Think you can do better than that? (We think you can)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival presents, Class Clowns 2019, and we’re on the hunt for the funniest kid in Wagga – do you think you know them?

The one of a kind, national secondary school comedy competition will be open to teenagers 14 to 18 years of age, or in years nine to 12.

Applicants can register their stand-up, sketch, physical or musical comedy act for free. Any format goes, as long as it is three to five minutes long and funny! You will take part in two workshops with a professional comedian before performing your act in front of a live audience.

The first workshop will be run by local comedy legend, Dane Simpson. On the night of the competition, a professional comedian touring with Class Clowns will help you tweak and put the finishing touches on your performance.

Past participants include Joel Creasey, Rhys Nicholson, Aaron Chen and Tom Ballard.

Those who progress through the heats to go on to a state final, will be in the running to secure a place at the national grand final. Finalists are then flown to Melbourne, where they will perform for a chance to win a $2500 prize package at the national grand final during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

For more information visit civictheatre.com.au or call the Civic Theatre box office on 6926 9688.

2018 has been a year of transition for ARIA award winner Dan Sultan. Having taken six months off and out of the spotlight to recalibrate and steady the ship, he is now ready to take on a whole bunch of new, exciting and fresh challenges.

The first project to see the light of day in 2019 will be the aptly titled Aviary Takes; a collection of older, existing back catalogue songs and a smattering of new tracks, including a couple of out of the blue covers and fresh tunes all recorded in a single vocal take, at inner city Melbourne's The Aviary Studios.

The collection will be released early in 2019 and to celebrate its release, Sultan will head back out on the road armed with a guitar, a keyboard and a fresh batch of anecdotes and bad ‘dad' jokes.

“I’m really looking forward to hitting the regional road with The Aviary Takes tour. It’ll be good to make up for the shows I had to cancel earlier last year," he said. 

"The Aviary Takes are a group of songs I recorded recently and they include old, current, new tracks with a couple of surprise covers thrown in.

"It’ll be great to see all of your lovely faces at the shows."

Tickets available at civictheatre.com.au or call the Civic Theatre box office on 6926 9688.