How the 2011 Comedy Festival stacks up

Arj Barker. Photo / Supplied

Who is hosting the comedy gala: Arj Barker. The fourth-most famous comedian to come out of Flight of the Conchords.

Who is the most famous in the programme: Steve O, judging from box office success in Jackass.

What will he do on stage? Maim himself, most likely.

Who else is new? Gordon Southern, Eddy Brimson and Mike Wozniak from England and Pete Johanssen from Canada.

Some international returning favourites: Scotsman Danny Bhoy, Canadian Glenn Wool, Brit Mark Watson.

Is Justin Bieber coming? No, but Matt Mulholland, who is also young and has made his name on YouTube is.

Who has the most shows? Sam Wills, aka The Boy With Tape on His Face. He's back home with new material after wooing the reviewers in Britain for the past few years. As well as his own shows, he performs in Le Comique, The 5 Star Comedy Preview, the Comedy Convoy and The Best of the Billys.

Are any 7 Days core comedians absent from the programme? No.

Are any burlesque shows are posing as comedy? Not overtly. That might be what you can see at The Friday Night Guilt Club at The Basement. "Featuring a line-up of your favourite Festival acts performing the kind of comedy you just wouldn't see anywhere," according to the programme.

How multi-cultural is it? There are 57.5 Kiwi acts, 10.5 British, 5 Australian, 4 American, 3 Canadian, 1 South African, 1 Irish, 1 Scottish, 1 French, and 0.5 per cent of a person representing Tongan, Samoan, Welsh and Chilean groups.

Who is the youngest? