Some of the biggest and most exciting names in comedy for Perth's Fringe World Festival

Some of the biggest and most exciting names in comedy for Perth’s Fringe World Festival – Some of the biggest, and most exciting new names, in Australian comedy will be performing as part of the awesome Fringe World Festival in Perth this January and February – Pete Rowsthorn, Wil Anderson, Claire Hooper, Alex Ward, Brett Blake and Michael Hing

Pete Rowsthorn – Keen

Australian comedy icon Pete Rowsthorn has not performed on a comedy festival stage since the 1980s and boy is he Keen. With his down-to-earth jocular demeanour and witty banter, the man behind Kath & Kim’s Brett Dean-Craig will have audiences laughing in the aisles.

A renowned character actor from stage and screen, Pete may be best known for his role as the long-suffering husband and pants-man Brett on Kath & Kim, but he’s also starred in numerous movies, made many memorable Thank God You’re Here appearances and was an audience fave on Season 4 of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. In 2023 Pete travelled the world with his daughter, Comedy Zoner and triple j broadcaster, Frankie in the The Amazing Race, Celebrity Edition and in 2024 he brought the old razzle dazzle to the stage, performing around the country in Chicago.

Now it’s time for Pete to return to stand up to talk life, TV, and aging ungraciously (oh and in a shameless rort to pull a crowd, he’ll throw in a Kath & Kim quiz as part of the show). For those who’ve grown up laughing with Pete Rowsthorn on the screen, this is a chance to see the man behind Brett Dean-Craig as you’ve never seen him before – live on stage and just as incredibly funny.

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/pete-rowsthorn

Fringe World Festival

Dates: Tuesday 4 – Sunday 9 February

Time: 6pm

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Venue: The Rechabite

Bookings: fringeworld.com.au

Tickets: from $32

Wil Anderson – Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout Wil?

Wil Anderson Hits the Road with an intimate, 100% Improvised Comedy Experience

WINNER – Director’s Choice, Melbourne Comedy Festival 2022

WINNER – Best of The Fest, Sydney Comedy Festival 2022

SIX-TIME WINNER – People’s Choice Award, Melbourne Comedy Festival

Australian comedy legend Wil Anderson has written a new standup show every year since his Melbourne Comedy debut in 1997. In 2025 he is switching things up to deliver a real treat for comedy fans, touring his 100% improvised show, Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout Wil?

Wil has performed limited runs of Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout Wil? over the years and those in the know have flocked to see Australia’s finest in his element – totally unscripted, different every night, never-to-be-replicated comedy without a safety net.

This isn’t your average stand-up show. With nothing pre-written, pre-planned, or pre-meditated, Anderson dives headfirst into the unknown, crafting an evening of laughter and insight on the spot. The audience doesn’t just watch the show—they could potentially inspire it. Every show will be created for, and with, the people in the room only. Never to be recorded. Never to be repeated.

Expect the trademark and dependable razor-sharp observations and the kind of comedic brilliance that can only come from one of Australia’s most celebrated comedy minds. Whether you’re a long-time fan of Anderson or a newcomer to his work, this show is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat with laughter.

Wil will deliver this unique experience is smaller venues than usual so it goes without saying these tickets will sell out.

Wil is the host of ABC TV’s Gruen, Question Everything, smash hit podcasts Wilosophy and TOFOP, standout performer on Taskmaster Australia, a Helpmann award winner, six-time Melbourne Comedy Festival People’s Choice Award recipient and 2022’s Director’s Choice winner and Best of the Fest at the Sydney Comedy Festival respectively.

“Lightning in a bottle.” ★★★★½ The Sydney Morning Herald, 2022

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“Wil Anderson is a master at finding humanity in the strangest things.” ★★★★ Time Out, 2022

“Ever-slick, Anderson’s experience shows throughout, from the easy to-and-fro with the crowd to the unlabored structure that subtly underpins the 70 minutes, sending the audience out into the Melbourne streets fully satisfied.” Chortle

“Savage intelligence and rapid-fire riffing, Wil Anderson confronts humanity head-on.” Time Out

“An absolute comedy masterclass. Even the unscripted crowd work is pure bliss.” Melbourne Lyf

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/wil-anderson

Perth Fringe World

Dates: Tuesday 4 – Sunday 16 February

Time: times vary

Venue: Johnny Fox’s

Bookings: fringeworld.com.au

Tickets: from $35

Brett Blake – Little Turd

Brett Blake is the first to admit that growing up in Perth he was a little turd.

In 2002 he was charged with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct and assaulting a public officer. He was 16 years old and facing a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. What happened next surprised him, his parents, his lawyers, the neighbours and even the judge. This is a story of the importance of second chances, the hypocritical expectations we have of young people, and how your number one enemy might just end up being your biggest champion.

We may never have got to hear about it, if Blake hadn’t opened up to Wil Anderson as a guest on his Wilosophy podcast and shared his colourful past.

In Little Turd, Moosehead recipient Brett Blake does what only he can – make a story of police brutality, learning disabilities, 90’s parenting and growing up in a shit suburb “funny”.

