Raw Comedy Explained

Raw Comedy
Current Awards:	-->
Image Upright:	-->
Awarded For:	Stand-up comedy
Date:	1996
Venue:	or
Site:	-->
Country:	Australia
Hosts:	-->
Winner:	or
Winners:	-->
Most Wins:	-->
Network List:	-->
Ratings:	-->

Raw Comedy is an Australian annual competition for emerging stand-up comedians held by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was established in 1996 and is supported by national youth radio station Triple J. The competition attracts around 1,000 entrants annually from budding comedians all over Australia and is the largest, and most prestigious, open-mic comedy competition in the country.^[1] In 2011, there were 1,100 contestants.^[2]

A series of heats take place in major Australian cities through January, February and March.^[3] State semi-finals and finals are held in the state capitals in March. Judges select the most impressive state-finalist/s to compete at the Raw Comedy grand finale, which held as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at the Melbourne Town Hall in April and is televised later in June/July of the same year.

The winner of Raw Comedy is sent to the So You Think You're Funny competition at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Three Raw Comedy winners, Drew Rokos, Nick Sun and Demi Lardner have gone on to win So You Think You're Funny.

Past winners and finalists

Year	Winner(s)	Other finalists
1996	Anthony Menchetti (WA)^[4] ^[5]	Kylie Brickhill & Libby Dempsey are the Plastered Bastard Sisters (Vic)
1997	Subby Valentine (NSW)	Lawrence Mooney Sue Watt Adam Richard
1998	Chris Franklin (NSW)	Mickey D (SA) The Dickster (NSW) Lindsay Webb (QLD) Marty Wilson (NSW) Des Dowling (VIC) Sarah Kendall (NSW) Katrina Shiels (QLD) Matthew Sutherland (NSW) Monica (SA)
1999	Chris Wainhouse (Qld)	Adam Rozenbachs (Vic) Gavin Baskerville (WA)
2000	Drew Rokos (Vic)	Penny Pedersen (NSW) Lawrence Leung (Vic) Stav Davidson (Qld) Jyhe Walker (Qld)
2001	Emily O'Loughlin (SA)	Alan Rutledge (Qld) Eleven Thh (Tas) Geraldine Hickey (Vic) Luke Whitby (SA) Martin Steel (Qld) Michael Chamberlin (Vic) Penny Tangey (Vic) Robert Nix (NSW) Ronan McChesney (NSW) Ross Janetzki (Qld) Terry North (Vic) Vanessa Hill (NSW) Xavier Michaledes (WA) Yianni Agisilaou (Vic)
2002	Dave Elvins (NSW)	Desh (Qld) Robbie Moore (Qld) Simon Nutt (Qld) Nat Locke (WA) Kai Tier (WA) Ben Richardson (Vic) Mia Timpano (Vic) Andrew McClelland (Vic) Runner Up Paul Fitzgerald (Vic) Sam Fewings (NT) Jilkamu (Sean Choolburra) (NSW) Runner Up Jo O'Brien (SA) Zita Whalley
2003	Nelly Thomas (Vic) Steve Sheehan (SA)	Sam Simmons (SA) Jeremy Miller and Chris North (NSW) Shalini Akhil (Vic)
2004	Nick Sun (NSW)	Sam Bowring (NSW)
2005	Josh Thomas (Qld)	Ethan Marell (WA)
2006	Hannah Gadsby (SA)	Michael Williams (Vic; runner-up) Celia Pacquola (Vic; Raw Recruit Prize) Dylan Bennett and Kadek Hobman (NT; runner-up) Bart Freebairn (Qld) Bec Hill (SA) Tom Ballard (Vic) Jeff Hewitt (WA) Danii Johnstone (NSW) Paul Ayre (NSW) Sasha Terranova (Vic) Matt Burton (Tas) Ben Jenkins (NSW) Selina Jenkins as "Beau Heartbreaker" (Vic)
2007	Jonathan Schuster (Vic)	Aamer Rahman (Vic; runner-up) Jack Druce (NSW; Raw Recruit Prize) Xavier Susai (WA) Shaun Conroy (Qld) Ellen Briggs (Qld) Maverick (NT) Aleisha McCormack (Tas) Anyone for Tennis (Vic) The D (SA) Tracy Crisp (SA) Saikim Wan (NT)
2008	Neil Sinclair (Vic)	David Cunningham (NSW; runner-up) Laura Davis (WA; Raw Recruit Prize) Mel Buttle (Qld) Ryan Coffey (Vic) John Conway (WA) Michele Fryer (SA) Scott McGowan (NT) Luke McGregor (Tas) Louise Sanz (Vic) Smart Casual (NSW) Jay Sullivan (ACT)
2009	Cassie Workman (WA)	Charles Barrington (Anthony Rogers) (Vic; co-runner-up) Don Tran (Vic; Raw Recruit Prize) Mikey Mileos (NSW) Rhys Nicholson (NSW) Tracey Cosgrove (Tas) Shikhar Thakur (WA) Adam Keily (SA) Nicole Roddy (NT) Pam Rana (Qld) Ben and James Stevenson are The Stevenson Experience (ACT) Ash Walmsley (Qld; co-runner-up) Shannon Woodford as "Adele" (Vic)
