Discovering new talent is one of the joys of any comedy festival. Every year the Byron Comedy Festival cherry-picks the brightest and boldest of emerging new talent to present at their annual event. This year they are presenting two of Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s most loved newcomers and stars of their roadshow, Lewis Garnham and Scout Boxall.
Lewis Garnham: Choosing the Wrong Story to Tell
Captivating audiences with a style that is a potent combination of laconic, intelligent and introspective, there are few voices as distinctive and exciting as Lewis Garnham. His unique insights and thoughtful opinions have resonated with millions of followers on his social channels, making him one of the most sought-after new comics on the block.
After bursting onto the scene in 2016 as the comedy voice for South Australia at the RAW Comedy National Final, Lewis was nominated for Best Emerging Artist at the Adelaide Fringe in 2017, Best Comedy at Perth Fringe, and the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018.
Lewis is also a regular on Triple J, Triple M and ABC Radio, and a popular guest on Australian podcasts.
In 2024, he released his first stand-up special, a recording of his smash-hit show, Lewis Garnham Hit A Pigeon With His Bike. The special has resonated with audiences all over the world, exposing new fans to his brilliant and unique perspectives.
In his spare time Lewis enjoys birdwatching, swimming in the ocean and sitting in backyards with friends having passionate, pissed-off conversations about the state of the world.
Lewis Garnham performs ‘Choosing the Wrong Story to Tell’ at The Hotel Great Northern on Thursday at 7pm. Tix $25.
Scout Boxall: God’s Favourite
Scout Boxall is an observational genius. Their work swings between pithy insightful stand up and manic, chaotic powerpoint comedy all peppered with a devastatingly sharp political awareness.
Winner of Best Emerging Artist (Melbourne Fringe 2019), nominee for Best Newcomer (MICF 2021), the Moosehead Award (MICF 2022) and Best Comedy (Adelaide Fringe 2023) Scout has been absolutely smashing it on the scene with appearances on The Gala, Up Late, Upfront, the Sydney Myer Music Bowl and Splendour In The Grass.
Their unique blend of stand-up, song, solo sketch and storytelling has been dubbed ‘genius’ (The Music), ‘sheer perfection’ (Scenestr), ‘outrageous’ (The Herald Sun), ‘thrilling’ (The Saturday Paper) and ‘a must-see’ (The Age).
Within a couple of months of starting solo comedy, Scout had made it to the National Finals of Raw Comedy, attended the gruelling Ecole Phillippe Gaulier (never again) and gigged at the Edinburgh Fringe. These days you can find Scout performing regularly around the country, writing for ABC’s The Weekly and watching the McLaren team attempt to dominate the Formula 1 midfield. Because that’s their secret passion!
Scout Boxall performs ‘God’s Favourite’ at The Hotel Great Northern on Saturday at 6.30pm. Tix $35.Byron Comedy Festival runs 30, 31 May and 1 June – for more ticket and program info go to byroncomedyfest.com.
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