Melbourne International Comedy Roadshow Festival

There are few new voices on the Australian comedy scene as distinctive and exciting as Lewis Garnham.

Since representing his home state of South Australia at the 2016 RAW Comedy National Final, Lewis has been captivating audiences around the country with a style that is a potent combination of laconic, intelligent, and introspective.

In 2017 Lewis was nominated for Best Emerging Artist at the Adelaide Fringe for his show “The World I Live In”. He followed it up in 2018 with his breakout show “The Smartest Idiot You’ll Ever Meet,” which was nominated for Best Comedy at Perth Fringe World and the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Lewis returned in 2019 with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, and followed with “The Worst Train I’ve Ever Built” in 20/21 and “Too Much Time to Think” in 2022.

Lewis had also made regular appearances on Triple J, Triple M and ABC Radio. His podcast Can I Borrow Your Mind is a collection of interviews with interesting people from all walks of life. Some of his guests include presenter Tony Armstrong, The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello and journalist and author Antoinette Lattouf. He also has a comedy podcast called Good Graf whereby he and fellow comedian Jordan Barr figure out the back stories behind pieces of graffiti they’ve seen in pub toilets.

Lewis’ stand up, observations and thoughtful opinions have resonated with hundreds of thousands of people online via his social media channels on TikTok and Instagram, from all over the world.

In his spare time Lewis enjoys birdwatching, swimming in the ocean and sitting in backyards with friends having passionate, pissed off conversations about the state of the world.

“Garnham shines as a quick and clever comic, a must see” – Beat Magazine

“Garnham excels as a confident storyteller” – The Advertiser

“You should drop out of uni and just do comedy” – Fiona O’Loughlin

A typical Japanese boy, Takashi visited Sydney as an exchange student in 2012 where he joined the local comedy scene. Upon his return to Japan, he joined the English comedy scenes in Osaka and Tokyo. In 2018, he moved to Australia and started his comedy career in earnest. He was picked as a performer for Comedy Zone Asia at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018.

He has performed on the ABCTV’s Tonightly with Tom Ballard, Comedy Up Late and The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala. His festival solo shows “Welcome to Japan”, “Farm Backpacker (Subclass 417)”, “Stay Home Stay (Japan Boy Stuck in Oz)” and “Japanese Worry” have all sold out at comedy festivals around Australia. He also won the Director’s Choice Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2023.

Stuck in a chasm between Japanese and Western culture, Takashi brings a fresh and unique perspective on Aussie life. His insights into everyday life in Japan are sure to have you both fascinated & roaring with laughter.

Alexandra Hudson, living in East Ballina, on Bundjalung country, made her comedy debut in July 2020. Alexandra took out joint first place in the National Final of the Raw Comedy Competition at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2022 and in 2023 was invited to take part in their illustrious Comedy Zone programme.

Alexandra delightfully staggers and stumbles through life’s experiences, and in doing so stumbled onto a comedy stage. Sharing entertaining musings about her experiences as a disabled woman and her observations about the mostly foreign non-disabled world she lives in. From Alexandra’s perspective she often finds it is the non-disabled who are the oddities, and she takes joy in tipping things on their head. The non-disabled give her much to ponder in her daily life and are great comedic fodder.

Maddy Weeks is an award-winning comedian and a 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Best Newcomer nominee based in Naarm, Melbourne.

Described by the ABC as having ‘bucketloads of joy and energy on stage’, Maddy is quickly becoming one of the most captivating acts on the Australian stand-up scene.