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

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

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 John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film prod ...

, 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 Sue-Ann Post (born 1964) is an Australian comedian and writer. Self described as "Australia's favourite six-foot, lesbian, ex-Mormon, diabetic, comedian and writer", Post has performed as a stand-up comedian internationally and throughout Austr ...

- ''G Strings and Jockstraps'' (Australia) *2000: The Boosh - ''Arctic Boosh '' (UK) *2001: Brian Munich - ''Brian Munich & Friends'' (Australia) *2002:

Ross Noble Ross Markham Noble (born 5 June 1976) is an English stand-up comedian and actor. Noble rose to mainstream popularity through making appearances on British television, particularly interviews and on panel shows such as '' Have I Got News for You' ...

(UK) *2003:

Mike Wilmot Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

(Canada) *2004:

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression ...

(USA) *2005: The Drowsy Drivers - '' Keating! The Opera'' (Australia) *2006:

Demetri Martin Demetri Evan Martin ( el, Δημήτριος Ευάγγελος Μάρτιν, ''Dimitrios Evangelos Martin''; born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, cartoonist and musician. He was a contributor on ''The Daily Show'' ...

- ''Dr Earnest Parrot Presents Demetri Martin'' (USA) *2007:

Daniel Kitson Daniel John Kitson (born 2 July 1977) is an English comedian and writer. Early life Daniel John Kitson was born in Denby Dale on 2 July 1977, the son of a primary school headteacher mother and a lecturer father. He was a pupil at Scissett Midd ...

- ''It's the Fireworks Talking'' (UK) *2008:

Nina Conti Nina Margarita Conti (born 25 August 1973) is a British actress, comedian, and ventriloquist. Early life Conti was born and raised in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson. She attended King Alfred School, Londo ...

- ''Complete and Utter Conti'' (UK) and

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on ''F ...

- ''As You Have Probably Never Seen Her Before'' (USA) (Shared) *2009:

The Pajama Men The Pajama Men are Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, an American comedy duo of character comics from Albuquerque, New Mexico. They have won awards including the Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2009, and Best Newcomer ...

- ''Versus vs Versus'' (USA) *2010:

Sammy J Samuel Jonathan McMillan (born 2 July 1983) is an Australian musical comedy, musical comedian, satirist, writer and radio presenter who performs under the stage name Sammy J. He embraces a variety of media in his comedy, including the use of vid ...

and Randy (

Heath McIvor Randy Feltface, mostly referred to merely as Randy, or, on occasion, Randy the Purple Puppet, is an Australian puppet comedian. Randy is a fixture on the international stand-up circuit, and makes regular guest appearances on Australian television. ...

) - ''Ricketts Lane'' (Australia) *2011:

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for st ...

- ''Smokescreens and Castles'' (UK) *2012: Dr Brown (USA) *2013:

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

(USA) *2014:

Denise Scott Denise Margaret Scott (born 24 April 1955) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, television and radio presenter. Career Scott has appeared frequently on Australian television since her regular slot on ABC TV's ''The Big Gig'' in 1990, an ...

- ''Mother Bare'' (Australia) *2015: Sam Simmons - ''Spaghetti for Breakfast'' (Australia) *2016:

Zoe Coombs Marr Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...

aka Dave - ''Trigger Warning'' (Australia) *2017:

Hannah Gadsby Hannah Gadsby (born 1978) is an Australian comedian, writer, and actress. She began her career in Australia after winning the national final of the Raw Comedy competition for new comedians in 2006. In 2018, her show '' Nanette'' on Netflix won ...

- ''Nanette'' (Australia) *2018: Sam Campbell - ''The Trough'' (Australia) *2019:

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and musician. As well as appearances on panel shows, he is known for the stand-up specials ''Repertoire'', co-hosting the food podcast '' Off Menu'' and co- ...

- ''Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999'' (UK) *2020: Festival cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

*2021:

Geraldine Hickey Geraldine Hickey is an Australian comedian, known for her work as co-host of the ''Breakfasters'' program on Melbourne community radio station 3RRR. At the 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Hickey's "''What A Surprise''" show was a ...

- ''What a Surprise'' (Australia)

References

External links

Melbourne International Comedy Festival: Awards Page
{{Award-stub Awards established in 1998 Australian comedy awards