The best heckles,riskiest jokes and strangest moments from this year’s comedy festival

After a month packed with shows,our reviewers have come together to pick out the best (and most memorable) moments from this year’s comedy festival.

  • Donna Demaio,Guy Webster,Hannah Francis,Lefa Singleton Norton,Mikey Cahill,Sonia Nair,Tyson Wray andVyshnavee Wijekumar

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Color Theories is on at Max Watt’s until April 20.

The good,the weird and the unmissable from this festival’s final week

From absurdist scribbling in a notebook to a show that digs into the dark recesses of the internet,and ChatGPT acting as matchmaker,here are our latest reviews.

  • Cher Tan,Donna Demaio,Hannah Francis,John Bailey,Lefa Singleton Norton,Sonia Nair,Tyson Wray,Vyshnavee Wijekumar andNell Geraets
The Booth Variety Spectacular&Formal Apology Hour! is on at Arts Centre Melbourne until April 20.

Ghosts,lies,and conspiracy theories:This festival has it all

From a show where musicals meet PowerPoint,to a trip back in time,here are our latest reviews.

  • Cher Tan,Donna Demaio,Elizabeth Flux,Guy Webster,Hannah Francis,John Bailey,Lefa Singleton Norton,Nell Geraets,Sonia Nair,Tyson Wray andVyshnavee Wijekumar
Dua Lipa performs at Rod Laver Arena,March 19.

Dua Lipa designs a fan’s next tattoo at Melbourne concert

Performing at Rod Laver Arena,the singer got up close and personal with fans – and performed a new cover of Torn.

  • Gabriela Sumampow,Tony Way,Cameron Woodhead andVyshnavee Wijekumar
Broden Kelly’s Yabusele is on until April 20.

The best,the strangest,and the most daring of the comedy festival so far

From an Aunty Donna star to a performer who taps into Joan of Arc,here are our latest reviews of the comedy festival.

  • Cher Tan,Donna Demaio,Guy Webster,Hannah Francis,John Bailey,Karl Quinn,Lefa Singleton Norton,Mikey Cahill,Sonia Nair,Tyson Wray andVyshnavee Wijekumar
Keke Palmer and SZA hustle for their rent money in One of Them Days.

Dramas,thrillers,romcoms? None of them beat this movie genre

All hail the buddy comedy,cinema’s most reliable comfort.

  • Vyshnavee Wijekumar
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Harrison Ritchie-Jones (left) with fellow dancers in Tantrum for 6.

This colourful show parodies toddlers throwing a tantrum. But does it work?

Tantrum for 6 begins brightly enough,with a parody of six toddlers crashing about,flopping and tumbling,flailing and wailing and clambering over one another.

  • Andrew Fuhrmann andVyshnavee Wijekumar
The butcher,the baker...

If you love cabaret as an art form,you must see this provocative show

Inspired by a women-only commune in the 1970s,Ella Filar has created a wild and unsettling comic-erotic cabaret.

  • Vyshnavee Wijekumar,Tony Way,Will Cox andCameron Woodhead
Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers performs at Sidney Myer Music Bowl,January 24,2025.

Amyl and the Sniffers’ biggest show yet is a riotous celebration

There’s a real sense of community and communion as the crowd thrashes,screams and whoops for 90 minutes of pure chaos.

  • Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen,Vyshnavee Wijekumar,Cameron Woodhead andAndrew Fuhrmann
Magicians Penn&Teller perform at Hamer Hall,January 21,2025.

Stranger than Trump? Penn&Teller provide the best performance art of the day

In a tour celebrating their golden jubilee,the duo showed a packed Hamer Hall exactly why their act is so enduring and beloved.

  • Cameron Woodhead,Jessica Nicholas andVyshnavee Wijekumar