PA/37/12 5 November 2012
Comedy Roadshow brings the best Aussie comedians to India
Prepare your funny bones, some of Australia’s favourite comedians from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival are heading to India as part of Oz Fest - a celebration of Australian culture.
The Australian High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, welcomed the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow to India. “Audiences in Australia have been enjoying the fun of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for over a decade. We are thrilled to be able to bring five comedians from the Roadshow to India as part of Oz Fest”, said Mr Varghese.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is Australia’s largest ticketed cultural event and the biggest comedy festival in the world outside Edinburgh. For the past 14 years, after the Festival closes, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow has hit the road to over 50 venues around Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Now for the very first time it’s India’s turn to experience some of Australia’s best comedians.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival comes to India as part of the Australian Government’s Oz Fest, a festival that runs from October 2012 through to January 2013 which will showcase the vibrancy and innovation of Australia’s contemporary culture. Oz Fest will present events in 18 cities across India. Australian arts and culture, sport and food, business and innovation will be on show as part of the Festival. Oz Fest will also feature business and industry networking events that focus on innovation, science and technology, mining and resources, and food and beverage. There will also be Oz Fest competitions to enter during the Festival with amazing prizes, including trips to Australia.
The Victorian Government is a platinum sponsor of Oz Fest. Victoria believes Oz Fest provides a wonderful platform for future exchanges and important new collaborative projects between our two nations, and is a good showcase for the products and services that Victoria can offer India.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow will tour to Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Bengaluru. During this inaugural tour the Festival will present RAW Comedy, an open mic competition in search of India’s best comedy act. The winner will be invited to the Festival for a guest spot.
RAW Comedy heats will occur in each of the cities of the tour and a RAW final in New Delhi will be judged by comedians and representatives from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
“Our first Roadshow visit to India will be an amazing opportunity to share our work with Indian audiences as well as to explore the vibrant and developing Indian comedy scene. We are particularly excited about the RAW Comedy heats we will hold in India and the opportunity those present to bring an Indian comedian to Melbourne to share in the Comedy Festival in 2013,” said Susan Provan, Artistic Director of the Festival.
For Oz Fest India, the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s line up reflects the range and diversity of the 2012 Festival and will give India a taste of some of Australia’s great talent.
The incredible line up includes MC Dave Callan, musical duo Smart Casual, Harley Breen, Cal Wilson and Matt Okine (Co-Winner Best Newcomer Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2012), all of whom will be causing a ruckus as they cruise through India with the aim of spreading some silliness during OZ Fest.
“The Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow has such chalk and cheese personalities delivering such a wide assortment of gags, it has everyone’s humour covered”
– The Sunday Times, Western Australia
Supported by the Australia Government through the Australian International Cultural Council and initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
2012 ROADSHOW TOUR INFORMATION:
MUMBAI SHOWS
9pm, Thursday 1 November
7pm, Friday 2 November
Blue Frog
Mathuradas Mills Compound,
Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel,
Mumbai 400 013
Phone: (+91)-22-61586158
Tickets will be available at the venue
Check www.bluefrog.co.in for details
PUNE SHOWS
9pm, Saturday 3 November
9pm, Sunday 4 November
High Spirits
Pune (Koregaon Park) Bar & Pub
Mundhwa
Pune, Maharashtra
Phone: 020 65250559
Tickets will be available at the venue
BENGALURU SHOWS
9pm, Thursday 8 November
9pm, Friday 9 November
Opus
# 4, 1st Main, Off Palace Cross Road,
Chakravathy Layout,
Vasanth Nagar
Free entry before 8pm
Check http://www.myopus.in/ for details
DELHI SHOWS
8pm, Saturday 10 November
9pm, Sunday 11 November
Blue Frog
The Kila,
Seven Style Mill Compound,
Opposite the Qutub Minar,
Mehrauli, New Delhi 110030
Phone: (+91)-11-3080 0300
Tickets will be available through the venue
Check www.bluefrog.co.in for details
2012 RAW COMEDY INFORMATION:
9 pm, Wednesday 31 October
Mumbai RAW Comedy Heat
Comedy Store
Soul Fry Casa
Plot No. 111-A,
Currimjee Building Mahatma Gandhi Road,
Fort, Mumbai, MH 400023, India
Phone: 022 22671421
FREE ENTRY
To participate as a contestant in RAW COMEDY please check the Oz Fest Facebook page for details.
http://www.facebook.com/OzFestinIndia
8pm, Tuesday 6 November
Delhi RAW Comedy Heat
The Living Room
31 Hauz Khas Village
New Delhi
Phone: (+91)-11- 9899383899
FREE ENTRY
To participate as a contestant in RAW COMEDY please check the Oz Fest Facebook page for details.
http://www.facebook.com/OzFestinIndia
7.30pm, Wednesday 7 November
Bengaluru RAW Comedy Heat
Opus
# 4, 1st Main,
Off Palace Cross Road,
Chakravathy Layout,
Vasanth Nagar Bengaluru,
Karnataka 560052, India
FREE ENTRY To participate as a contestant in RAW COMEDY please check the Oz Fest Facebook page for details.
http://www.facebook.com/OzFestinIndia
RAW COMEDY FINAL – DELHI
7pm, Monday 12 November
Select Citywalk
A-3 District Centre Saket New Delhi 110 017 India
011 4211 4211
FREE ENTRY www.facebook.com/ozfestinindia
RAW COMEDY WINNERS WILL COMPETE IN THIS FINAL
For more information about Oz Fest events visit www.ozfestindia.com, www.facebook.com/ozfestinindia, or follow us on twitter @OzFestIndia