The Tyrannies of Distance: From Cairns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Stand-up comedians need performance opportunities in order to hone their skills and develop confidence as performers. Living in Cairns, a long distance from a major comedy centre, poses problems in gaining practice and exposure as an emerging stand-up comedian. This article considers the process and outcomes of staging a stand-up comedy show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival of 2015. The value of this experiment in providing performance opportunities which contribute to developing the skills and confidence of a stand-up comedian is explored. An auto ethnographic process has been utilised together with heuristic research to develop a case study. Observations are limited to the experiences of the researcher and the expressions, during interviews, of comedians. Staging the show in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was challenging in many ways and expensive. The experience of being in Melbourne during the comedy festival, performing in varying situations and meeting with other comedians did provide valuable lessons, both positive and negative. This paper may serve to inform stand-up comedy performers from regional areas regarding staging a show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and of the benefits and hazards of doing so.