Brisbane Comedy Festival

Boasting comic musings, side-splitting stories and tear-inducing tales, Australia’s fastest growing ​comedy ​festival, ​Brisbane Comedy​ Festival, has grown into a multi-venue extravaganza, bursting at the seams to host a hand-picked selection of the funniest folk in the country.

Touted as the biggest, boldest and funniest iteration of the festival yet, the 2025 Brisbane Comedy Festival’s giant five-week program will feature more than 135 acts performing across four venues – Brisbane Powerhouse, The Fortitude Music Hall, The Princess Theatre and The Tivoli – from Wednesday April 23 to Sunday May 25. This year’s program is filled to bursting point with some of the globe’s funniest jokesters – from the improvisational innovators and the wry satirists, to the bawdy banterers and witty wisecrackers.

Highlights of the 2025 program include Elf Lyons with the first ever comedy show performed entirely by a horse, punk-rock comedy Furiozo and Garry Starr performing every classic Penguin novel ever written. In an hour. These acts will be joined by Australian comedy legends like Matt Okine, Bob Downe, Emma Holland, Broden Kelly, Nazeem Hussain, Alex Ward, Anisa Nandaula, Pete Rowsthorn, Tommy Little, Geraldine Hickey, Lizzy Hoo, Ben Hunter, Becky Lucas and more. The Brisbane Comedy Festival will also welcome a fleet of international comedians, including Jimeoin, Rhys Darby, Sara Pascoe, Tom Allen, Arj Barker, Danny Bhoy, Nish Kumar, Melanie Bracewell and Ed Gamble/

Festival favourite Aboriginal Comedy Allstars is also returning in 2025, featuring premier First Nations comedians Andy Saunders, Elaine Crombie, Janty Blair, Jay Wymarra, Kevin Kropinyeri and Sean Choolburra. Additionally, Queerstories is making its anticipated return to Brisbane Comedy Festival in 2025, showcasing a stellar lineup of some of Australia’s best LGBTQIA+ comedians telling unexpected tales of pride, prejudice, resilience and resistance.

Head to the Brisbane Comedy Festival website to see the full 2025 program.