Founded in 1998 by comedian

Greg Fleet Gregory Fleet is an Australian comedian and actor. History Early life Fleet was born in Michigan, in the United States. His father moved the family to Australia when Greg was four. He grew up in Geelong, and as a teenager boarded at Geelong G ...

, the Piece of Wood Award is awarded during 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 ...

to the best show as voted by a committee of comedians which includes all past winners of the award. Literally a piece of wood, it is traditional for winners to bite the award. Past winners have included: * 1998 - Linda Haggar and Fahey Younger - ''Lost due to war'' * 1999 -

Simon Munnery Simon Munnery, also known as his characters "Alan Parker: Urban Warrior" and "The League Against Tedium", is an English comedian. He performs mainly to an alternative audience but has pierced the mainstream both with his BBC Radio 1 show in 19 ...

* 2000 -

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

* 2001 -

Rich Fulcher Richard Fulcher (born November 18, 1968) is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series ''The Mighty Boosh'', and Edward Sheath in the American series '' Jon Benjamin Has a Van''. ...

* 2002 -

Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering (born 29 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, author and producer. Pickering currently hosts ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'', a weekly news satire television show on the ABC, as well ...

- ''Boiling Point'' and Michael Chamberlin * 2003 - Justin Hamilton * 2004 -

Andrew McClelland Andrew McClelland is an Australian comedian, writer and DJ from Melbourne, Victoria. Comedian McClelland has performed hour-long comedy shows around Australia, New Zealand and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival since 2003. His past shows have inc ...

- ''Andrew McClelland's Somewhat Accurate History of Pirates (1550-2017)'' * 2005 -

Tony Law Tony Law (born 20 September 1969) is a Canadian stand-up comedian. Originally from Lacombe, Alberta, he has been based in London, United Kingdom since the age of 19. He is known for his surreal material and delivery. Many of his stand-up routine ...

* 2006 - Fiona O'Loughlin and

Damian Callinan Damian Callinan is an actor/comedian from Melbourne, Australia. Entertainment career Callinan has performed in many mediums, including TV, film, radio and live stand-up. He came to national prominence in 2003 as an actor in the Australian ske ...

- ''Spaznuts'' (Shared) * 2007 -

Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', '' The Department'', ...

* 2008 -

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts ''Hard Quiz'', both ...

* 2009 -

Lawrence Mooney Lawrence Mooney (born 22 April 1965) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, and former television and radio presenter. Radio career Mooney has held various jobs including a cleaner, salesman, furniture polisher and collecting golf balls at a ...

- ''Make The Girls Laugh'' * 2010 - Sam Simmons - ''Fail'' * 2011 - Harley Breen - ''I Heart Bunnings: Stories About My Brothers'' * 2012 - Bob Franklin and

Steven Gates Tripod are an Australian musical comedy trio founded by Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates) in 1996. They provide original songs and harmonies, strung together by comic banter. History Live shows Tripod began as ...

- ''Stubborn Monkey Disorder'' * 2013 -

David Quirk David Quirk (born 15 February 1981) is an actor and stand-up comedian based in Melbourne, Australia. Career Quirk has been performing stand-up comedy since 2002. In 2006, he was a state finalist in Triple J’s ‘Raw Comedy’ competition, a ...

- ''Shaking Hands With Danger'' * 2014 -

Sarah Kendall Sarah Kendall (born 3 August 1976) is an Australian comedian from Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales. She won the Raw Comedy competition in 1998 and appeared regularly on Australian television. She moved to the United Kingdom ...

- ''Touchdown'' * 2015 -

Anne Edmonds Anne Elizabeth Gabrielle Edmonds (born 11 October 1979) is an Australian comedian and actor best known for her stand-up work and for creating and starring in the ABC comedy series ''The Edge of the Bush''. Beginning her career in comedy at 29 ...

- ''You Know What I'm Like'' * 2016 -

Chris Wainhouse Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

* 2017 -

Luke Heggie People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known a ...

- ''Rough Diamanté'' * 2018 -

Heath Franklin Heath Franklin (born 23 December 1980) is an Australian comedic performer, improviser and writer. Career He appeared on ''The Ronnie Johns Half Hour'' sketch comedy show, ABC TV's ''Spicks and Specks (TV series), Spicks and Specks'', Working Do ...

- ''Chopper'' * 2019 -

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 ...

- ''Things are going well'' * 2021 - Greg Larsen - ''This might not be hell'' * 2022 - Tina Del Twist - ''Caravan in the Sky'' * 2023 - Dan Rath - ''All Quiet Carriage Along the Inner Western Line''

External links

Official MICF Awards Page
{{Award-stub Australian comedy awards