The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has a very large hole to fill, and it needs filling by the end of August 2026.
Susan Provan AO, who has led the Festival since 1995, has stepped down after more than three decades at the top. Under Provan’s leadership, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival became one of the biggest comedy events in the world. She also helped build programs including RAW Comedy, Class Clowns, Deadly Funny and the Comedy Festival Roadshow.
Interestingly, she never touched comedy coaching.
Hmmm. But we digress.
The Festival is no small operation. Its 40th anniversary program in 2026 featured more than 800 shows across 26 days. Now, who’s going to carry the metaphorical comedy baton into 2027 and beyond?
A small change with a big message
Did you notice the slight, almost unnoticeable change in the title of the role? Susan Provan’s title was ‘Festival Director/CEO’. The new role is advertised as ‘CEO/Festival Director’.
Same words. Different order.
And this change says a lot about what the Board wants. The Festival still needs someone who understands comedy, artists and audiences, but a ‘little birdie’ shared that putting CEO first is intentionally signalling for a stronger focus on finances, operations, government relationships, sponsorship, fundraising and commercial partnerships.
Evolution, Not Revolution
And that same birdie added that the Board has made it clear that the incoming CEO/Festival Director is expected to create evolution, not revolution.
For some people, that will be reassuring.
For others, particularly parts of the old guard who have felt increasingly disenfranchised from the Festival, it will be disappointing. Over time, many long time comedians have felt the Festival’s direction move away from the version they knew and loved, with the biggest flashpoint coming in 2019 with the cancellation of the Barry Award for Most Outstanding Show. Named after Barry Humphries, the award had long been one of the Festival’s most recognisable honours. While the prize itself has continued in another form (‘The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award’ – yawn!), the decision became symbolic for many of a broader shift in the Festival’s cultural direction.
The next CEO/Festival Director will need to navigate that balancing act.
They will need to respect the Festival’s history without becoming trapped by it. They will need to support new voices without making established artists feel forgotten. And they will need to increase the Festival’s commercial viability in the process. Hence the focus on ‘CEO’ ahead of ‘Festival Director’.
Possible Candidates
No public shortlist has been announced, but based on our 10 years in the comedy business, here’s a few names that we believe will make it to the short list:
Dylan Cole
Current Executive Director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Dylan already knows the organisation, the venues, the programs, the artists and probably where the emergency lanyards are stored.
Pro: Dylan knows the organisation and can easily negotiate the politics.
Con: While he should be able to maintain the status quo, will he be able to drive change?
Simon Abrahams
Creative Director and CEO of Melbourne Fringe. Simon has extensive experience leading a major arts festival, working with independent artists and navigating Melbourne’s cultural scene. Only catch is that he’s on parental leave until 2027
Pro: The Melbourne Fringe is the younger sibling of the MICF, so the dynamics will be similar.
Con: Simon’s currently on parental leave, and might not be available
Ros Abercrombie
Executive Director and CEO of Regional Arts Australia. Her experience includes government engagement, arts policy, governance and eight years as Program Director of Moomba Festival. If you can manage Moomba, you can probably manage a few comedians.
Pro: She understand government.
Con: Does she have enough of an entrepreneurial spark?
Karen Bryant
Chief Executive and Creative Director of Midsumma Festival. Karen brings major festival experience, strong partnerships knowledge and a long record of supporting diverse artists and communities.
Pro: Midsumma is a similar length, complicated festival so the learning curve will be small. She’s also been doing it for 10 years, and might want the change.
Con: She may not want to leave the LGBTQIA+ platform and become a normie.
Damien Hodgkinson
Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Damien knows MICF particularly well, having previously spent more than a decade as its Executive Director.
Pro: He knows what needs to be done to run the Festival.
Con: Would he just be the status quo?
Brendan McClements
Chief Executive Officer of Visit Victoria since December 2019. Brendan brings high level experience in tourism, major events, government and commercial partnerships. He understands how a festival becomes a reason people book flights, hotel rooms and overpriced CBD dinners.
Pro: He has a big picture view that the festival brings to Melbourne and Victoria.
Cons: He’s from the government, so does he even have a sense of humour?!
Whoever gets the gig will inherit one of Australia’s most important cultural institutions. Chookas to whoever gets the job.