2026 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL AWARD NOMINEES ARE HERE
FIVE DAYS LEFT TO SEE SHOWS
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has unveiled its 2026 award nominees, shining a spotlight on some of the most exciting and diverse comedic talent in this year’s program – and with just five days of the Festival remaining, there’s never been a better time to catch a show. Winners will be announced on Saturday 18 April.
Ten nominees have been revealed for the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award for Most Outstanding Show: Abby Wambaugh (USA/Denmark) – The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows, Cassie Workman (AUS) – You Are Here, Celia Pacquola (AUS) – Gift Horse, Dan Tiernan (Ireland/UK) – Quartz and All, Emmanuel Sonubi (UK) – Life After Near Death, Frankie McNair (AUS) – Huge Ass Mindset, Kitty Flanagan (AUS) – Glad Game, Lara Ricote (Mexico/USA) – Inkling, Reuben Kaye (AUS) – Hard To Swallow and Sam Nicoresti (UK) – Baby Doomer.
Best Newcomer nominations for performers doing their first full, eligible, Festival show are: Barney Pollock (AUS) – King of the Pigs 2, Caitlin Duff (AUS) – Freidah Will See You Now, Dana Mitchell (AUS) – The Lady Will Have, Elliot Wood (AUS/NZ) – Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza, Jo Gowda (AUS/India) – Don’t Deport the Fun, Nathan Chin (AUS) – Chinese Comedy Party and Tarsh Jago (AUS) – Cherub.
The Golden Gibbo – celebrating the legacy of the late, great Lynda Gibson – is aimed at finding a local, independent show that pursues the artists’ idea more than it pursues commercial gain. The 2026 nominees are: Andy Balloch (AUS) – Welcome to Hell, Caitlin Duff (AUS) – Freidah Will See You Now, Kate Dehnert (AUS) – Echo, Katrina Mathers (AUS) – Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues, Laura Davis (AUS) – Swag and Sunny Youngsmith (AUS) – Cabin Pressure.
Winners will be announced on Saturday with additional awards bestowed including; Directors’ Choice, awarded by the Festival Director in consultation with festival programming colleagues to a show they think deserves to be celebrated; the People’s Choice Award for the most popular show of the Festival as determined by the ticket buying public; The Pinder Prize, honouring Festival co-founder John Pinder, and supporting a performer to travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; the Piece of Wood comics’ choice award, selected by past winners and presented to a peer literally for “doin’ good stuff ‘n’ that”. This year a newly created VicScreen Greenlight Award will be awarded to a show with standout screen potential.
About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
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