Well it’s coming up to that time of year. No, not when Christmas trees start going on sale again, that’s next month. It’s comedy festival time. This means every comedian in the country is frantically getting their jokes finished, because who wants to see a show without punchlines right? (If you do: my dad suggests my show, Ciaran Lyons: adultHOOD, thanks Dad).

With more than 600 shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and more than 100 at the Sydney Comedy Festival, it can be hard to pick which ones to see. If you’re keen to see the top new talent in action, here is a list of some of the best comedians across Australia doing their debut shows.

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Cameron James (NSW)

Cameron James is funny. I’m not just saying that because that’s the title of his Facebook page — I’ve also seen him consistently smash every gig I’ve been at. Since making it to the Raw Comedy National Grand Final a few years ago, he has sold out shows across the country and opened for comedy legends Ari Shaffir and Tony Hinchcliffe. His debut show this year ’88 — the year he was born — is essentially just him running us through his life, but in the best way possible.

“It’s just all my embarrassments, mistakes and fuck ups from the past 29 years put in this one hour,” James told us.

Cameron James – ‘88

Melbourne: March 30 – April 23 at Trades Hall, 7.30pm (6.30pm Sunday)

Sydney: May 18-21 at The Factory Theatre, 9.30pm (8.30pm Sunday)

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Aaron Chen (NSW)

Aaron is responsible for one of my favourite tweets ever. Tweeting the NSW Police, he wrote “if this gets 1K retweets I will commit a crime”. It’s currently sitting on 1172 retweets. He hasn’t committed a crime as far as I know. Maybe that crime will be killing at his Comedy Festival shows… BOOM.

@aaronch3n Morning Aaron – we would advise against this…

— NSW Police (@nswpolice) October 27, 2016

Chen already has a pretty great CV on him after winning MICF Class Clowns and featuring in both the Raw Comedy National Finals and Comedy Zone. Aaron is super confident about his new show, which he’s made with his mate Jono.

“It is art that sits comfortably alongside Picasso, Madonna and Rex Hunt (the fisherman),” he told us.

Aaron Chen – The Infinite Faces of Chenny Baby

Melbourne: March 29 – April 23 at Victoria Hotel, 9.45pm

Sydney: May 11-14 at The Enmore Theatre, 8.15pm

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Danielle Walker (QLD)

2016 Raw Comedy Winner, Danielle Walker, is coming back to Melbourne International Comedy Festival as part of this year’s Comedy Zone showcase. Quickly making a name for herself in the local Melbourne scene, Danielle has recently been touring around the country performing at sweet gigs like Splendour in the Grass and The Comedy Store. You can catch Danielle as one of five acts handpicked by the festival to perform in this prestigious show. She gets along with the other cast members which is good to hear. “I mainly tease Rohan [Ganju] a lot,” she says.

Along with Danielle, The Comedy Zone this year features Rohan Ganju (VIC), Tim Hewitt (QLD), Nat Damena (WA) and Tom Cashman (NSW). Definitely worth checking out if you wanna see a show featuring the next generation of comedy stars.

Danielle Walker — The Comedy Zone

Melbourne: The Comedy Zone is on March 30 – April 23 at Trades Hall, 8.15pm (7.15pm Sunday) 

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Jess Perkins and Naomi Higgins (VIC)

Sometimes audiences are lucky enough to see a show with not just one, but two very funny comedians. Twins is exactly that — it features two of Melbourne’s fastest rising comedians, Jess Perkins and Naomi Higgins, in a double bill show. Between them they have ABC appearances, breakfast radio credits and finalist placings in the national RAW Comedy competition.

I put them up against each other, to tell us their biggest achievement in life to date. “Avila College Year 7 High Jump Champion, 2003” says Jess. Naomi says: “Remembering to have breakfast seven days in a row (and meeting the 2003 Avila College Year 7 High Jump Champion)”.

