2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Announces 'Deadly Funny Kids' Program

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is about to commence its new development program Deadly Funny Kids in schools. Funded by Arts NSW, it is a crash course comedy workshop program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 13-­17.

The aim of Deadly Funny Kids is to support young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people finding their own voice through artistic expression. In the workshops, groups of up to 25 students will work on joke writing, story telling, sketch and physical forms of comedy in a fun, relaxed and interactive environment.

“We want to provide a positive, fun in-school experience and touch on educational objectives such as literacy, communication and story telling,” said Virginia Lovett, General Manager Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

“If the Deadly Funny Kids workshops initiate a real interest in comedy and act as a platform for the kids to get involved in comedy further whether that be behind the mic or behind the stage, that’s great. We’d love to raise the profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander comedians in the Festival and in the arts industry in general,” says Lovett.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has a very strong and active national development arm. Programs such as Class Clowns, RAW Comedy, the Festival’s national open-mic competition and Deadly Funny, an annual showcase of the best up and coming Indigenous comedians are all places that the kids involved in the Deadly Funny Kids workshops could eventually find themselves.

As part of a pilot of the Deadly Funny Kids program, workshop facilitators Matt Okine and Xavier Micheledes started work last week with the very first groups of teenagers involved in Deadly Funny Kids in Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Broken Hill/Menindee region, helping them get their funny on at school.

"As a country school our students can be somewhat removed from diverse stimuli and ideas about alternative careers, so our students really appreciated the opportunity to be involved. Aboriginal culture has a strong oral tradition so this program also helped support the development of the skills used in storytelling", said Bernadette Gordon from Port Macquarie High School.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival has appointed Indigenous Executive Producer Adam Sharah, to work across Deadly Funny programs nationally, starting today. Adam is relocating from Queensland to take up this position.

Deadly Funny Kids workshops will commence in schools nationally starting early 2012.