(Updated 8 September, 2024)
We’re going to go with 161. But answering how many stand-up comedians there are in Australia is tricky, given the transient nature of this performing art. Comedians often take a break from ‘gigging’ to jump on jobs in theatre, radio, TV and even writing books. Here’s our ‘living document’ our ‘Stand-up comedian list’ of current list of working stand-up comedians who you can see on stage somewhere, sometime during the year in Australia:
TV/Radio Celebrity Comedians
This group of comedians earn most of their money through TV and radio, but are still active performers on stand-up comedy stages around the country, particularly during comedy festivals.
- Wil Anderson
- Jacques Barrett
- Melanie Bracewell
- Harley Breen
- Aaron Chen
- Nick Cody
- Kitty Flanagan
- Tom Gleeson
- Mike Goldstein
- Pete Helliar
- Luke Heggie
- Dave Hughes
- Sammy J
- Dilruk Jayasinha
- Lehmo
- Mick Malloy
- Luke McGregor
- Rove McManus
- Matt Okine
- Celia Pacquola
- Sam Peng
- Charlie Pickering
- Glen Robbins
- Adam Rozenbachs
- Marty Sheargold
- Jenny Tian
- Tripod (Scott Edgar, Simon Hall, and Steven Gates)
- Kirsty Webeck
Full Time Stand-up Comedians
This group might dabble in podcasts and occasionally guest appearances on TV and radio, but the majority of their income comes from performing stand-up comedy.
- Anthony Ackroyd
- Ivan Aristeguieta
- Joe Avati
- Tom Ballard
- Andrew Barnett
- Arj Barker
- Carl Barron
- Rusty Berther
- Tahir Bilgic
- Mel Buttle
- Rose Callaghan
- Dave Callan
- Damian Callinan
- Col Cameron
- Ro Campbell
- Sam Campbell
- Doug Chappel
- Jason Chong
- Sean Choolburra
- Daniel Connell
- Mickey D
- Stuart Daulman
- Kelsey del Amedia
- Sonia Di Iorio
- Aunty Donna
- Des Dowling
- Josh Earl
- Anne Edmonds
- Marty Fields
- Ashley Fils-Aime
- Chris Franklin
- Heath Franklin
- Frenchy
- Hannah Gadsby
- Amos Gill
- Josh Glanc
- Elliot Goblet (Jack Levi)
- Jarryd Goundrey
- Jeff Green
- Geraldine Hickey
- Evan Hocking
- Claire Hooper
- Lizy Hoo
- Steve Hughes
- Nazeem Hussain
- Cameron James
- Johnny Kats
- Fady Kassab
- Simon Kennedy
- Khaled Khalafalla
- Bev Killick
- Troy Kinne
- Cam Knight
- Kevin Kropinyeri
- Hung Le
- Colin Lane
- Becky Lucas
- Judith Lucy
- Lloyd Langford
- Tommy Little
- Ben Lomas
- Tony Martin
- James Donald Forbes McCann
- Danny McGinlay
- Mick Meredith
- Lawrence Mooney
- Daniel Muggleton
- Rhys Nicholson
- Ross Noble
- Bradford Oakes
- Ray O’Leary
- Dave O’Neil
- Nina Oyama
- Damien Power
- Chris Ryan
- Marcus Ryan
- Marc Ryan
- Akmal Saleh
- Michael Shafar
- Sam Simmons
- Dane Simpson
- Vince Sorrenti
- Lewis Spears
- Richard Stubbs
- Sam Taunton
- Simon Taylor
- Dave Thornton
- Nath Valvo
- Merrick Watts
- Julia Wilson
- Susie Youssef
- George Kapiniaris
- The Nelson Twins
- Chris Wainhouse
- Katie Wainhouse (née Burch)
- Joe White
- Frank Woodley
Semi-professional Stand-up Comedians
The list of semi-professional stand-up comedians comprise both veteran comedians and up-and-comers. Through choice, or simply because they are still growing their personal brand, these comedians supplement their stand-up comedy by working other jobs. These could be 9 to 5 jobs, acting or even being an entrepreneur. Some, on the other hand, choose to perform stand-up comedy part time.
- Big Al
- Christine Basil
- Gavin Baskerville
- Nick Capper
- Oliver Clark
- Michael Connell
- Zack Dyer
- Greg Fleet
- CJ Fortuna
- Bob Franklin
- Andrew Hamilton
- Justin Hamilton
- Krutika Harale
- He Huang
- Ben Knight
- Simon Hughes
- Neel Kolhatkar
- Greg Larsen
- Bron Lewis
- Urvi Majumdar
- Gerry Masi (Mad Dog Malcolm Cummins)
- Andrew McClelland
- Bec Melrose
- Mick Neven
- Glynn Nicholas
- Fiona O’Loughlin
- Matt O’Neill
- Nikki Osborne
- Simon Palomares
- Peter Rowsthorn
- Tom Siegert
- Billy Stiles
- Steph Tisdell
- David Tulk
- Tom Walker
- Alex Ward
- Stella Wu
How many professional stand-up comedians are active in Australia in any given month will vary, but this list of active stand-up comedians working in Australia is fairly accurate. However, if you’d like to recommend another comedians, share their name below in the comments.