Yawp Mag ISSUE 20: The Festival that Was | Page 22

The win
text by: David Claridad
Warmth and Congeniality Surrounds 2014’s And that’s the exact same feeling of congeniMICF Awards
ality that permeates the MICF Awards, and the
MICF at large: at all times, it’s supportive and enIt’s coat weather when I arrive at the Melbourne couraging of all MICF performers, an affectionInternational Comedy Festival Awards. After my ate tip-of-the-hat to the wider Melbourne comeplus-one cancels last minute, I introduce myself dy scene, a chance to parade the crème de la
to the stranger in front of me.
crème of comedians and insiders - really, that it’s
Though I don’t remember his name (let’s call him
‘Yuri’), ‘Yuri’ looks a lot like Grandmaster Roaster Jeff Ross as he talks to me about how he
got here: he lives in Sydney, he’s down for the
Easter long weekend watching as many shows,
catching open-air comedy at Federation Square,
and visiting Festival Club religiously. Who is he
enjoying all this with? No one, just like me sometimes.

positive spirits.
The ceremony’s affairs kick off with a ho-hum
fanfare, which is no fault of young comedian Joel
Creasey who is the Master of Ceremonies for
2014. There is no glibness to Australia’s ‘Acid
Tongue Prince’; instead, he comes off as a humble yet competent host in the company of Aussie
comedy staples.
In fact, it may be my own fault. I’m positioned on
the mezzanine rubbing shoulders with comedy
folk who are incessant in their chattiness come
end of another tiring season, and their buzzing
din dwarfs anything the PA can produce.

Photo: Jim Lee
Even though there are many intricacies to Yuri’s
story, it becomes evident to me that this friendly
chitchat is not dissimilar to your average comedy
punter’s, giving me a satisfying warmth of being
at home.

award of the night, the Funny Tonne Award. It’s
an interesting award that shines a light on the
punter who attended the most shows this season, rightly hanging its hat on the point that the
audience is necessary to a performer’s show.
This year’s winner is Chris Menezies and his
158-show effort, outdoing second place’s nearly-there effort