Locals won’t need to venture too far for this year’s Sydney Comedy Festival because a week of non-stop laughter is coming to The Joan from April 27 to May 3.
The partnership between the festival and the performing arts centre will bring top-tier performances, big laughs, and unbeatable energy with international, national, and hyper-local acts.
“The fact that we have multiple venues within very short walks of each other is perfect for the Sydney Comedy Festival because obviously people can come and stay the whole night and see up to three shows, have drinks and food in between, and have a great night all in one place without having to travel,” said The Joan’s Commercial and Contemporary Producer Peta Downes.
This won’t be the first time the venue welcomes comedians through its doors, despite primarily acting as a destination for music.
“We work with some of the big companies in comedy… they’ve had individual comedians come out and perform in our venues before, but this is the first time we’ve had a lot of really big international and national comedians come through in the one week,” Downes stated.
“We’re really excited about the calibre of comedians, not even just the international, but the local comedians who are coming through as well, and the mix of shows.”
The festival will include everything from stand-up to sketch, satire, musical theatre, hilarious storytelling and tomfoolery.
“‘Gladys: A Musical Affair’ – which is about Gladys Berejiklian – has had a few outings and it’s been touring around the region, and it’s coming here as part of that,” Downes explained.
“It’s a really exciting line-up actually and I think there’s something there for everybody.”
The Joan is one of two venues the Sydney Comedy Festival has brought on this year and boasts exclusive shows.
“We’ve got Danny Bhoy opening our festival and he’s only performing at two other venues,” Downes stated.
“We’ve got Rhys Nicholson who’s exclusive to us, so if people want to see Rhys Nicholson, they’ll have to come to Penrith.”
Other comedy legends to hit the stage at the venue are Melanie Bracewell, The Umbilical Brothers, Marty Bright, Esky Escandor, Nazeem Hussain, Neel Kolhatkar, and many more.
“We’ve been rolling out these acts since the beginning of last year, but now that the comedy festival has been announced, we can talk about the whole thing as one,” Downes said.
The festival of laughter will bring some much-needed comedic relief to a society battered by years of hardship, from COVID to the cost-of-living crisis.
“We want to be offering other things, and we want people to understand who we are and where we are because I think the last few years have been hard and people have forgotten they’ve got a world-class performing arts centre right in their midst,” Downes explained.
“This type of event is a great way to bring lots of different types of people together.”
The Joan is looking to start a long-term relationship with the Sydney Comedy Festival. Find out more online at https://www.thejoan.com.au/event-series/sydney-comedy-festival.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.