How comedians prepare for festival season

Next year’s comedy festival season may seem an age away, but for Australian comics, it’s very much begun.
A spotlight on a brick wall and in the middle a stand with an old fashioned microphone. Comedy festival season.

The application windows for some festivals have already closed, meaning those taking part need to have written a blurb and nominated a title for their next touring show, a fiendish task given the works are often still embryonic.

ArtsHub talks to four comedians, from newcomers to seasoned performers, to find out what they’ve learned from the festival experience and how they’re gearing up for their 2025 shows.

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Daniel Herborn is a journalist and novelist based in Sydney. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Saturday Paper, The Monthly, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and others. He has also practised law at an Intellectual Property firm specialising in creative industries clients.