The 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award nominees for Most Outstanding Show were recently announced. They include Gillian Cosgriff – Actually, Good; Guy Williams (NZ) – Comedy Plus Time Equals Tragedy (NZ); Emma Holland – Save The Orangutans;  Hannah Camilleri – Lolly Bag; Laura Davis – Well Don’t Just Stand There Dancing; Leo Reich (UK) – Literally Who Cares?!; Jordan Gray (UK) – Is it a Bird?;  Liz Kingsman – One Woman Show; Rosie Jones (UK) – Triple Threat; and my personal favourite Tom Ballard – It Is I.

Other awards include The Golden Gibbo – named after iconic Aussie comedian Lynda Gibson and aimed at finding a local, independent show that pursues the artists’ idea. The 2023 nominees are:  Con Coutis – Con vs Con vs Con; Gillian Cosgriff – Actually, Good; Andy Balloch – Am I the Drama;  Liam Sparrow-Grange – The Magical Tram of Thought! and Woah, Alyssa! 5.

There were Best Newcomer nominations for He Huang – Bad Bitch;   Andrew Hamilton – Jokes About the Time I Went to Prison; Bron Lewis – Probably; Freddie McManus – Freddie McManus Is Stoppable; Aiden Willcox & Isaac Haigh – Songs from the Heart in the Hole of my Bottom;  Ray O’Leary (NZ) – Everything Funny All The Time Always; and Sashi Perera – Endings.

Winners will be announced Saturday 22 April which means there’s only two nights left to see one of these amazing shows.  Visit The 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival website to book.