So, who else could use a laugh? Good news for us, the Sydney Comedy Festival is gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary with its biggest program ever from April 21 to May 18, 2025. With brand-new experiences and more than 350 local and international performers to get around, it’s time for you to prepare yourself for some next-level laughs and silly shenanigans.
We’re particularly keen on the brand-new Sydney Comedy Festival Comedy Crawl that will come to life amongst the top-notch bars in the YCK Laneways precinct in the CBD. Led by a host, you can join a group of punters and take a chance on a surprise line-up in surprise venues, moving from bar-to-bar for each comedy set.
The Festival’s inaugural ‘One Night Stand’ will also bring Daniel Sloss to town (with some friends) for an Australian exclusive performance at the Sydney Opera House for one night only on April 24, marking the beginning of annual Sydney-only shows. (That’s right, he’s not even going to MICF this year!)
Sloss joins a colossal list of big names appearing in the Festival, including Aussie comedy legend Rhys Nicholson (as seen on Drag Race Down Under), Guy Montgomery, Jimeoin, Arj Barker, Melanie Bracewell, Nazeem Hussain, Becky Lucas, Joel Creasey, Rhys Darby and Steph Broadbridge – whose brand new Raygun-inspired show Breaking the Musical has already made quite a bit of noise.
Other local legends joining the throng include Brown Women Comedy’s award-winning line-up of Indian and South Asian Australian comics, cult improv connoisseurs The Bear Pack, the unhinged silliness of sketch comedy duo Hot Department, viral Filipino-Australian podcasters The Cheatcoders, and Mexican-Australian comedic wrestlers Lucha Fantastica.
We’re also excited to horse around with a favourite from Adelaide Fringe, the kooky Elf Lyons (UK); the crude genius antics of Ruby Teys in her new outing as Cheryl Vinyl: Coober Pedy’s Last Show Girl; Sydney’s own “Queen of High Functioning Unhinged”, Thalia Joan; and the first-ever Sydney Comedy Festival appearance from Danish comedian and podcaster Sofie Hagen.
Another Festival first is Break Out, a new mentorship program where the Sydney Comedy Festival will host four emerging comedians to workshop new material with the support of industry experts. This year’s Break Out artists include Alan Fang, Frankie Rowsthorn, Toby Berowne and Stella Wu.
This year, the festival is expanding with the help of event funding from Destination NSW. In a statement about this, the Minister for the Arts, Jobs and Tourism, John Graham, said: “Our government has been working hard to rebuild our nightlife after a decade of lockouts and lockdowns, which unfortunately were no joke. Stand-up comedy is a really important part of the mix and this year’s stellar program is going to bring an enormous amount of fun to our city.”
As always, the festival will be spread across eclectic venues all over the city, and you can choose your own adventure by starting somewhere like the multi-stage hub of Marrickville’s Factory Theatre, and crawling along to Newtown’s legendary Enmore Theatre. SCF is a great opportunity to see your favourite international headliners in the flesh – but even better, it’s your chance to get out there and discover someone you’ve never even heard of before (and laugh your ass off).
Sydney Comedy Festival returns from April 21 – May 18, 2025. Stay tuned for more expert guidance from Time Out Sydney.
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