Spanning five days, featuring nine headliners and spread across three venues, the Hobart Festival of Comedy is set to return from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 March 2025. A fresh roster of local and international talent will perform across five nights of hilarious comedy and entertainment featuring stand up shows, DJs, and late-night antics at Odeon, In The Hanging Garden and Altar Bar.
The 2025 program will present a diverse range of comedic performances ranging from a show performed entirely in Spanish to another exploring the butterfly effect. International and Australian headliners will appear along with two showcases full of local Lutruwita/Tasmania comedians; CULT Comedy and The Clubhouse—hosted by legends Rob Braslin and David Bakker respectively.
Also returning, after selling out in 2024, is Club Chaos—a fabulous blend of cabaret, stand up, physical theatre, DJs, drag performance, and more surprises to come. This strictly adults only show is for one night only and tickets are $25.
Adding to the festival atmosphere will be DJs in Cathedral on Friday from 5pm and Saturday from 8pm, with food and drinks available for the entire festival. The newly refurbished Altar Bar will act as the perfect comedy club for showcases and more intimate gigs, with limited tickets available.
Curator Phoebe Meredith says about the festival: ‘After the runaway success of our first festival, it was a no-brainer to come back for 2025. We set the bar high for ourselves and it’s been great fun curating this year’s Festival to include some amazing international and local comedians—from Scotsman Danny Bhoy to astute Aussie satirist Sammy J and rising star Alex Ward to New Zealand’s Ray O’Leary.
As with 2024’s festival this is a unique opportunity to bring such incredible talent to Hobart who otherwise might not have been able to come, so catch them while they’re here!’
DarkLab Music Program Manager Sam Dowson says about the showcases: ‘The calibre of local comedians here in Nipaluna/Hobart is world class and it is amazing to work with two of the leading Comedy Room organisers and comedians who know the scene so well—David Bakker and Rob Braslin. They successfully run their respective rooms The Clubhouse and CULT Comedy and I’m excited to see the lineups that they’ve curated.’
Hobart Festival of Comedy 2025 lineup:
Ivan Aristeguieta
– All Bangers, No Mash!
As seen on ‘Thank God You’re Here’, ‘Have You Been Paying Attention?’ and the Melbourne Comedy Festival TV Gala, the Maracas from Caracas hits Hobart with a hatful of his best jokes for a show described (by Ivan) as ‘a true blue, dinky-di avalanche of bangers’.
Danny Bhoy
– Dear World…
Winner of The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award and as seen on ‘Live At The Apollo’ and ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’, Danny brings the sequel (if you can imagine such a thing) to the Scottish comic’s favourite ever show. A hybrid of stand up and theatre—which mostly just means he gets to sit down for bits of it.
CULT Comedy
Presented by Rob Braslin
A string of local luminaries, laugh-merchants and legends grace Altar Bar with never before seen goofs, bits, riffs, weird noises, and the like. Curated and MC’d by Lutruwita’s favourite funny guy, Rob Braslin.
Featuring: Michael Blake, Beth Warren, Liam O’Loughlin, Scott Lleonart, Emesha Rudolf and Michelle & Ben.
The Clubhouse
Presented by David Bakker
Hobart’s warmest and fuzziest comedy hangout crashes Altar Bar, curated and MC’d by local legend David Bakker.
Featuring: Andrew Harper, Elise Ryan, Valerie Cameron, Aaron Maxwell, Tracey Cosgrove and Daryl Peebles.
Club Chaos
The late-night comedy club returns for one night only, with a chaotic glut of stand-up, physical theatre, and drag performance. Strictly for adults.
The line-up for Club Chaos will be announced early next year.
He Huang
– White Man’s Burden
As seen on ‘Thank God You’re Here’, ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ and the ‘Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala’, He Huang came out as a white man in her last show, expecting she was now a business tie and finger guns away from opportunity, respect, and finally understanding Bitcoin.
Nazeem Hussain
– You Paid For This
Famous for the TV shows ‘Orange Is The New Brown’ and ‘Legally Brown’, Nazeem Hussain is back with a brand new show—You Paid for This. Here’s the deal: people buy a ticket, he tells brand new jokes for an hour, and everyone leaves feeling like they got their money’s worth.
Sammy J
– The Kangaroo Effect
Sammy J returns in a time-bending memoir that bounces through the life of a recovering attention seeker via song, stories and VHS tapes. Sammy J’s career has had more eras than Taylor Swift. Comedian, author, composer, and broadcaster, he’s one half of the man/puppet comedy duo Sammy J & Randy, had a sitcom on Netflix, created satirical sketches for ABC TV and hosted the ABC Radio Melbourne breakfast show for five years.
Zoë Coombs Marr
– Live
A globe-trotting comedian who’s also a lesbian, occasionally a man, and always hilarious brings an hour of side-splitting laughs. Known for falling over (a lot) and collecting award nominations (sometimes even winning them), she’s back to prove why everyone’s talking about her. As seen in her Amazon special ‘Bossy Bottom’ and ABC’s ‘Queerstralia’.
Ray O’Leary
– Laughter? I Hardly Know Her!
Spotted on shows like ‘Taskmaster’ and ‘Have You Been Paying Attention?’, Ray reckons he pulled a man from a wrecked car, and as the man lay dying, he used his final breath to ask Ray to tell his children he loved them. Ray will get around to it—right after this comedy show.
Ricardo Quevedo
– De algo nos tenemos que morir (We have to die of something)
Performed entirely in Spanish, and packed to the brim with sarcasm and dark humour, one of Colombia’s most celebrated comedians and actors brings his brash new show to the Odeon. As seen on his three Netflix shows and in several films.
Alex Ward
– Clip Clop Don’t Stop
With personal, engaging and punch-line heavy comedy, Alex is one of Australia’s fastest rising up-and-comers. She says her show is ‘about big moments that changed me a little and little moments that changed me a big’. Alex is also a writer for Network Ten’s ‘The Project’ and has appeared on ‘Have You Been Paying Attention?’ and ‘ABC Comedy’s Up-late’.
Get the first laugh—a pre-sale begins at 10am on Thursday 5 December with a general on-sale at 10am a day later on Friday 6 December.
Hobart Festival of Comedy
Wednesday 5 – Sunday 9 March 2025
Odeon, Altar Bar + In The Hanging Garden, Nipaluna/Hobart
Pre-sale: 10am, Thursday 5 December 2024
General on-sale: 10am, Friday 6 December 2024
Tickets and more information: festivalofcomedy.com.au
