Melbourne International Comedy Festival - School of Hard Knock Knocks

How do you perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) in 2025?

Photo: Eddie PerfectPhoto Credit: Melbourne International Comedy Festival / Jim Lee Photo So how do you get to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) in 2025? Is it invite only? Do you need to know the mayor? Is a bribe required? The good news for Australians and New Zealanders is that anyone can perform – without a bribe. …

Are the best keynote speakers funny?

Are the best keynote and public speakers funny?

What do Tim Urban, Sir Ken Robinson and Amy Cuddy all have in common. First, they are the most watched presenters on TED, having each been watched by over 60 million! And second, they all include humour in their presentations. And since close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000 events since TED launched in 2009, it’s fair to …

The Australian stand-up comedy glossary

The Australian stand-up comedy glossary

Every industry has its jargon. Australian stand-up comedy is no different. For those new to stand-up, or for those visiting Australia, here’s a stand-up comedy glossary that will help you on the stand-up comedy circuit. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T V W Is something missing? Add your …

Five qualities of a successful stand-up comedian

5 qualities of a successful stand-up comedian

The Hard Knock Knocks comedy school is now in its ninth year. Since it’s founding in 2016, over 700 bucket list tickers, key note speakers and comedians of the future have completed our five night comedy course. Many graduates have gone on to win comedy competitions, including Raw Comedy, and even become full time professional comedians. With so many alumni, …

How to remember your stand-up comedy set

How to Remember your Stand-up Comedy Set

How do you remember stand-up comedy? You know each joke by heart. You’ve practiced a hundred times. But still, there you are, staring at the sea of faces from the stage, with a metaphorical tumbleweed rolling through your head. Crap! You’ve got an acute case of stage fright. Stand-up comedian and Hard Knock Knocks co-founder, Ben Horowitz, knows the feeling. As …

Online to Offline - Social Media Influencers

Online to Offline: Why social media influencers need stand-up comedy

Across all of his social media platforms Australian comedian Reuben Solo has over 800,000 followers. His Instagram sits at 235,000 followers, YouTube at 19,000 subscribers and over 560,000 followers on TikTok. He chooses not to be on Facebook. He’s Gen Z after all. Reuben has attracted this enormous following by filming skits, where he often plays all the characters. To …

Generating Ideas for Comedy

Generating Ideas for Stand-up Comedy

Generating ideas for stand-up comedy is difficult at the best of times. Just about any topic is open game, but that freedom doesn’t make joke writing easier. If anything, the brain needs constraint to help focus the creative muscle. Here’s four constraints that we use at the Hard Knock Knocks comedy school to help our students generate ideas for stand-up …