2010	Luke Heggie (NSW)^[6]	Ronny Chieng (Vic; Special Mention) Geoffrey Windle (Qld; Special Mention) Catherine Hall (Vic) Callan Durlik (WA) Levi Dobson (NT) Moataz Hamde as "Mo-Taz" (SA) James Mullany (WA) David Bakker (Tas) Sam Radford (Vic) Anne Edmonds (Vic) James McCann (SA) Chloe Alison Escott (Tas)
2011	Dayne Rathbone (Vic)^[7]	Khaled Khalafalla (Vic; runner-up) Tom Gaynor (SA; runner-up) Xenethor (NT) Adam Knox (Vic) Adam Francis (Vic) Tien Tran (WA) Genevieve Fricker (NSW) Laura Hughes (NSW) Sam Campbell (Qld) Ting Lim (Qld) Claire Sullivan (Tas)
2012	Lessons with Luis (Vic)^[8]	Amos Gill (SA; runner-up) Cameron James (NSW; runner-up) Andrew Wolfe (NSW) Hayman Kent (Vic) Mitchell McCutcheon (Qld) Georgie Carroll (SA) Mike Nayna (Vic) Dylan Hesp (Stephen) (Tas) Kyle Walmsley (NT) Jon Pinder (WA)
2013	Demi Lardner (SA)^[9]	Cameron Duggan (Qld; runner-up) Andy Matthews (Vic; runner-up) Chris Menezies (Tas) Justin Crooks (NT) Sean Conway (WA) Colin Ebsworth (WA) Jay Morrissey (Vic) Megan McKay (Vic) Aaron Chen (NSW) Becky Lucas (Qld) Tim Noon (ACT)
2014	Matt Stewart (Vic)^[10]	Katie Burch (NSW; runner-up) Cyrus Bezyan (NSW) Jennifer Burke (Qld) Michael Kelly (NT) Megan McCrea (Vic) Kerri Gay (Tas) Matt Storer (WA) Marc Ryan (SA) Simon Etheridge (WA) Justin Hayward (Vic) Rohan Desai (Raw India winner and special guest)
2015	Angus Gordon (Qld)^[11]	Rohan Ganju (Vic; runner-up) Jess Perkins (Vic; special mention) Sam Taunton (Vic; special mention) Jono Mastrippolito (Tas) Amy Hetherington (NT) Anamarg (ACT) Charlie McCann (NSW) Cory John Rist (WA) David McNevin (NSW) Ismail Ali (Vic) Nicholas Huntley (SA)
2016	Danielle Walker (VIC)	Clinton Haines (NSW; runner-up) Naomi Higgins (VIC) Chris Kearney (NSW) Craig Quartermaine (WA) David Woodhead (NT) Emily Vascotto (QLD) James McMahon (ACT) Lewis Garnham (SA) Maedi Prichard (TAS) Michael Shafar (VIC) Squirly (WA)
2017	Zack Dyer (VIC)	Bonnie Tangey (NSW; runner-up) Shaquille Blackley (WA; runner-up) Andrew Bensley (ACT) Jason Williams (NT) Oliver Twist (QLD) Brad Hollis (SA) Isabella Roldan (TAS) Sharon Andrews (VIC) Carla Wills (SA) Billy D'Arcy (NSW) Daisy Webb (VIC)
2018	Bec Melrose (NSW)	Emma Holland (ACT; runner-up) Gavin Sempel (VIC; runner-up) Alex Hall-Evans (SA) Bronwyn Kuss (QLD) Emo (WA) Jane New (TAS) Kevin Jin (NSW) Matthew Vasquez (VIC) Ryan McArthur (NT) Scout Boxall (VIC) Sian Smyth (NSW)
2019	Fady Kassab (NSW)	Laura Hutchinson (WA; Runner-up) Suraj Kolarkar (QLD; Runner-up) Rose Bishop (VIC) Steph Broadbridge (NSW) Jacob Jackman (SA) Arun Alexan (NT) Edwin Tetlow (ACT) Double Dee (VIC) Harry Morrissey(VIC) Sam Horton (TAS) Elliott Stewart (NSW) Rakhesh Martyn (VIC) Kathryn Thomas (NSW)
2021	Prue Blake (VIC)	Caitlin Maggs (ACT) Dhruv Iyer (WA; special mention) Hamish Levis (TAS) He Huang (VIC) Jayde O'Brien (QLD; special mention) Kelly Gulliver (NT) Mathew Hespe (VIC) Patrick Golamco (NSW; runner-up) Rudy-Lee Taurua (SA) Tom Witcombe (NSW) Zoë Sitas (NSW)
2022	Alexandra Hudson (NSW) and Bron Lewis (QLD)	Aves Robins (WA) Blake Pavey (VIC) Cathal Leslie (ACT) Delhi Buoy (SA; runner-up) Dom McGovern (WA) Guneet Kaur (NSW) Heather Joan (VIC; runner-up) Iona Colville (TAS) Joshua Coutinho (QLD) Nathan Powell (NT)
2023	Henry Yan (VIC)	Elysia Hall (NSW) Ginny Hollands (VIC) Hadi Kilman (SA) Jack O'Sullivan (TAS) Jacquelyn Richards (ACT; runner-up) Jarryd Prain (NSW) Meg Jager (QLD; runner-up) Nicole Shi (WA) Rapha Manajem (VIC; runner-up) Scott Northover (NT) Trish Hurley (ACT) William Wang (VIC)
2024	Omar Gadd (NT)	Stella Kappos (SA; runner-up) Stephanie Hare (TAS; runner-up) Dylan Murphy (VIC) Jamieson Gilders (QLD) Aaqib Merchant (VIC) Nathan Chin (NSW) Stella Wu (NSW) Cam Muratore (VIC) Kiyanosh Sahebi (NSW Suma Iyer (ACT) Jazz Bing (WA)

