Leading the charge into town is Melbourne comedian and Sydney expat Suren Jayemanne.
“I used to be an accountant and people tend to find it pretty interesting that I'd leave that to do comedy,” Mr Jayemanne said.
“Most people can’t believe that an accountant could ever be telling jokes.
“But I always secretly had an ambition to do stand-up.
“And then slowly during accounting, I would just slack off a bit and go and do gigs at night and then show up to work a bit tired and hungover.
“It got to the point where it was no longer possible to do both as I was failing at both, so I jumped across to comedy.”
Mr Jayemanne is really looking forward to being in Echuca with the Comedy Festival Roadshow.
He has been told by the MC for the night, Luka Muller, who is originally from Echuca, about the decision you have to make, if you are going to leave, whether you move to Sydney or Melbourne.
“I will talk a bit about my experience moving from Sydney to Melbourne, making fun of the fake rivalry between the two,” Mr Jayemanne said.
“And the funny thing is I am sure the lifestyles are pretty similar, no matter where you go.”
An observational comedian, Mr Jayemanne talks about his experience growing up as a Sri Lankan guy in Australia, as well as his newly rescued dog, Larry.
“You never really know the history of the dog when you rescue them,” Mr Jayemanne said.
“You slowly figure it out, and it turns out everything is a trigger for him, everything.
“The main thing is he is definitely a fight dog.
“We had a rescue dog previously, who was a flight dog.
“He was afraid of everything and would always just run away.
“But for Larry, my little terrier cross, I am trying to figure out his triggers by a process of elimination.
“Pretty much he is mostly into eliminating people, to be honest.
“He hates dogs, he hates cars, he is a bit of a handful, but it makes good jokes.”
If you want to hear ‘good’ jokes, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow is on at the Echuca Paramount Cinemas on Saturday, May 13 at 7.30pm.
For tickets, visit https://www.echucaparamount.com/movie/melbourne-international-comedy-festival-roadshow or the Echuca Paramount Cinemas.
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