This has seen the Festival move to a series of mini festivals in October, November, January and February including performances by Paul McDermott, Nikki Osborne, Mel Buttle and the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars.

“After all the lessons learnt from the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival, and smart programming in 2021, we still got shut down by a COVID outbreak which was really devastating. To not present the Festival in full across two years was hard to deal with; we all work so hard to pull it together,” said Brisbane Comedy Festival Director Phoebe Meredith.

“Then there are all the casual production, front of house, box office and hospitality staff that get affected by the lockdown,” she said.

“We had to look at rescheduling 41 shows out of the 52 that were in the Festival. It’s an impossible task to pre-empt what is going to happen and while we watch it all unravel down south, the big question has always been “will this show happen?” You just have to wait and see, and that can be endlessly frustrating.

“We tried to remount the Festival in full, but with venue and artists availabilities not matching up, we’ve just made the best of it and will have little mini Festivals in October, November, January and February – all while we are planning our 2022 Festival!”

Brisbane Powerhouse Comedy Festival (Image: Atmosphere Photography)

“With each show we actually get to do, it’s like a bullet has been dodged; COVID adds another layer of stress when presenting live events, the fear of being shut down right up to show start is always looming.

“I’m really excited to present Brisbane Comedy Festival 2021 Take 2 – the artists we had in our 2021 Festival are the cream of Australian comedy, so to actually be able to do the shows is so special. It’s equally important for the artists too.

“Due to border closures, interstate artists still won’t be able to be here, but there is a really strong contingent of Queensland based talent that is on in October and November, then in the new year we are really hoping those borders will stay open and we can welcome interstate artists back into our Festival venues.”

“Patrons have still been so understanding by hanging onto their tickets when we reschedule a show. I know the artists really value this support, they have had such a tough time over the last twenty months.

“Artists count Brisbane audiences as the best in Australia – always ready for a laugh – and this loyalty shows in that willingness to go on the journey with us. We wouldn’t be here without our audience!”

The Brisbane Comedy Festival will present a series of shows from October onwards, for more information visit their website.