Notes and References

1. Web site: About RAW Comedy . 2024-06-25 . RAW Comedy . en.
2. News: Platt. Craig. Raw Comedy won by awkward freak. 13 April 2015. The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 April 2011.
3. News: 2008 Raw Comedy Competition. https://web.archive.org/web/20080331050456/http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23103698-5005364,00.html. 31 March 2008. dead. PerthNow. 24 January 2008.
4. Web site: Sleek Geeks: Adam Spencer. ABC Online.
5. News: My big break. 30 August 2008. The Daily Telegraph. 59.
6. Web site: Luke Heggie Wins National Comedy Title. Australian Stage. 12 April 2010. 5 June 2015.
7. News: Raw Comedy won by awkward freak. The Sydney Morning Herald. Craig. Platt. 11 April 2011. 5 June 2015.
8. News: Raw Comedy and the rise of awkwardness. The Sydney Morning Herald. Craig. Platt. 15 April 2012. 5 June 2015.
9. News: Demi Lardner wins Raw Comedy. The Age. 15 April 2013. 5 June 2015.
10. News: Review: Raw comedy up-and-comers inventive and entertaining. The Sydney Morning Herald. Nick. Taras. 14 April 2014. 5 June 2015.
11. News: Raw Comedy 2015 winner: Angus Gordon wins national comedy competition. The Sydney Morning Herald. Craig. Platt. 13 April 2015. 5 June 2015.