In the hands of this whip-smart, high-spirited stand up, it’s one hell of a story, and it’ll have you laughing (and thinking about it) long after your night is over.

Brett has starred on ABC TV’s Question Everything and Spicks & Specks. He has regularly appeared on the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala and was a scene stealer in the Jamie Doran thriller The Tourist on Stan. Brett’s comedy special Bogan Genius was released in 2022 on Paramount + and his latest, Go Hard or Go Home, has been racking up the views on his YouTube channel.

Directed by Tom Ballard.

“Blakey is also one of the sharpest minds in contemporary Australian comedy” Wil Anderson

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/brett-blake

Fringe World Festival

Dates: Friday 17 – Sunday 19 January

Time: 6pm

Venue: The Rechabite

Bookings: fringeworld.com.au

Tickets: from $30

Claire Hooper – Nothing to See Here

Claire Hooper has been falling over in public, physically and emotionally, for as long as she can remember. Maybe that explains a lot… If you’ve ever tripped on something that wasn’t there, waved across the room to someone who didn’t see you or had to spend too much time in a busy airplane toilet, you’ll relate all too well to Claire’s newest comedy hour, Nothing to See Here.

Claire Hooper is a fan favourite, making people laugh on stage, screen and over the airwaves with her charm, wit and self-deprecating humour. She’s also well loved by her fellow comics, having won the 2024 Melbourne Comedy Festival Piece of Wood Award. Now she’s back under the stand-up spotlight with one hilarious new show for anyone that’s ever suffered a small, public humiliation and kept smiling. That’s right, there’s nothing to see here!

Co-host of The Great Australian Bake Off for five seasons, Claire has been seen on Network Ten’s The Project, Have You Been Paying Attention and ABC TV’s The Weekly, Question Everything and Spicks & Specks. She hosts her own popular podcast ‘I’m the Worst with Claire Hooper’ and is also a comedy director and children’s book author. There is nothing she can’t do – and all of it will make you laugh out loud!

Expect a night of amusing anecdotes and plenty of laughs in the hands of this natural born storyteller.

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/claire-hooper

Fringe World Festival

Dates: Monday 20 – Saturday 25 January

Time: 7:30pm

Venue: The Rechabite

Bookings: fringeworld.com.au

Tickets: from $29

Alex Ward – Clip Clop Don’t Stop

Always funny and very likable, Alex Ward effortlessly keeps her audiences at ease, making her highs and lows feel universally relatable. But that’s just the problem. She’s now a chronic sufferer of approachable-face!

Everyone wants to talk to Alex, all the time – strangers, neighbours, her parents. In her new show Clip Clop Don’t Stop she’ll tell you all about it with her usual humour, honesty and, yes, approachability.

Alex has been gigging as a stand-up comedian since 2014 and has been a regular performer at all the major Comedy and Fringe Festivals. Best known for her whip-smart punchlines and regular appearances on Network Ten’s Have You Been Paying Attention? Alex also works as a writer on a bunch of shows including Network Ten’s The Project, and ABC’s Monday’s Experts and Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee.

More recently Alex has also been incredibly busy with the wedding of the year, and in between sharing her culinary creations on her Instagram show Ready Steady Wardy, where you might have seen her pair watermelon with gummy bears—a recipe she described as turning out ‘fine’.

With her casual, down to earth style and deadpan stare Alex Ward will have you laughing so much you will not want Clip Clop Don’t Stop to stop.

“Irreverent and extremely engaging. Totally brilliant.” Pedestrian.TV

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/alex-ward

Fringe World Festival

Dates: Tuesday 11 – Sunday 16 February

Time: 6pm

Venue: The Rechabite

Bookings: fringeworld.com.au

Tickets: from $29

Michael Hing – Get in the Submarine

The original concept for this tour was that Michael Hing, comedian, broadcaster, television host and Dungeons & Dragons Podcaster would attempt to be normal on stage for an hour (inspired by a recent foray into commercial television). The writing process of the show however, has revealed that to be an unlikely outcome. A spreadsheet of every backpack he’s ever worn, an interview with Tom Cruise that made him reassess his relationship to God, driving the world’s most humiliating car, and the tragic (but unfortunately, quite funny) ways that billionaires keep dying are all covered in this show. Normality is potentially beyond his reach.

As a fixture of the stand-up comedy scene, Michael has performed at home and abroad, hand-picked to open for Marc Maron on his Australian tour. He has studied improv at UCB in Los Angeles and New York and is a regular performer at Improv Theatre Sydney. Audiences know and love him as one half of triple j’s Hobba+Hing and from his time as a host of programs such as Network Ten’s The Project, SBS’s The Feed, and Celebrity Letters and Numbers, as well as his guest spots shows like on Spicks & Specks, and Guy Montgomery Guy Mont Spelling Bee. He has also won an Australian Writer’s Guild Award for Best Comedy Writing.

Do not miss Get in the Submarine, an hour of political and personal comedy from a very sleep deprived man, who is always on the cusp of a mental breakdown.

“Endlessly funny.” ★★★★½ The Sydney Morning Herald

Tickets on sale now at comedy.com.au/tour/michael-hing