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Class Clowns is Melbourne International Comedy Festival's development program for young people around the country.
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Class Clowns is Melbourne International Comedy Festival's development program for young people around the country.
After a competition has been held across the country, heats, semi-finals and then finals are run in each Australian state and territory, with the winners of the state finals competing in the Grand Final in Melbourne. The Grand Final is held during Melbourne International Comedy Festival at the Forum Theatre (previously held at Melbourne Town Hall and Malthouse Theatre).
Professional comedians who have hosted the grand final include Tom Gleeson and Nath Valvo. Special guest comedians perform a headline set; in the past, these have included Peter Helliar, Tripod, Ross Noble, and Judith Lucy.
Notable comedians who have performed as entrants in Class Clowns include, Josh Thomas, Tom Ballard, Joel Creasey, Rhys Nicholson, Aaron Chen, Velvet Winter, Lauren Duong, Mia Timpano, and Imaan Hadchiti.
| Year | Winner | Other |
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| 2000 | Fat Chicks Bite Back (Jess Shanahan, Hayley Robinson, Paul Saunders & Adam Weller) |
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| 2001 | Paul Saunders | |
| 2002 | Goibon Hanastende | |
| 2003 | Fred Sterer |
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| 2004 | Stephen Brooks |
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| 2005 | Imaan Hadchiti and Tobey Duncan | |
| 2006 | Adam Knox |
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| 2007 | 'H2WOAH!' Jacob Machin and James Seamark |
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| 2008 | Tom John | |
| 2009 | Neel Kolhatkar |
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| 2010 | Matthew Ford |
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| 2011 | Tom Matthews |
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| 2012 | Aaron Chen |
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| 2013 | James Warren |
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| 2014 | Gergor Tarrant |
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| 2015 | Will McKenna |
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| 2016 | Lauren Duong |
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| 2017 | Daniel Reeve |
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| 2018 | Liam Adam, Carlin Carruth & Kyle Bennett as 'Awkward' |
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| 2019 | Patti Fawcett |
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| 2020 | NA due to COVID19 | NA due to COVID19 |
| 2021 | Dhruv Rao |
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| 2022 | Erin Almeida |
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