Give It A Go
So, do you make people laugh? Want to make a living at it?
Open mics offer a chance for up-and-comers to polish their acts with the encouragement of experienced MCs and headline acts, and for the audience to see developing material from new performers taking risks. Comedy rooms offering open mic nights are the nurseries of tomorrow’s headliners. Support your local open mic night!
Good advice for those thinking about having a go at open-mic from the mic in hand website
Experienced performers are out there offering courses in stand-up, improvisation, mime, comedia dell’arte and other useful comic skills. All these courses help to fine-tune the presentation of one’s comedic material to best engage the audience.
So far the Courses page only has details of a few courses run in Sydney and Melbourne. Submit details of other courses via email.
Check the rules for each contest on their websites before requesting a spot!
There are a couple of big national competitions, but there are also many regional open-mic contests, some with decent prize-money, happening around the larger comedy clusters. If you know of one happening near you, please send me an email so I can add it to the list.
National
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RAW comedy
[link] Open-mic competition for newcomers, with its final at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and its prize of an opportunity to enter the So You Think You’re Funny? competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Join the mailing list to be notified of registration opening for the 2009 comp.
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Green Faces
Canberra Irish ClubJuly/August (registration from June) - organised by A-List [link] Heats are organised according to State of residence. A-List coordinates transport/accommodation.
- 1st Prize: $2500.00 cash plus a weeks bookings (Thursday-Saturday) at either the Sydney Comedy Store or The Sit Down Comedy Club in Brisbane.
- 2nd Prize: $750 Cash plus five paid support spots through A-List Comedy Clubs.
- 3rd Prize: $500 Cash plus five paid support spots through A-List Comedy Clubs.
Sydney
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Quest for the Best
Comedy on the Rox, Glebe [link] Australia’s richest open mic contest with a $5000 prize. Heats start in March and progress over 27 weeks to quarter finals and preliminary finals, with the Grand Final in November.
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Comedy Court
Star Bar, Sydney [link] (formerly Planet Hollywood, 600 George Street, Sydney) Weekly on Fridays: 20 comedians compete each week for up to $2000 in cash and prizes and a paid gig hosting the next competition! With digital voting pads, the audience decides the winners on the spot. (Includes a contest within a contest - “in the Witness Box” - open mic for comics who sign up on the night) Contact: 02 9547-2578
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Lord of Comedy
Ragged Comedy, Alexandria [link] Weekly heats for a monthly contest. The audience favourite wins the title “Lord of Comedy” for that month and gets called “Your Lordship” by everyone in the pub. Also a slab of beer. Sweet.
News of open mic nights, courses, contests and other comedy opportunities (writing, film etc) will appear in the avvagoyamug category.
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