Sammy J has been announced as the 2025 Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend at a glittering closing night awards ceremony to end Melbourne’s largest celebration of independent arts.
Performance companies including The Rabble, Re:Group, Polyglot Theatre and Oozing Future lead a list of 36 awards celebrating the bold, brave and brilliant artists of Melbourne Fringe.
“This year’s Melbourne Fringe Awards celebrates an extraordinary list of artists pushing boundaries and exploring new artistic territory,” says Melbourne Fringe Creative Director Simon Abrahams. “The recipients have made works which tell important stories about the world as it is changing around us right now. It’s been a privilege to help bring them to the stage.”
2025 Living Legend Award – Sammy J
An Australian icon of musical comedy and satire, and a true believer in the power of independent art, Sammy J’s career spans radio, stage and song – but it’s his unwavering commitment to the Fringe community that cements his legendary status. Through his extraordinary body of work – from his very first Fringe show to this year’s sold out smash Fiasco to his epic 50 Year Show project – which sees Sammy perform at the Fringe every five years until 2058, and his generous support of others, Sammy J has inspired generations of artists to be braver, funnier, and more unapologetically themselves.
Best in Category Awards
Best Cabaret – Too Much, Created and Performed Lilikoi Kaos
Best Circus – Strange Chaos, Created by Oozing Future
Best Comedy – Birds, Created and Performed by Sarah Stafford & Alex Hines
Best Dance and Physical Theatre – Sissy, Performed by Max Burgess
Best Experimental – UNWOMAN (the protest), Devised by THE RABBLE
Best Kids – Whirlwind, Created by Polyglot Theatre
Best Music – Lung Swara, Artists Aviva Endean, Matthias Schack-Arnott & Cahwati Sugiarto
Best Theatre – AUTO-TUNE, Presented by re:group performance collective
Best Visual Arts and Film – Club Rewind, Presented by Club Rewind
Best Words and Ideas – Lindsay Green’s Escalator Podcast Reunion, Performed by
Lindsey Green
Touring Awards
Edinburgh Touring Award supported by Summerhall – Man Sings The Same Song Over And Over Again For An Hour, Performed by CONK
New Zealand Touring Award supported by New Zealand Fringe – MEMBER, Presented by Fairly Lucid Productions
NSW Touring Award supported by Sydney Fringe – Motion Sickness, Presented by
a2 Company
QLD Touring Award supported by Brisbane Comedy Festival – Birds, Created and Performed by Sarah Stafford & Alex Hines
SA Touring Award supported by Adelaide Fringe – Too Much, Created and Performed by Lilikoi Kaos
WA Touring Award supported by FRINGE WORLD Festival – Cabaret Time Machine, Created and Performed by Isabella Valette
Artist Development Awards
Artform Shaker Award supported by Theatre Network Australia – Wasteworlds: Non-stop Runway Show, Created by Fast Fashun in Collaboration with Snuff Puppets
Best Emerging Indigenous Artist supported by the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts & Cultural Development (VCA & MCM) – Poems of a Transsexual Nature, Written and Performed by Cynda Beare & Gabrielle Fallen
Best Emerging Producer supported by MILKE – Claudia Harris
Change Maker Award supported by Theatre Network Australia – Is Anyone Even Watching?, Written and Performed by Olivia Muscat
Comedy New Work Award supported by Melbourne International Comedy Festival – curlycourtney@bigpond.com, Create Emerging Company Incubator Award supported by Monash’s Faculty of Arts – The Break, Presented by Zoë Bastin Dance
Geelong Creative Development Award supported by Geelong Arts Centre – MEMBER, Presented by Fairly Lucid Productions
Headroom Award supported by RISING – AUTO-TUNE, Presented by re:group performance collective
New Writing Award supported by Melbourne Theatre Company – A Guide to Being Immortal, Written by Shane Woon
Outstanding Newcomer supported by Auspicious Arts Projects – Is Anyone Even Watching?, Written and Performed by, Olivia Muscat
Outstanding Production Design by Deakin University – The Quieter You Become, Created and Performed by Tilman Robinson
Showcase Ready Award supported by Victorian Association Performing Arts Centre – REFINED by Katy Warner, Presented by Lab Kelpie
Special Awards
Access and Inclusion Award – No Seasons, Created By Oliver Ayres
Best Work by an Emerging Artist – TOMAS CLIFFORD GOT STOOD UP, Written and Performed by Tomas Clifford
Crowd Pleaser Award – I Promise This Isn’t About You (Even If It Feels Like It Is), Written by Sarah Matthews
Director’s Choice – REQUIEM FOR A CUDDLE, Created by Harrison Ritchie-Jones
Sound and Technical Excellence Award supported by Front of House Productions – Creature, Created and Performed by Katrina Rank
Spirit of the Fringe – Man Sings The Same Song Over And Over Again For An Hour, Performed by CONK
Venue of the Year – Grouse Melbourned and Performed by Courtney Smith
Melbourne Fringe Awards
Melbourne Fringe’s Awards Program is one of the most comprehensive in Australia, celebrating the artists who make the Festival bold, brave and brilliant. Every eligible show is seen by at least two industry judges – often more – who score and discuss each work before coming together for a massive final-day deliberation. With more than 160 judges debating, championing and celebrating the work, it’s a rigorous process built on integrity, passion and love for independent art. The result: a suite of Best in Category, Artist Development and Touring Awards that open doors to mentorships, cash support and future opportunities – plus the coveted Living Legend Award, honouring a Fringe alumnus whose impact has been extraordinary.
“Artists are doing extraordinary things, often under impossible conditions,” Simon says. “They need more than applause. They need systems that back them.” Through initiatives like the awards program, Melbourne Fringe is working to build and strengthen those systems — and make sure the future of independent art is braver, fairer and full of possibility.
Full list of 2025 award winners – https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-forward/2025-melbourne-fringe-festival-awards
