Melbourne International Comedy Festival - part one / by Stephanie Puls

DILRUK JAYASINHA - Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Dilruk (pictured above) moved to Australia to study accounting at uni many years ago. He's abandoned the trade and is now working as a stand-up comic. I saw Dilruk last year and he was good but this year he's great! The additional year of experience has made a huge difference. I really laughed a lot, often as his expense, which will make sense if you see the show. (Word of warning if you plan to see this one... the room gets pretty stuffy!)

GERALDINE HICKEY: This Australian comic has a laconic style that is really endearing. The theme of the show is lotto but it strays a long way from that. Who cares though, I got a lot of laughs out of this. Happily recommend!

KARL CHANDLER: Another local comic, Karl does one liners with a unique added degree of difficulty - in each show he invites another comic in to be a professional heckler! The night I was there it was Danny McGinlay and together they were hilarious! The one liner style is not for everyone, but I really loved this. (Word of warning if you plan to go to Karl's show... dress light, the room is like a freakin' sauna.)

BECKY LUCAS - I saw Becky do her first MICF show last year and felt like she had a hell of a lot of potential. She's used the year wisely and has obviously done a lot of flying time on stage. It shows. She has a lovely charming style and I did laugh quite a bit. In five years time, this comic will be filling huge rooms, I reckon.