Jess Perkins and Naomi Higgins – Twins

Melbourne: April 11 – 23 at The Greek Centre , 6.15pm

 

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Sam Taunton (VIC)

Since scoring Runner Up in the RAW Comedy National Final, Sam has been making waves — bigger than the ones on a windy day in Bondi. Featuring in MICF Comedy Zone and the Festival Roadshow, Taunts picked up a sweet job presenting on MTV. He has interviewed Zac Efron. Unfortunately he has showered since shaking hands with that dude.

All Sam wants for this show is to make people happy. “It’s all about playing it straight and trying not to upset people”. I don’t think he’ll upset people considering his biggest achievement in life is getting an email verification code right. “It was a four super tough multiple choice but I somehow managed to nail them all”.

Sam Taunton – Taunts Down For What

Melbourne: March 30 – April 23 at Victoria Hotel, 8.30pm

Sydney: Sydney Fringe Festival, dates TBC

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Alex Ward (QLD)

Brisbane born, Melbourne-based comedian Alex Ward is a great new talent worth checking out. I saw her have a great set at Perth Fringe earlier this year, which wasn’t surprising considering she has already performed at Splendour in the Grass twice, sold out festival shows and presents on JOY FM.

“Oddly enough my biggest failure was having popcorn husk suctioned to my gum for months,” Alex told us. She thinks her show will fill you with anxiety, warmth, self-belief and then hope… and maybe love. If you wanna be filled with all that (as well as hilarious stories and jokes of course) book your tickets now.

Alex Ward – QUIET

Melbourne: March 30 – April 23 at Forum Theatre, 6pm

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Pat McCaffrie (SA)

I first met Pat when I performed with him in The Garden at Adelaide Fringe. Pat won the Best Weekly Comedy Award for his show that he is now taking to the Melbourne Comedy Festival. You might have caught Pat in the festival last year if you checked out MICF Comedy Zone.

When he’s not on stage, he lives a laidback life. He considers his biggest achievement was “almost finishing The Costello Memoirs once”.

Pat McCaffrie — Don’t Watch The News Watch Pat McCaffrie

Melbourne: April 11- 21 at The Chinese Museum, 9.45pm

 

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Amy Hetherington (NT)

Darwin’s Amy Hetherington has an awesome infectious energy on stage; she’s a delight to watch. Her show is called Terminally Positive, and he has plenty to be positive about. In only a couple of years of doing comedy she has already reached the Raw Comedy National Final and supported Jimeon and Steve-O from Jackass. After already selling out shows at the Perth Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and Darwin Festival, Amy will be wrapping up her tour at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

She is particularly proud of this show cause her Nana didn’t walk out. “She survived watching it and still loves me so I like to think it’s not too rude or controversial’.

Amy Hetherington – Terminally Positive

Melbourne: March 29 – April 4 at Imperial Hotel, 6.30pm

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Kyle Legacy, Ruven Govender and Sam Kissajukian

This is potentially the most unique show you’ll see this year. The concept of the show is Aussie vs. British banter. Sam Kissajukian reps the Aussies and Kyle Legacy reps the Brits. Ruven Govender holding it all together. There’s three rounds that test the comedians’ skills. The loser gets punched in the head. Literally. It’s probably easier to just go watch than listen to me explain it any further. This show isn’t for the faint hearted.

“People can expect a rowdy, glorious mess of a show. Heckling, banger jokes and boxing,” they told us.

Kyle Legacy, Ruven Govender and Sam Kissajukian – Comedy Boxing

Melbourne: March 30 – April 23 at The Bull and Bear Tavern, 9.10pm

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Ciaran Lyons is a touring stand up comedian and triple j presenter. Originally from Perth, he was a regular metro whip presenter for Channel Ten’s The Project and has performed at cool events like Splendour in the Grass and Triple J’s Good Az Friday. He tweets at @ciarancomedy. 

Ciaran will be making his debut at the Melbourne and Sydney Comedy Festivals with his show adultHOOD.