The best comedy at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023

For one night only, Sammy J will look backwards, forwards and to the present in this comedic time capsule packed with games, music, high-octane dance numbers and appearances from some of Australia’s finest comedians.

Launched in 2008 with one show taking place every five years until 2058, this is the fourth instalment of Sammy J’s epic experiment that laughs in the face of Father Time. Don’t rest on your laurels when it comes to getting a ticket, or you’ll have to wait until 2028.

Baba is a comedy show about life, death, family and the indomitable Ukrainian spirit. The show sees the multi-award-winning performer Joshua Ladgrove touch on his experience of looking after his 97-year-old Ukranian grandmother (“Baba”) in complete isolation throughout Covid and until her death in August 2022.

The show vows to keep the spirit of Baba alive by telling the tale of her life and touching on everything from communism, ALDI, Pokémon, Rick Stein and bichon frisés. 

For the first time since 1999, the Australian people will be asked to vote on changing our constitution – and the last time we said “yes” was almost more than half a century ago.

Join "Year 11 legal studies graduate and university law dropout" (and award-winning comedian) Tom Ballard as he blasts through the history of Australian referenda to ask the big questions: What the hell is wrong with us? Why are we so afraid of change? Why does our constitution suck so hard? Should we just start this whole thing again, please?

Join a number of comedians who will walk the walk – and talk the talk – as they journey through the streets of Melbourne’s CBD with this fresh take on a good old-fashioned walking tour.

There are four De-tours of Melbourne to choose from: you can solve the mystery behind Melbourne’s famous stereotypes with amateur sleuth Jenna Schroder, join Dungeons and Dragons extraordinaire Lauren Bok on an epic quest, witness a Melbourne rom-com unfold in real-time with Sunanda and Angela Fouhy or learn about the city’s LGBTQ+ history according to Jake Glanc’s trails and tribulations. 

When are all the different tours?

Jenna Schroder’s tours are on October 6, 8-11, 15 and 21. 
Lauren Bok’s tours are on October 14 and 21.
Sunanda and Angela Fouhy’s are on October 12-13, 18-20.
Jake Glanc’s tours are on October 7, 14 and 17.

The 25-year-old transmasculine comedian Han Arbuthnott has gone through a lot in recent times. Not only have they been on testosterone for two years, but they have also had an elective double mastectomy. Their way of dealing with it all? Humour, no less.

A rising star, Arbuthnott is bringing How to Shave back to Naarm after a highly successful MICF debut. Please note: this is not a step-by-step guide to hair removal but a celebration of trans joy, our bodies and the silly, gross things they do for us. 

Is there anything more nightmarish than exposing the tell-all diary that is your phone's notes app? Save yourself the trauma with Hot Department – Deleted Scenes, which sees comedy duo Patrick Durnan Silva and Honor Wolff presenting from their own notes apps and night terrors.

The winner of the Sydney Comedy Festival Director’s Choice Award, this is a sketch you don’t want to miss.

Think you know your Achilles from Uranus? Greece Lightning is a one-hour show where Garry Starr has taken on the Herculean effort of performing all Greek mythology.

A self-professed "overzealous idiot", Starr will perform Greece Lightning to save his Hellenic homeland from economic ruin. In the past, the "sidesplittingly funny" show has received five stars across the board.

The Coconuts – Brown on the Outside, White on the Inside is a musical-comedy show about growing up brown in Australia from the critically acclaimed duo Leela and Shabana. Seemingly cute but surprisingly R-rated, the pair will shock and delight you with offbeat original songs and deadpan delivery as they poke fun at their experiences of being non-white in a white-washed world.