Young comedy fans can jump aboard the Comedy Festival fun with Comedy for Kids: Shipwreck Gala, a family-friendly showcase that will have you laughing until your face hurts.
The gala is turning Sydney Town Hall’s upstairs Centennial Hall Theatre into a real-life shipwreck, complete with authentic pirate goods supplied by the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Hosted by Harley Breen and Heath Franklin – better known as Captain Fun Pants and Pirate No Beard – the gala will feature stowaway sketch comedy, hip hop sea shanties, acrobatic pirates, circus skills, stand-up and more. Acts include circus performers Arr We There Yet?, aerial theatre acrobatics from Aerialize, US sketch comedy act the Pajama Men, rapper Mirrah, as well as a kid-friendly set from comedian Jared Jekyll.
Kids are encouraged to dress up as pirates, mermaids, mermen or anything else relating to the theme. Plus, there’ll be activity stations set up in the forecourt including circus tricks from the Amazing Jono, and reading and writing games at Story Island.
“Given the beauty and the nature of having a shipwreck at the Town Hall, it wouldn’t be complete without a 'walk the plank' segment,” says event planner Olivia Answer. “We’re dusting off the order for 2,000 mini icebergs which the kids will get to throw at whichever comedian is asked to walk the plank!”
The show is highly interactive and engaging, and best suited to little ones aged five to 12. Tickets are just $2.50, with all proceeds donated to Redfern’s Sydney Story Factory, a not-for-profit creative writing centre for young people. “Comedy can’t be comedy without interesting stories that are lifted off the page, so comedy is about good writing and that’s what the Sydney Story Factory champions,” says Answer.
