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What int’l students should see at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Mihika Hegde

Fri Apr 07 2017

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For its 28th year of hilarity, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival brings with it a diverse pool of talent for the picking. From world class talents and local up-and-comers, the festival’s lineup is full of the very best comics who are committed to bringing you a night full of laughter.

Though its program, running from now until April 23, is stacked full of comedians and events, international students looking for comedy closer to home and familiar to them should look to the following acts to entertain them for an evening.

Comedy Zone Asia

Now three years in the running, Comedy Zone Asia is a showcase of the diverse range of comedy found throughout parts of Asia.

Multi-talented Malaysian Douglas Lim, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy at the Asian TV Awards, will be present alongside fellow countryman, and KL comedy legend, Rizal van Geyzel. Singapore will be represented with 2011 Hong Kong International Comedy Competition runner-up Jinx Yeo also taking the stage at Comedy Zone Asia.

India’s trailblazing Neeti Palta — who won the inaugural RAW Comedy India Festival and was the first Indian stand-up to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2013 — will use her brand of comedy to critique everything from normative cultures to gender inequality. And joining Palta is up-and-comer Sumit Anand (India) who will be performing for the first time at the festival.

For more on Comedy Zone Asia, visit its event page

Bengaluru Comedy Festival Showcase

If you’re itching to see more of what South Asia has to offer, look no further than the Bengaluru Comedy Festival Showcase. Doing the subcontinent proud this year are Daniel Fernandes and Sapan Verma.

Fernandes’ dark and surreal approach towards comedy often tackles sensitive social issues and the comedian is known to cover everything from freedom of speech to the death penalty.

Verma, meanwhile, is no stranger to delivering comedy for diverse audiences. As co-founder of East India Company, the comedian has performed for crowds of more than 80,000 people at the Global Citizen Festival India and has performed at more than 800 live shows world wide. He is a popular television presenter, has written scripts for Bollywood and is an Indian favourite. 

Also joining Fernandes and Verma are Comedy Zone Asia’s Neeti Palta and Sumit Anand.

For more on Bengaluru Comedy Festival Showcase, visit its event page.

Dashan Live 

Chinese audiences will no doubt be familiar with Dashan, the comedic personality known for his traditional ‘crosstalk’ style of comedy (a type of traditional Chinese comedic performance).

Originally from Canada, Dashan (known outside of China simply as Mark Rowswell) has worked in China for more than 29 years and continues to bring laughter to Chinese audiences with his brand of comedy. His show, Dashan Live, will be performed exclusively in Mandarin and will be a reflection on Dashan’s life in between China and Canada as he seeks to cross cultural barriers between himself and his audience.

For more of an idea of the man behind Dashan, read Wing Kuang’s interview with the man himself.

For more on Dashan Live, visit its event page.


Meld Magazine is giving away three double passes to the Bengaluru Comedy Festival Showcase on Thursday, April 20 (5.45pm) at the Forum Theatre.

For your chance to win, simply enter our Rafflecopter competition below! Winners will be notified as soon as possible. Competition ends April 14. 

The 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival is currently running and will conclude on April 23. Tickets to all shows are currently on sale now and can be purchased at the festival’s official website.

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