarsh Jago (AUS) – Cherub.
The Golden Gibbo – celebrating the legacy of the late, great Lynda Gibson – is aimed at finding a local, independent show that pursues the artists’ idea more than it pursues commercial gain. The 2026 nominees are: Andy Balloch (AUS) – Welcome to Hell, Caitlin Duff (AUS) – Freidah Will See You Now, Kate Dehnert (AUS) – Echo, Katrina Mathers (AUS) – Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues, Laura Davis (AUS) – Swag and Sunny Youngsmith (AUS) – Cabin Pressure.
Winners will be announced on Saturday with additional awards bestowed including; Directors’ Choice, awarded by the Festival Director in consultation with festival programming colleagues to a show they think deserves to be celebrated; the People’s Choice Award for the most popular show of the Festival as determined by the ticket buying public; The Pinder Prize, honouring Festival co-founder John Pinder, and supporting a performer to travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; the Piece of Wood comics’ choice award, selected by past winners and presented to a peer literally for “doin’ good stuff ‘n’ that”. This year a newly created VicScreen Greenlight Award will be awarded to a show with standout screen potential.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival runs from 25 March – 19 April. For more information and to buy tickets, visit comedyfestival.com.au
