TimeOut's picks for what not to miss at this year's Comedy Festival

NZ's only all-female comedy troupe delivers C-Suite at this year's Comedy Festival. Photo / Supplied

TimeOut picks the NZ Comedy Festival acts that may have slipped under your radar that you really shouldn't miss.

MUSIC MADE HILARIOUS (ON PURPOSE)

Love music as much as you love comedy? Then these are the gigs for you. At this year's festival, there's an impressive line-up of shows that incorporate music for maximum lols - and a maximum showcasing of talent. Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore return as Two Hearts with The Winery Tour, Jesse Griffin hosts Late Night Jazz Scat where comedians perform over a jazz band, you can catch an improv group creating Instant Broadway and see the characters of Jane Austen's writings improvise musicals that would have Austen rolling in her grave.

WHITE DUDES BEHIND DESKS

Robbie Nicol's White Man Behind a Desk has become a YouTube and comedy sensation, poking fun at the likes of John Stewart and John Oliver's current affairs shows. Now, he returns to the Comedy Fest, but he's not the only one; fans of this style of comedy can also treat themselves to The Crack-Up Late Show in which Alan McElroy takes on the more "fun" shows like James Corden and Jimmy Fallon's, and Tim Batt and Disasteradio are putting on a live comedy chat show featuring celebrities, live music and guest comedians - in their words: "Think Fallon, but not shit."

HOMEGROWN: THE COMEDY EDITION

What a time for New Zealand comedy, eh? Some of our brightest stars will light up the Comedy Fest stage once again this year, including new shows from fan favourites Alice Snedden, Melanie Bracewell and Guy Montgomery. Plus, hot off the back of starring on the likes of 7 Days and Wellington Paranormal, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer also returns to the festival after a three-year hiatus for a show described as "part comedy, part mental health awareness chat". There's never been a better time to get out there and support our home-grown talent.

COMEDY MEETS STORYTELLING

If you like your comedy to come with a bit more of a story behind it, you may enjoy these acts which blend stand-up with theatre and some one-of-a-kind storytelling. Alice May Connolly and Maria Williams present The Mournmoor Murders, which follows two detectives on a classic whodunnit case serving up a "nostalgic Kiwi crime comedy". Barnie Duncan presents Tap Head, exploring the life of a lonely tap who works in a public toilet by day and frequents open mics by night. And Billie T nominee James Mustapic presents The Blair Witch Projector, in which his projector is being haunted by a comedy ghost who is set on stealing the show, prompting James to revisit his past to overcome it.

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Tap Head makes his debut on the Melbourne stand-up scene. He really cleaned up. #taphead #comingsoon #melbournecomedy #plumbing #plumbingjokes

A post shared by Barnie Duncan (@barnie_juancan) on Jul 20, 2018 at 4:42pm PDT

COMEDIANS ASSEMBLE

Want more bang for your buck? Why not get a group of comedians all in one show? This year's festival brings you a host of comedy troupes and ensembles, including Kiwi favourites and hilarious sketch group Frickin' Dangerous Bro, comprising James Roque, Pax Assadi and Jamaine Ross - all of whom have their own solo shows in the festival as well. You've also got Bec Sandys, Brooke West and Audrey Porne's debut comedy show Role Models; New Zealand's all-female comedy troupe C-Suite and their show All Female, All Funny; and Kiwi comedy supergroup Brynley Stent, Tom Sainsbury, Kura Forrester and Chris Parker in Mincing, uncovering the "repressed feelings, big dreams and twisted fantasies" of the family behind the Jolly Family Butchers.

ONES TO WATCH

Of particular note in this year's festival line-up is Paul Sinha, aka The Sinnerman from the British TV game show Kiwis can't seem to get enough of, The Chase. The Sinnerman is a pro on the UK comedy circuit whose taken eight solo shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, scoring a nomination for the Perrier award in 2006. Now he's making his New Zealand debut. Also on our radar is Dialogue Matters, hosted by Pax Assadi. Here, things get a little more serious as Pax puts a group of top comedians in one room and challenges them to talk about the things that matter - from gender politics to cultural inequality to environmentalism and more.

Check out the full programme and get tickets at comedyfestival.co.nz