One of the brightest prospects in the comedy world, Neel Kolhatkar boasts a CV rivalling many seasoned professionals. With a subscriber base that had previously garnered him millions of hits on his YouTube and Facebook videos, Neel skyrocketed to Internet fame as a 19 year old in 2013 with a series of punchy and hard hitting Aussie impressions videos. These have since been superceded by popular and provocative short films- in particular Modern Educayshun in 2015 – which has amassed close to 5 million views on Youtube alone.
Since winning The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF)’s national Class Clowns Competition at the tender age of fifteen, Neel has gone on to perform at all of Australia’s top comedy clubs and festivals. In both 2010 and ‘11 he was invited to perform at MICF’s Teenage Gala – a showcase of Australia’s best comedians aged 20 or under, and In 2013 Neel was again handpicked by the Festival directors as the youngest of 5 comics to perform as part of its prestigious annual show The Comedy Zone- featuring the finest up and coming comedians in the nation.
A prolific stand-up comedian and writer, Neel’s insightful, hard-hitting and at times scathing commentary on topics ranging from youth, media and gender to race. Coupled with his array of character voices, impressions, crowd-work and charismatic stage presence has charmed audiences across the globe- Neel is making waves overseas, with runs at Edinburgh Festival and performing by invitation as a part of the New York Comedy Festival in 2013 and the Just For Laughs Festival’s televised Stand Up Series at the Sydney Opera House.
“KOLHATKAR IS UNDENIABLY A TALENT. HIS IMPERSONATIONS WERE FLAWLESS, HIS CROWD INTERACTION STRONG.” HERALD SUN
Following sold-out runs across all of the major comedy festivals and his well-received debut season at the Edinburgh Fringe, 2015 has seen Neel tour his show Truth Be Told across Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and the release of his debut, self-produced stand-up special on YouTube.
“LOOK OUT OLD COMICS, 19 YEAR OLD @NEELKOLHATKAR IS COMING TO GET YOU! HIS PRECISION TO DETAIL IS INCREDIBLE, HEAPS FUNNY FELLA!!” SAM SIMMONS
Neel has amassed over 500,000 Facebook, 300,000 YouTube and almost 90,000 Instagram subscribers, as well as views well into the high tens of millions across all platforms. His consummate professionalism led YouTube to approach Neel to host their tenth anniversary celebrations attended by the top Australian content creators, music partners, TV networks, as well as YouTube and Google heads and heads of marketing.
With Liz Stephens a stand-up comedian and comedy writer from the UK. She has performed in venues all over the world – from German TV shows to a goods lift at the Edinburgh Festival.
Since moving to Australia, Liz has been entertaining audiences on both coasts with her punchline driven gags and general cheekiness.
Liz has also been a content writer for Good News Week and various BBC Radio 4 comedy shows and produces her own internationally syndicated iTunes podcast, The Weekly News From Bed.
Simon Kennedy – Finalist Comedian of the year, seen on The Project Channel 10, Channel 7 Morning show. Hosted “The Show With No Name” Nova 96.9FM
The multi award winning comedian Simon Kennedy- Regarded as one of the best ad lib performers in the country, he appeared as an Australian finalist in NBC hit series ‘Last Comic Standing’ on which he performed to over 6 million Americans—and still could be heard!
A World Class Comedian’ – Concrete Playground.
“Has ways of making the audience see things for what they really are without judgement, and that, ultimately, signals the hallmark of a good stand-up comedian. RAVE MAGAZINE, BRISBANE
Plus loads of special guest comedians!!! !
