Sydney news

Now in its 7th year the Big Laugh Comedy Festival is itching to bring you the finest laughter package ever seen in Sydney with exclusive shows from the USA, Ireland, UK, Australia and Samoa!

From March 21 to April 1, 2007, comedy fans are in for a treat at all our venues - Riverside Theatres, the Laugh Garage Comedy Club Parramatta, The State Theatre and the Seymour Centre in central Sydney.

The legendary Jim Henson Company's Puppet Up! - Uncensored is without doubt the big ticket for 2007. A company of 16 brilliant performers and technicians and close to 100 puppets will fly direct to Sydney from Los Angeles for the Australian premiere of the most talked about festival comedy attraction in the world right now. Direct from sold out performances in Edinburgh, Las Vegas and Aspen, the Henson Company’s show combines remarkable comic improvisation and superbly irreverent puppetry in an un-missable evening of hilarity.

“The Jim Henson Company show is brilliant,” says Festival Director John Pinder. “I have seen it four times and getting it to Sydney is a coup for the Big Laugh. We are very proud to again be presenting one of the great comedy entertainment names in the world as our big attraction this year.

This is the best collection of Big Laugh shows we have ever assembled. There really is a show for every comedy fan in the program - old favourites, big stars and new shows that we promise will have you laughing out loud."

From Ireland, Sean Hughes (Sean's Show) and Ardal O'Hanlon (Father Ted) along with the return of Dylan Moran (Black Books) head a brilliant line-up of stand up comics including Australia's own Judith Lucy making her Big Laugh debut, Scotland's Danny Bhoy, Akmal, Corinne Grant who is threatening to give away all her possessions to the audience, and the outrageous Chopper from Network Ten's The Ronnie Johns Half Hour in his first one man show whimsically titled Harden The F**k Up Australia. Sean and Ardal will appear at both Riverside Theatres and the Seymour Centre.

From London comes The Pool Guy. Steve Daking is the ‘8 Ball’ Trick Shot Champion of the World...and he's funny. In the intimate Lennox Theatre at Riverside with slo-mo replays on screen, celebrity guest players and tricks that will make you gasp and laugh, this is a show for pool players and people who really don't know what to do with that stick thingy.

Special events include an all star, NOT for broadcast, concert version of 702 ABC Sydney’s Thank God It's Friday, Sydney's favourite radio comedy spot on Richard Glover’s Drive, with Richard, Mikey Robins, Jean Kitson, Phil Scott, Tommy Dean, Anthony Ackroyd, Mike 'Mr Weather' Bailey and musical guest, showbiz legend Toni Lamond.

Rod Quantock has also created a new Special Event for the Festival. Coming Clean is a criminally funny orgy of confessions, where top comics admit to stuff they could go to jail for! A must see for legal eagles, comedy fans and possibly the police department. Confessing to their crimes will be Mark "Bob Downe' Trevorrow, Jackie Loeb, Dave Grant, Tom Molomby and additional performers. Rod is the only performer to have taken part in all seven Big Laugh festivals. This year he is also returning with one cruise only on his Laugh Boat... an unpredictable and hilarious journey on a Parramatta Rivercat where anything can happen...and this time it’s in daylight!

Samoa's most famous exports are back with a brand new show called The Laughing Samoans - Off Work! One of the Big Laugh's bestselling shows ever, Eteuati Ete and Tofiga Fepulea'i will sell out for sure with the Sydney Samoan community coming from all over town for a special night of Pacific hilarity. And you don't have to be Samoan to be in on the fun!

And we have let Puppetry of the Penis back in to the Big Laugh, but it’s coming a week early and for only a one night stand.


www.biglaughcomedyfestival.com.au