Sydney
will host the world's first blockbuster weekend comedy festival with the launch
of World's Funniest Island, a brand new two-day comedy event to be held on October
17 and 18 on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour.
With just one ticket, comedy
fans choose from more than 200 amazing performances by local and international
artists appearing in 18 great venues across Cockatoo Island, as well as enjoy
a drink in atmospheric bars, great food, and quirky market stalls.
The
funny people include British comedy legends The Goodies and Alexei Sayle, Sydney's
top stars Merrick and Rosso and Akmal, dancer of the moment Fiona O'Loughlin,
and 193 other acts and shows for a weekend of spectacular silliness.
World's
Funniest Island will transform the former colonial prison and naval dockyard,
utilising the unique buildings, parklands, tunnels, a spectacular big top and
even a bomb shelter to deliver a laughquake of entertainment from mid-morning
until midnight.
"This short, sharp, sensory overload format is perfect
for Sydney, the city with attention deficit disorder," said festival director
John Pinder. "We have gathered a superb line-up that includes high-profile
comics and fantastic unknowns - and everything in between. There is also some
completely loopy stuff specially created for the island. This is a chance to sample
the best and the freshest."
The festival will pack in everything from
top comics, sketch shows, circus, cabaret and burlesque, to music comedy, the
best Australian student revues and even crazy art classes. Like the big music
festivals, performers will be announced progressively. The local list includes
Heath Franklin's Chopper, Tripod, Jimeoin, Anthony Ackroyd, Austen Tayshus, Scared
Weird Little Guys, Wendy Harmer, Sleek Geeks (Adam Spencer and Dr Karl) and Claire
Hooper.
Fresh from selling out London's Hammersmith Apollo, US Muslim comics
Allah Made Me Funny (one African-American, one Indo-American and one Palestinian-American)
will premiere on the island. And, in a world exclusive, Pakistan's only English-speaking
stand-up comic Sami Shah will make his first ever international appearance.
Specially
cooked for Cockatoo Island, Bitchin' Kitchen matches chefs and comics in a hilarious
cook off. Erotic Fan Fiction offers funny filth in literary form, while the world's
only burlesque drawing class, Dr Sketchy's Anti Art Class, offers a relaxed hour
of adults-only loopy life drawing. And there's so much more!
Presented by
Australian Comedy Festival Pty Ltd with Dainty Consolidated Entertainment and
Jigsaw Entertainment, World's Funniest Island will become an annual event appearing
every spring from now 'til Armageddon.
"There has been nothing like
this anywhere before and bringing so much entertainment to an outstanding location
like Cockatoo Island is a recipe for fun on a major scale," said Dainty Consolidated
Entertainment chairman Paul Dainty. Head of Jigsaw Entertainment Nick Murray added:
"It's great to be launching after some years of planning. We'll be making
some great television specials and World's Funniest Island will be a unique vehicle
to take our comedy to audiences all over the world."
Events NSW CEO
Geoff Parmenter said World's Funniest Island was also part of Crave Sydney a new
annual celebration of Sydney's distinctive lifestyle, with a month of entertainment,
food and outdoor experiences. "World's Funniest Island is an original and
appealing idea and the setting on Sydney's largest harbour island is a winner,"
he said.
Tickets to this extraordinary event went on sale Monday July 20.
All tickets include access to all shows plus ferry transport to and from the island.
One-day tickets are $119.90 and two-day tickets are $209.90. For tickets go to
www.ticketek.com.au
or call 13 28 49. For more information, visit www.worldsfunniestisland.com.
About World's Funniest Island
World's Funniest Island, www.worldsfunniestisland.com,
is a world first in event comedy. Held over two full days, this inaugural 'festival
of funny stuff' adapts the music festival format to comedy for the first time.
World's Funniest Island will take over Sydney Harbour's unique Cockatoo Island
on October 17 and 18, featuring more than 200 performances of every imaginable
kind of comedy. World's Funniest Island will also be one great party, with bars,
food outlets, market stalls and even private tours of the Island. World's Funniest
Island is presented by Australian Comedy Festival Pty Ltd and Dainty Consolidated
Entertainment. Tickets through Ticketek, www.ticketek.com.au