An army of funny people are rearing up to flood through Sydney’s streets, switching daily stresses for belly laughs as local and visitors prepare for weeks of non-stop hilarity. That’s the idea behind the 20th annual Sydney Comedy Festival, celebrating its milestone with an abundance of creativity, from stand-up shows atop Sydney Harbour Bridge to more Comedy Night Galas than ever before.
We’ve got your ultimate guide to Sydney Comedy Festival right here, letting you know exactly what tickets you should be locked down before some of the world’s most observant people come to remind just how absurd life can be.
When is the Sydney Comedy Festival?
The Sydney Comedy Festival kicks off at Monday, April 21 and will run up until Sunday, May 18.
What are some of the Sydney Comedy Festival highlights?
There’s a few this year. Stephanie Broadbridge is performing her controversial Breaking: The Musical at Sydney University, big names like Rhys Darby and Daniel Sloss are on board, and the world’s first comedy climb will see people scale the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the Australia’s highest stand-up show.
Read on for your ultimate guide on what to do during Sydney Comedy Festival.
The best Sydney Comedy Festival Events
1. Climb with a Comedian
We didn’t quite know what Sydney Comedy Festival was planning for their 20th anniversary, but it’s about time a niche festival got a bit more creative with its host city. To further distinguish the fact that this comedy festival is, in fact, in Sydney, the organisers have hooked up with BridgeClimb to introduce the world’s first ‘Climb with a Comedian’ program.
It’s simple, really. A handful of Australian and New Zealand comedians have given up their time, with a program that’ll have the regular BridgeClimb summit joined by one of those funny people. And those funny people will then deliver a stand-up show in the sky. So next time someone tells you about that special guest they saw at New York’s Comedy Cellar, you can counter with this zinger: you were one of the only people in the world to ever witness a stand-up comedy show on top of the world’s most iconic bridge.
As for who your fearless comedians will be, here’s the full schedule:
- David Correos – Tuesday, May 6
- Marney McQueen (Celine from Titanique) – Thursday, May 8
- Bob Downe – Friday, May 9
- Elouise Eftos – Wednesday, May 14
- John Cruckshank – Thursday, May 15
Where: Sydney Harbour Bridge
When: May 6-15, 2025
Price: $349 per person
2. Great Laugh in the Park
This is your big day, families. Not only does no one need to pay to enter Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park (no, not even the parents), but Sydney Comedy Festival is making one gargantuan day of it with a greatly varied line-up for funny shows complemented by a mini carnival, food stalls and more kid-friendly festival standards.
The festival’s organisers are turning Tumbalong into the Great Laugh in the Park, a free family event on Saturday, April 26 that’ll go all day from 12pm to 8:30pm.
Hosted by Australian comedy legend, ABC Kid’s Giggle and Hoot’s Jimmy Rees OAM, the event will feature a long list of family-friendly laughs from the likes of Dorothy the Dinosaur (yes, from The Wiggles), ABC’s award-winning The Listies, US stand-up Drew Lynch, Texan comedian Kemah Bob, and locals Nick Cody, Matt Okine and Aunty Donna. Also on the cards is 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’s Sara Pascoe and Edinburgh Fringe sell-out The Greatest Magic Show, with mind-boggling illusions and circus acts.
There’s even some live music round out the event with party band Furnace and the Fundamentals joined by a roster of local DJs.
Where: 11 Harbour St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: Saturday, April 26 from 12pm
Price: Free
3. Sydney Comedy Crawl at YCK Laneways
The inaugural Sydney Comedy Festival Crawl is, in our opinion, one of the smartest ways to bring something different to the festival’s 20th anniversary. It’s not quite as unique and one-of-one as stand ups on Sydney Harbour Bridge, but this is a very fine way to highlight the CBD’s high density of interesting cocktail bars through the joy of comedy.
Festival organisers are working with the city’s YCK Laneways precinct to fill each of the area’s best bars with stand up comedians all night, so ticket holders can have a little comedy trial while also enjoying some of the best drinks Sydney has to offer.
It’s a guided tour as well. Four comedy sets, four brilliant comedians and four trendy bars are taking part, with guests venue hopping with a surprise MC that’ll take the crowd on a crawl between Wynyard and Town Hall.
Each ticket comes with four comedy shows and four different bars. You won’t know who your comedian guide will be until you get there, making the surprise half the fun.
Where: YCK Laneways
When: Tuesday, May 6 + Saturday, May 10
Price: $50
4. Comedy Night Galas
Comedy’s night of nights is back for Sydney. Well, seven night of nights. For 2025, the organisers wanted to put even more Comedy Night Galas on the program. And seeing as they are invariably the most popular events for Sydney Comedy Festival each year, we’re thinking these could be some of the biggest nights of the year.
- Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay – Friday, April 25
- Enmore Theatre, Enmore – Tuesday, April 22
- Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
- The Pavilion, Sutherland – Thursday, April 24
- The Concourse Theatre, Chatswood – Tuesday, April 22
- The Joan, Penrith – Tuesday, April 29
- Comedy Gala on the Green – Saturday, April 26
These are often the first events to sell out with a huge night of comedians doing 5-10 minutes each. The vibes are high, the pressure is on, and the crowds are typically hard to impress. But what really pulls it all together is the camaraderie and competition between all the comedians.
Who’s on the run sheet? No one knows. Each Gala night is keeping the line ups close knit, but with so many famous comedians in town during the festival you never know who might pop in to test and evolve their latest material.
Where: Various venues
When: April 22 – 29, 2025
5. Factory Theatre’s Comedy Love-in
This isn’t an official event, but Marrickville’s gritty Factory Theatre is once again the unofficial hub for Sydney Comedy Festival. The mega venue has six different rooms that will host around 10-20 shows per night during the festival so you could conceivably put together your own comedy crawl from their website. Just some of the names that have shows at Factory Theatre include Heath Franklin, Elf Lyons, Jake Lambert, Josh Berry, Cassy Judy, Andrew Hanson.
Where: 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
When: April 21 – May 18, 2025
Price: Varies based on show
Must-See Shows: Our picks for Sydney Comedy Festival
Here are five of our top picks for Sydney Comedy Festival out of the seemingly endless list of new stand-up shows and conceptual performances listed. You can head on over to the official Sydney Comedy Festival website for the full list.
1. Rhys Darby “The Legend Returns”
The Flight of the Concords star Rhys Darby is no stranger to Sydney. We can’t get enough of the strong-accented Kiwi comedian, who for his latest show will ask the question “can a simple dad with slightly tight jeans stay relevant in a world full of AI and Robot technology?” Darby hopes to highlight the importance of human silliness in the modern age. And we all know how silly he can get.
Where: Enmore Theatre
When: Thursday, April 24 – Friday, April 25
Price: $72
2. Stephanie Broadbridge “Breaking: The Musical”
Have you ever heard of an Australian olympian being chosen to represent the sport of breakdancing in the 2024 Paris Olympics? Us either (for legal reasons). But Stephanie Broadbridge has certainly heard such a tale, and the Sydney-based comedian (and trained jazz singer) will be pulling no punches as she tells the inspiring story of a groundbreaking breakdancer and recently ordained Australian icon who defied the odds to represent Australia in a male-dominant sport. Talent, rhythm and self-awareness be damned.
Where: Manning Bar, Sydney University
When: Wednesday, May 7 – Saturday, May 10
Price: $35
3. Lauren Bonner “Clever Girl”
“Lauren Bonner is a clever girl, come bear witness” is the only description we’re getting from one of Sydney’s brightest up-and-coming comedians. While the packed line-up often means those big names come funnelling in first, Bonner has been seriously impressive on the local circuit. She’ll perform for two nights at Enmore Theatre in late-April.
Where: Enmore Theatre
When: Saturday, April 26 + Sunday, April 27
Price: $32
4. Daniel Sloss “One Night Stand”
For its inaugural One Night Stand show, the Sydney Comedy Festival has managed to pull in the big guns straight from the UK. Scottish funnyman Daniel Sloss will be leading the charge and curated his own line-up of comedians to at the Sydney Opera House for a night that should play out in similar format to the Galas.
Sloss has already skyrocketed to the forefront of international comedy so this is a great change to see one of the most successful touring stand-ups of all time do his thing to a hard-to-please Sydney crowd, with a few of his friends in tow.
Where: Sydney Opera House
When: Thursday, April 24
Price: $79 – $119
5. Eloise Eftos “Australia’s First Attractive Comedian 2.0”
Self-fashioned as Australia’s first attractive comedian, Eloise Eftos is evolving her acclaimed one-woman-show and has “cranked it up a notch” for this year. Numerous sold out seasons and standing ovations across the country in 2024 are generally good indicators of what’s hot and what isn’t when the comedy festival rolls around so expect a lot of laughs mixed with punchy feminist commentary as Eftos performs two nights across some of city’s best venues.
Where: Bondi Pavilion Theatre + Factory Theatre
When: Friday, May 16 (Bondi) + Saturday, May 17 (Marrickville)
Price: $35
sydneycomedyfest.com.au (Bondi)
sydneycomedyfest.com.au (Marrickville)
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