The Sydney Comedy Festival Gala is a showcase and taster of what is to come over the coming weeks as the State Theatre, Enmore Theatre, The Concourse Chatswood and Riverside Theatres in Parramatta host more than 250 comedians in non-stop laughs forming the Sydney Comedy Festival season!
The final lineup had not been publicised with audiences gasping and cheering in surprise as compere Sara Pascoe introduced each act who took the Concert Hall stage weaving her comedy throughout the night.
No subject matter is out of bounds for the Sydney Comedy Festival as each season gives us an opportunity to jokingly exchange ideas on hot topics while indirectly moving the conversations forward. So it was no surprise Reuben Kaye was chosen to open the show. If you don’t already know him, he’s the guy who was circulated all over social media after his controversial religious jokes on a LIVE episode of the project last month. Face f*cking an unknowing audience member during his set, just seemed appropriate.
A full run down is available from our collaboration with Sydney Scoop, while the below follows up with some of our favorite clips from our Top 6 of the night:
THE ACTS THAT DELIVERED THE BEST MOMENTS:
- Larry Dean explored the “welcome to country’ and ‘acknowledgement of country’ ceremonies through the eyes of a gay Scottish man with some harsh truths couched in stomach belching laughter. The point he tried to make was confronting but hilariously true!
- Moses Storm is a Gossip Girl Chuck Bass King Joffrey Game of Thrones prep school personality that is a safe choice for punters that don’t like their comedy rocking the boat too much. Naturally funny, he finds humour in everyday life situations which many of the younger audiences will gravitate towards.
- Joe Avati observes and jokes about the world through the lense of Generation X while dancing with subject matter with racial undertones finding hilarious moments like those we have all experienced with “Indian Uber Drivers”. Why are they always on the phone? And who are they talking to? Turns out, according to him, they’re working the Vodafone Customer service call centre remotely while carting us around the city in their uber vehicles!
- Nemr is a hilarious American Lebanese man who finds humour in cultural differences.
- Stephen K Amos has a regal and assertive demeanor that blends sarcasm with quick one liners touching on politics, culture, identity and relationships truely representing the epitome of what the Sydney Comedy Festival is about. His delivery and charisma is one of a kind.
Lifting the veil on the taboo while revealing our own self awareness to truths about ourselves we ignore, and doing so with an ability to laugh out ourselves about it and leaving the auditorium empowered and more conscious about the world around us, Sydney Comedy Festival season promises to be its biggest one yet.