The Melbourne Comedy Festival runs from 23rd March till 17th April. It was launched in 1987 by Barry Humphries, Peter Cook and John Pinder, and so is now celebrating its 30th year. Comedians come from Britain, Canada, America, New Zealand and, of course, from all over Australia.
It’s big; in fact, it’s the third biggest in the world after Edinburgh and Montreal.
Before heading to my show at the Town Hall, I strolled from Flinders Street Station along Princes Bridge towards the food hall at Southbank for a bowl of fried rice and a coffee, my version of dining out.
Beautiful music was wafting up the steps leading down to the river and I just had to check it out. At the bottom of the steps, a man played jazz on a clarinet. In front of him, a little girl in a black dress and white lace top, a flower in her hair, was dancing. Her mother sat on the wall beside the river, well away from her, applauding after each song.
Suddenly, the girl dashed across to her mother and came back with a frilly handbag, complete with a flower on the side matching the one in her hair. After a quick consultation with the musician, she dropped the bag on the ground in front of her, and continued with her dancing while the music played. I watched for a while, as tourists and passers-by dropped coins into this little entrepreneur’s bag.
By the time I returned it was dark. The busker was still playing but the little girl and her mother were gone.
Favourite Comedians
Planning to the Nth 
Good one Coral, I remember you always did love Judith Lucy. Sounds like you had a good day
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Thanks Penny. I only went in once this year. Disappointing. I’ll make up for it next year. Apparently I remind people of Judith Lucy. Total strangers tell me that, even when they haven’t been drinking. I can’t see it.
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That little girl is such a sweet thing…and quite a performer!
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She was. She wasn’t related to the clarinet player; she just joined in but ended up sharing her coins with him.
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Great post, Coral. I saw Ross Noble (who reminds me of Billy Connolly). Lots of laughs.
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Thanks, Glenice. I only got in once this year, and that was to see Jeff Green. I wish it had gone another week. I was actually was going to add some more photos to the post but I accidentally knocked the ‘publish’ button instead of the ‘preview’ so that was that. Have to be more careful from now on.
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Sounds like a fun day overall – I love coming across unexpected street art or musicians. And the dancing girl looked so cute!
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I loved her big finish. She wasn’t the slightest bit worried about getting her outfit dirty on the pathway.
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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