Green Faces is a comedy competition conducted at The Canberra Irish Club every year. It is designed to cater for 'open mic' comics - those comics who have performed a few gigs that have up to ten minutes of material. Material must be original and is completely judged by the audience - voted show the only criteria being that the entrants CANNOT earn more than $150.00 average per week over one year from comedy.
Green Faces has now grown to be the most respected comedy competition in the country. Past entrants include the now UK based Marty Wilson, Steve Hughes, U.S based James Smith, Number One hit artist Chris 'The Bloke' Franklin, Tahir (Habib from Pizza), International touring artist Joe Avati, The Australian Fast Bowler Tom Gleeson, Movie Star Anh Do, and Edinburgh Festival's 'Best new Comer' Charlie Pickering just to name a few. You WILL see tomorrow's stars today.
The competition runs every year from the last week of June through to the second week of September and Since it’s inception in 1997, Green Faces has had over 500 competitors, given away over $25,000.00 in cash and has had over 20,000 people attend!!! No wonder it's the winter destination for all Canberrans.
Dates
- 3rd July - Melbourne
- 10th July - Sydney
- 17th July - Brisbane
- 24th July - Adelaide
- 31st July - Canberra
- 7th August - Melbourne
- 14th August - Sydney
- 21st August - Melbourne
- 28th August - Sydney
- 4th September - Grand Final
- 11th September - Best Of
Prize
1st Prize:
$2500.00 cash plus a weeks bookings (Thursday-Saturday) at either the Sydney
Comedy Store or The Sit Down Comedy Club in Brisbane.
2nd Prize:
$750 Cash plus five paid support spots through A-List Comedy Clubs.
3rd Prize:
$500 Cash plus five paid support spots through A-List Comedy Clubs.
How does the night work
Each week the night commences at 8.30pm with a proffessional host and six contestants from each state. Each of the contestants perform for up to ten minutes. There is a short intermission of around 20 minutes after the six contestants have performed. While the votes are being tallied the feature comedian will perform a short 15 minute feature spot and then announce the winner.
Previous winners include
1997 - Winner: Steve Hughes (NSW) Runner up: Joe Avati (NSW)
1998 - Winner: Marty Wilson (NSW) Runner Up: Tom Gleeson (NSW)
1999 - Winner: Anh Do (NSW) Runner Up: Dave Williams (VIC)
2000 - Winner: Jason Starrett (NSW)
2001 - Winner: Ross Janetski (QLD)
2002 - Winner: Big Brother Little Brother (NSW) Runner Up: Em O'Lochlin (SA)
2003 - Winner: Brett Nichols (NSW) Runner Up: Average (SA)
2004 - Winner: Richard Marks (VIC) Runner Up: Janelle Koening (VIC)
2005 - Winner: Sean Baxter (QLD) Runner Up: David Thornton (VIC)
2006 - Winner: Troy Kinne (VIC) Runner Up: Dave Eastgate
2007 - Winner: Tom Gibson Runner Up: Oliver Phammovanh
