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Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award

Field	Value
name	Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award
description	Most outstanding comedy act at the festival
presenter	Melbourne International Comedy Festival
country	Australia
location	Melbourne
website

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award (formerly the Barry Award and the Stella Award) is an annual prize presented to the most outstanding comedy act at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

History

It has been awarded since 1998, when it was introduced as the Stella Award. It was renamed in 2000 in honour of Barry Humphries, and again renamed in 2019 following comments about transgender people by Humphries. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious award of the festival, and the winner receives a trophy and cash prize.

Winners

1998: Linda Haggar and Fahey Younger – Miss Itchy's Crème De Menthe Breakfast Show (Australia)
1999: Sue-Ann Post - G Strings and Jockstraps (Australia)
2000: The Boosh - *Arctic Boosh * (UK)
2001: Brian Munich - Brian Munich & Friends (Australia)
2002: Ross Noble (UK)
2003: Mike Wilmot (Canada)
2004: Maria Bamford (USA)
2005: The Drowsy Drivers - Keating! The Opera (Australia)
2006: Demetri Martin - Dr Earnest Parrot Presents Demetri Martin (USA)
2007: Daniel Kitson - It's the Fireworks Talking (UK)
2008: Nina Conti - Complete and Utter Conti (UK) and Kristen Schaal - As You Have Probably Never Seen Her Before (USA) (Shared)
2009: The Pajama Men - Versus vs Versus (USA)
2010: Sammy J and Randy (Heath McIvor) - Ricketts Lane (Australia)
2011: Russell Kane - Smokescreens and Castles (UK)
2012: Dr Brown - Befrdfgth (USA)
2013: Rich Hall (USA)
2014: Denise Scott - Mother Bare (Australia)
2015: Sam Simmons - Spaghetti for Breakfast (Australia)
2016: Zoe Coombs Marr aka Dave - Trigger Warning (Australia)
2017: Hannah Gadsby - Nanette (Australia)
2018: Sam Campbell - The Trough (Australia)
2019: James Acaster - Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 (UK)
2020: Festival cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021: Geraldine Hickey - What a Surprise (Australia)
2022: Rhys Nicholson - Rhys! Rhys! Rhys! (Australia)
2023: Gillian Cosgriff - Actually, Good (Australia)
2024: Sarah Keyworth - My Eyes Are Up Here (UK)
2025: Garry Starr – Classic Penguins (Australia)

References

Harmon, Steph. (2019-04-16). "Barry Humphries: Melbourne comedy festival renames award after transgender comments". The Guardian.
"Award". Melbourne International Comedy Festival - Corporate Site.
(2005-01-18). "8th annual Barry Awards announced". State of the Arts.
"Barry Award goes to strong, silent type". SMH.
"Rich Hall wins Barry Award at Melbourne International Comedy Festival". Herald Sun.
"The 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award Winners". Squirrel Comedy.
"Melbourne Comedy Festival 2015: Sam Simmons wins Barry Award for his Spaghetti for Breakfast show". Herald Sun.
"Zoe Coombs Marr wins Barry Award for most outstanding show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival". Herald Sun.
Francis, Hannah. (23 April 2017). "Hannah Gadsby wins Barry Award at 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival". [[Sydney Morning Herald]].
"Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 Awards". Weekend Notes.
"Britain's James Acaster wins renamed top award at 2019 Melbourne comedy festival". The Guardian.
Carmody, Broede. (17 July 2021). "Geraldine Hickey nabs Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s top gong".
Bennett, Steve. "Rhys Nicholson wins Australia's top live comedy prize : News 2022 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
Logan, Brian. (2023-08-08). "Gillian Cosgriff: Actually, Good review – musical comedy accentuates the positive". The Guardian.
Logan, Brian. (2024-04-19). "‘It’s been a thrill!’ My first time at the mind-boggling Melbourne comedy festival". The Guardian.
Review, Arts. (2025-04-20). "Garry Starr wins Most Outstanding Show at 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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