Happy International Women’s Day!  With only a little over two weeks until Melbourne International Comedy Festival begins, we’re celebrating the ladies of the festival by posting our first Top 5 of the year.  Here are our Top 5 shows featuring talented women in 2010, in no particular order.
Keep Your Skirt On
Yes, yes, we’re biased.  We awarded the inaugural Keep Your Skirt On show of 2009 our Professional Development Award.  Their first year was a veritable treasure-trove of talented women, and it’s shaping up to be just as impressive this year.  …

It’s time to get your laugh muscles in training.  Melbourne International Comedy Festival is heading our way again.  In a matter of months Melbourne will be transformed into a Mecca of comedy, and we’re back for another year to guide you through the madness.
The festival website is up and running, ready for you to check out your favourite performers and search for some new talent.  Take a look, start to plan your comedy schedule and buy your tickets before you miss out!  In the meantime, we’ll be keeping an ear …

Are you a budding writer?  Got a passion for live performance?  The Pun is now accepting applications to be a part of our team for 2010.  We’re searching for reviewers, writers and sub-editors to cover the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.  To apply, send your resume and two samples of your writing (including one live performance review) to lefa@anewleaf.com.au by 28 February.

After 21 years at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Greg Fleet wanders into the 21st Pun Podcast with Matt Smith. This time, he’s asking people for the location of his well deserved present of the equine nature, with his show Where’s my Pony?

The nominations have been announced and the competitive end of the festival is here.  Here’s the low-down.
The Barry Awards – 2009 Nominees

Tim Minchin (AUS) – Ready For This?
Rich Hall (USA) – Otis Lee Crenshaw Featuring Special Guest Rich Hall
Wilson Dixon (AUS) – Wilson Dixon Rides Again
Sarah Millican (UK) – Sarah Millican’s Not Nice
Asher Treleaven (AUS) – Open Door (Moosehead Award Recipient)
The Pajama Men (USA) – Versus vs Versus
Henning Wehn & Otto Kuhnle (DEU) – 1000 Years of German Humour
The Golden Gibbo – 2009 Nominees

Heath McIvor – Randy’s Postcards from Purgatory
Rob …

When you see upward of twenty shows during the festival, there are plenty of moments of deja vu. The slightly older comedian complaining about young people’s “music”; the references to 80s pop culture; a throwaway gag about Facebook. The feeling isn’t overwhelming, because comedians are always reacting to and commenting on human experience and society, and those things are pretty universal. Besides, while the themes might be the same, the jokes are unique… most of the time.
I may be a ‘just in’ Generation Xer, but for me the abbreviation LOL …

In no particular order, here are our Top 5 suggestions for shows which break out of the stand-up mould to offer you something a little different.
1. Denise Scott – Number 26
Sit back, relax and put your metaphoric comfy nightie on so you can join Scott in her jaunt down memory lane.  Part stand-up, part storytelling with a dash of showbiz thrown in, this show is one you’ll remember long after you’ve rushed off to the next gig.
2. Wilson Dixon Rides Again
If you haven’t seen a Wilson Dixon show before, you’ll …

If there’s one issue that gets comics hot under the collar as a collective group, it’s reviews and reviewers.  As the festival begins, they’re keen to get media outlets into the audience in order to get a review.  After the reviewer has been and the review is written, often their attitude can change significantly.  The same performer once complaining that nobody will come review their show can now be found spilling bile and hatred for reviewers one-and-all.  It’s a phenomenon that is pretty unique to comedy, and as somebody who …