This year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the most diverse yet with more than 20 percent of performers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Over four weeks, the 39th Melbourne International Comedy is made up of 690 shows featuring more than a thousand performers from more than 20 countries, making it the biggest dedicated comedy festival in the world, with around 700,000 tickets sold.

The festival includes stand-up comics, cabaret, sketch, circus, improv, plays and other performances on 182 stages in 133 venues.

Among the international acts from diverse backgrounds are: Ahir Shah (UK), Jin Hao Li (Singapore), Anirban Dasgupta (India), Douglas Lim (Malaysia), Julio Torres (El Salvador), Kumar (Singapore), Olga Koch (Russia), Rahul Subramanian (India), Rhys Sumukhi Suresh (India) and Urooj Ashfaq (India).

Local acts from diverse backgrounds include: He Huang, Ivan Aristeguieta, Lizzy Hoo, Nazeem Hussain, Suren Jayemanne, Anisa Nandula, Grace Zhang, Harry Jun, Jenny Tian, Noah Szto, Rapha Manajem, Ting Lim, Nathan Chin and Omar Gad.

One extraordinary comedy festival event is the ‘Tales of Colour’ show, featuring the brilliant Nqabutho ‘Naza’ Ncube and Kurt Sterling.

The show is a riotous journey through stories of diversity, identity, and the hilarity found in the human experience.

Another popular act is Urooj Ashfaq, from India, and his ‘It’s Funny to Me’ show.

Known for her hilarious retelling of random, everyday life moments, Urooj’s equal parts unapologetic yet endearing humour flips the script of the seemingly daily mundane.

African Aussie Emo Majok canvases his life story, in which he delves into his experiences of culture clashes, recounting his journey of adapting from a refugee camp in East Africa to immigrating to Australia.

Crowned King of Malaysian Comedy, Douglas Lim delivers twisting and turning witty commentaries with an electrifying delivery.

Other highlights include the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars and the Asian Allstars Gala. See more detail here: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/