The best shows to see at Replay Festival

Hannah Camilleri’s show Lolly Bag is as sweet as the name suggests, without the subsequent sugar crash. 

A tour de force in character work and a tour de funny in every other department, Camilleri’s hour has seen her nominated for two of the biggest gongs in Aussie comedy: MICF’s Most Outstanding Show and Melbourne Fringe’s Best Comedy.

Appropriately, the list of awards Camilleri has won over the past few years reads much like the ingredients list on an artificially coloured jelly worm: extensive. Spawning endless comparisons to Kath & Kim’s Gina Riley and Jane Turner, Camilleri has cemented herself as a reliable purveyor of fine comedy.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Perera live, chances are you’ve seen one of her viral stand-up clips on social media. 

Over the past year, Perera’s insightful and wickedly funny videos have notched up more than 40 million views across Instagram and TikTok. So many views, in fact, that when I asked her the exact number, she literally responded with, “Oh good lord. I have no idea but let me attempt some math”. 

Her Replay show Endings received a nomination for Best Newcomer at this year’s MICF and is sure to be the 'Startings' (sorry) of a fabulous stand-up career.

Imagine every dull work presentation and university lecture you’ve ever had to sit through. Now imagine the complete opposite of that. 

The Wednesday Nite PowerPoint Comedy Showcase is an hour of fun-filled ridiculousness hosted by the agents of Microsoft Office chaos Sweeney Preston and Ethan Cavanagh. Comedians use the screen to accompany their live stand-up in any way they like. And we do mean any way. 

Best Newcomer Winners Aiden Willcox and Isaac Haigh headline the all-star cast with their spectacular musical PowerPoint, while Granny Bingo explores the timeless scone-based conundrum “does the jam go on before the cream” in 30 slides or less.

Tom Ballard received a perfect five-star review in Time Out Melbourne for It Is I, the hour he’s bringing to Replay. 

One of only a handful of Australians nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe Best Comedy prize, he is consistently one of the safest bets for a hilarious (and filth-filled) night of stand-up.

Tickets to Ballard’s show would make an excellent gift for those on the political left and an even better prank to play on those on the political right. Either way, it’d be an amusing night out for you, the reader, who is presumably the organiser of the group. 

Little more needs to be said about the MICF Most Outstanding Show winner for 2023, but unfortunately, that’s not how the online publishing industry works.

Cosgriff’s seemingly magical ability to combine her many talents saw the musical comedian spend much of the past few years performing in the Melbourne cast of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre. 

While her solo show at Replay Festival, Actually, Good, is well on the way to selling out, she’s also been kind enough to give audiences at the Best In Show: Award Winners and Nominees Showcase a glimpse at her stellar material.

After taking home the MICF Director’s Choice award and blitzing his spot on The Gala, Wakasugi deservedly enjoyed sell-out shows at the New Zealand Comedy Festival before touring right across Australia with MICF’s Roadshow.

A pure delight to watch onstage and a joy to chat with offstage, there’s just something special about this charismatic Japanese stand-up. Even my parents had a conversation with Wakasugi after a gig and have not stopped talking about their love for him ever since.

His Replay hour, Japanese Worry, promises to delight punters from all walks of life as it did the MICF Directors Choice judges.