Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

susanprovancomedyfestival.jpeg

It’s been a long road to this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Staff have worked tirelessly since last April to pull everything together. “We don’t stop,” explains Provan. “We have the Roadshow immediately (after each festival) and quite a lot of the international performers that we bring in then go on tour. Meanwhile, we’re also still wrapping up everything, packing up all the buildings, editing TV programs that have been made during the festival and getting them ready for broadcast, adding up the numbers, doing all the reconciliations, paying everybody out their box office.”

 

From there, staff and performers alike tend to disperse all over the globe, as preparations for the next festival commence. “The Australian Roadshow goes right through to the beginning of July and then we go off to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for three weeks. Then a lot of people go off to Edinburgh – that’s when we go scouting, looking at shows. Our Associate Director, Bridget Bantick – who does all of the free outdoor program and kids’ stuff – she goes off to the big summer festivals of Europe, looking for content for those parts of the program.

 

“A lot of us go to Edinburgh and to Montreal, the other big places where you can go and see a zillion shows in one night,” explains Provan. “By the time Edinburgh’s finished, it’s time to be looking at new programs again.”

 

With the next comedy festival season imminent, a moment’s rest will have to wait. This year’s season holds particular significance, too, with 2016 marking the 30th anniversary of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Fittingly, a special birthday bash is scheduled at the Regent Theatre hosting a once-in-a-lifetime gala of past, present and future stars. When pressed for clues about the kinds of things we ought to expect, Provan remains coy. “We’ve announced half of it, and the rest is just going to have to be a surprise. We want to keep some things under wraps. It’s going to be a huge night. It could quite possibly go all night because we keep adding to it,” she laughs.

 

Provan’s personal association with Australian comedy dates back to her days at The Last Laugh – the club that helped lay the foundations for the local comedy scene as we know it. “I loved working at the ‘Laugh,” says Provan. “I got to work with John Pinder and Roger Evans, who were the creators of that amazing institution. They were so inspiring, the both of them. They were both such huge comedy fans and they created a venue, the likes of which there was nothing else in Australia and quite possibly the world at that time.”

 

“They were fearless. They took a punt on so many performers… that certainly no mainstream entertainment industry would have taken a punt on, and in many cases they turned those people into household names. When I was the Night Manager there, Brian Nankervis and Peter Rowsthorn and Richard Stubbs were all waiters – in varying degrees of ridiculous outfits every night – and just lots and lots of other people like that. So it was an amazing time.”

 

The Last Laugh played a significant part in the history of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, too. “The Last Laugh was kind of comedy festival HQ along with Universal Theatres and the Prince Pat Hotel and a lot of other places around that Collingwood, Fitzroy area,” Provan explains. “It was really buzzing. It was an exciting time, and it was incredible for Australian comedy and for the performers at the time for people like John and Roger to give them a platform for their ideas and wholeheartedly support them and let them go for it.”

 

These days, hundreds of performers populate the festival, with punters spoiled for choice. “I think the most important thing about the festival is that it’s an opportunity to experiment, to have an adventure and to discover new things,” she says. “Of course go and see your favourites – of course, if you’ve always loved Wil Anderson, go and see Wil Anderson, because all of those sorts of high profile people are doing new shows and they’re great – but I always say to people, pick five things you’ve never heard of. They won’t be expensive, so even if you don’t like two of them, you won’t have wasted a lot of money. The other three you might love, and you’ll follow them until they’re famous. This is the chance to do that.”

 

BY NICK MASON