The Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s RAW Comedy open mic competition returns with Australian comedian Luke McGregor hosting the 2026 final.
This year’s national finalists represent states and territories from across the country, with Aidan Mungai and Elias Jambula representing the ACT, Antoine Basseto representing Queensland and Brandon Duff, Effie Tan and Joshua Khoury representing NSW.
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Jack Russell represents the Northern Territory, while Jake Zuckerman, Jorgia Rice and Mae McCubbin are the Victorian finalists.
The remaining competitors are Joshua Pillay from Tasmania, Lachlan Skinner from Western Australia and Tilly Harrison from South Australia.
The 13 comedians will compete for the RAW Comedy crown in the national final.
The competition has been running for three decades and has previously featured comedians who went on to establish careers in the industry.
Its alumni include Anne Edmonds, Ronny Chieng, Tom Ballard, Sam Campbell, Sarah Kendall, Georgie Carroll, Celia Pacquola, Josh Thomas, Hannah Gadsby, Aaron Chen, Rhys Nicholson, Becky Lucas and Joel Creasey.
RAW Comedy 2026 – Part 1 premieres tonight, Monday, 31 August, at 8.30pm on SBS2 and SBS On Demand.
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