For 3+ weeks between March and/or April every year Melbourne welcomes hundreds of comics that participate in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Since arriving in Melbourne in 2007, I have attended the Comedy Festival every year.
My first year was not a great experience. Lauren and I went to see a UK comedian Daniel Kitson, he was getting rave reviews from The Age critics and other critics. I learnt my lesson don't trust critics when it involves something subjective as comedy. Lauren and I didn't really laugh nor were we entertained. His routine was the story of his life and the humour in it. We were not amused.
In 2008 we decided to skip the Comedy Festival, but I won free tickets to see an Australian comedian, whose name I no longer remember. He was in a small venue and was riffing on his life. He was not funny and again neither entertaining. Because we were out on a Saturday night to see comedy, I also booked tickets to see another comedy act, a Canadian improv group. I had a great time at this show, it was funny and entertaining. I laughed a lot during the show.
In 2009 Lauren and I decided to take Lauren's father to see a female comic who is also a ventriloquist - Nina Conti. Lauren and I had seen her on various TV shows and specials. We found her quite entertaining. At her show Evolution, she was very entertaining, but I would not say funny. She did get laughs from the audience but I didn't find her or her monkey funny.
So overall after seeing 4 shows, I have only found one show to be really funny and that was a Canadian improv group.
Last year we did go to a local venue to see comedy that was hosted by Ross Noble. He was very funny, but the acts that were performing were not very funny.
Comedy is a very subjective thing and there are many styles of comedy and comedians for all the variety of people out there. I feel this urge to experience live comedy but so far have not been fulfilled. But I will keep going in the hope of experiencing something new or truly funny.
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Comedy is very subjective, for sure. Our funny bones all get hit differently. That's why it's a really good idea to take in a showcase or two where you see lots of comedians do short spots before you decide which ones to go and see their full show.
For me, comics who are big on mainstream TV are often (not always) a bit too bland to be really enjoyable. Not that I'm super-keen on that "oh look at how many taboos I'm breaking" comedy style either - somewhere in between, please.
There are regular comedy rooms around Melbourne which can give you a taste of comedy all year round for a very reasonable price while you work out which local/touring comedians hit your particular funnybones. You should check them out.
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