comedy-humour

Melbourne-born comedian Andy Curtain started producing comedy shows in bars across China in 2010, and opened Shanghai venue Kung Fu Komedy in 2015.

Comedians such as Chizi, Dandan and Drew Fralick — familiar faces on Chinese television — cut their teeth at shows put on by Curtain and his colleagues.

There were two distinct stand-up scenes in China, Curtain told ABC Radio Melbourne's Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah.

"There's the English scene and the Chinese scene, and we kind of started both."

The comedian's show Nanette was declared joint winner of the Best Comedy Award with that of British stand-up John Robins' The Darkness of Robins.

It has been a record-breaking year for Gadsby after taking out the Best Comedy Performer at the Helpmann Awards, the Barry Award for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the award for Best Comedy at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Wilson is seeking $7 million after she successfully sued the publisher over eight articles she said portrayed her as a serial liar, as part of what she called a "malicious, deliberate take-down".

Wilson's lawyer, Matthew Collins QC, yesterday told the court that Wilson could have made up to $18 million from a number of film roles if the articles had not damaged her career.

But Bauer Media's lawyer, Georgina Schoff, said Wilson "has not proved that the publications were the cause of the alleged loss".

She said the articles had not been published in the US.

Melbourne's International Comedy Festival first held its Deadly Funny competition in 2007 and The Deadly Funnies have helped to sustain the genre.

More recently we've have TV shows like Black Comedy, 8MMM, and Comedy Up Late