Geraldine Hickey nabs Melbourne International Comedy Festivalâs top gong
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Comedian Geraldine Hickey has taken home the Melbourne International Comedy Festivalâs top honour thanks to her latest offering,
What a Surprise.
The award, which up until two years ago was named after veteran satirist Barry Humphries, recognises each festivalâs most outstanding show. This year, Hickey gave audiences a hilarious snapshot of her relationship with her now-wife. The show has earned rave reviews, including five stars from this masthead.
Geraldine Hickey takes top gong
And Daniel Sloss takes People s Choice
Geraldine Hickey has won the top prize at the the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The comic scooped the prize for most outstanding show for What A Surprise, which told how she had found happiness in life at 40 with a job and partner she loved.
It received a slew of glowing reports including five stars from Melbourne newspaper The Age and four from Chortle.
Accepting Hickey award she said it took her ‘many, many years,’ to get where she was, adding that she would dedicated the accoade to ‘anyone who’s in the middle of their career and at the tipping point of, Is this working? Should I keep going? No one notices me. Keep going. ’Cause I did. And look at me now.’
Melbourne International Comedy Festival reveals 2021 award nominees Ivan Aristeguieta, Luke Heggie and Geraldine Hickey
Words by Tom Parker
After weeks of festivity and hilarity, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival award nominees are here.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has just announced their 2021 award nominees, with shortlists for Most Outstanding Show, The Golden Gibbo and Best Newcomer awards now here.
What you need to know
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has revealed its 2021 award nominations
There are shortlists for Most Outstanding Show, The Golden Gibbo and Best Newcomer awards
The award winners will be announced on Saturday April 17
Get all the latest comedy news and reviews
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The award for best show was previously called the Barry Award in honour of Barry Humphries, but renamed in 2019 following comments the Dame Edna made about transgender people, and a growing sense that the award’s name should be more inclusive.
The 2019 award went to James Acaster for his show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999.
Winners will be announced on Saturday, alongside the recipients of the People’s Choice Award, the Directors’ Choice Award and the Piece of Wood, given to the comedians’ comedian.
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âDisillusioned feministâ wins next-gen comedy crown
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By Age reviewers
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Melbourne Town Hall, April 11
After 64 heats and finals and a record 1183 entrants, Australiaâs largest open mic competition had finally whittled down the shortlist to 12 aspiring comedians to see who would join the RAW Comedy alumni such as Hannah Gadsby, Ronny Chieng and Celia Pacquola.
Prue Blake, winner of RAW Comedy.
Credit:Jim Lee
Hosted by the jovial Dane Simpson, Mathew Hespe kicked things off and set the bar with material on a reciprocal problem-sharing psychologist and Tiger Woodsâ infidelity; Kelly Gulliver followed with more commonplace stories of the problems of being of a single mother; and Jayde OâBrien (one of two acts to receive a special mention from the judges) floored the room with a blistering set of growing up ignorant of her familyâs poverty, li