early bird tickets now on sale! (ends 5pm may 18)
ABOUT NEXT GEN COMEDY
The City of Stirling and WA Comedy are once again providing a launching pad for Western Australia’s best new comedians this June 2026.
Next Gen Comedy is an audience-voted competition, putting the power in the hands of the crowd to decide which rising comedian takes the next step in their career.
Some past winners include: Suns of Fred, Joe White, Ciaran Lyons, Ian Burke
“ Winning Next Gen in 2025 really gave me the confidence to follow my dreams. I would encourage anyone, any age or gender to have a go. “
– NOLA BLISS (2025 Next gen comedy winner)
THE PRIZE
The best judged comedian as voted by the audience will receive $1500 inc GST Prize Money on behalf of the City of Stirling to help you with your comedy career and professional development
Plus $500 inc GST for 2nd place and $250 inc GST for 3rd place!
A $150 inc GST 5-minute showcase spot at a future WA Comedy All-Stars show alongside Western Australia’s finest Stand-up Comedians.
Mentoring by WA Comedy
HEATS AND GRAND FINAL DATES
Next Gen Comedy is held exclusively within the City of Stirling at community focused venues.
All venues are fully licensed with basic bar offering. Non alcohol options also available.
- Heat 1
- Saturday June 13
- 6.30pm - 8.00pm
- Contestants TBC
- Heat 2
- Saturday June 13
- 8.30pm - 10.00pm
- Contestants TBC
- Heat 3
- Saturday June 20
- 6.30pm - 8.00pm
- Contestants TBC
- Heat 4
- Saturday June 20
- 8.30pm - 10.00pm
- Contestants TBC
- Grand Final
- Saturday June 27
- 7.00pm - 9.00pm
- Contestants TBC
The Grand Final festivities start from 6pm with a Pop-up bar and food vendors
WHAT MAKES NEXT GEN COMEDY UNIQUE?
- It’s based on audience voting and not by industry judges.
- We provide a FREE workshop/information session for participants ahead of the heats – see comedy tips (below) for details.
- All Next Gen participants receive a $50 inc GST performance fee for heats and Grand Final (if they are selected). Similar comedy competitions do not pay participants a performance fee.
- The Heats and Grand Final are all held during prime time.
- The winner is provided performance opportunities throughout WA following the event
- Next Gen Comedy is owned and operated by WA Comedy.
IMPORTANT STUFF
- Must be 18 years + (The event is not purely focused on young adults – you can be an adult of any age)
- Must not have earnt more than $10,000 +GST from performing Live stand-up comedy in your entire career
- Cannot have been performing for longer than a total of 5 years (we are looking for new and emerging talent)
- Have setup an ABN to receive your Next Gen Comedy performance fee. We can only pay your performance fee when invoiced with an ABN. The same applies to the winner’s prize money of $1500 inc GST and runners-up prize money of $500 inc GST and $250 inc GST.
- You agree to promote your involvement at Next Gen Comedy (Please do not apply if your are unwilling to support the event).
- Make yourself available for the Heats and Grand Final dates
• Up to 12 participants per heat, across 4 heats.
• Each participant will be allocated a heat and given 5 minutes to perform their best material.
• The audience votes for the best performance in each heat.
• 2 participants from each heat progress to the Grand Final.
• Up to 4 wild cards may be issued by WA Comedy to acts deemed unlucky not to progress or who demonstrate sufficient promise to participate in the Grand Final.
• The Grand Final will be decided entirely by audience vote. In the event of a draw, the prize will be split.
• All Next Gen Comedy heats and the Grand Final will be professionally photographed and filmed. By participating, you consent to photography and videography being captured and shared.
• All material must be original and free from racism, homophobia, sexism, or hate speech. Please avoid using unnecessary swearing in place of punchlines (no C-bombs).
• Disparaging comments about WA Comedy, Next Gen Comedy, or the City of Stirling are not permitted.
• Performers who abandon their set unreasonably early or deliberately sabotage their performance will not be paid a performance fee.
• If you need to cancel your set for any reason, you must notify the organiser with at least 72 hours’ notice.
- Attend FREE comedy workshop/information hosted by comedian Matt Storer on Sunday May 10 3.30pm-5pm at Stirling Leisure – Scarborough Community Centre 1 (173 Gildercliffe Street)
- Be original and avoid cliches.
- Start and end with your strongest material.
- Practice your set at home and at open mic clubs in advance of Next Gen Comedy.
- Get straight into your jokes, don’t waste time at the beginning of the set with long introductions.
- Punchy sets will typically go over well with the audience (aim for a laugh every 20 seconds)
- Have fun and enjoy the experience!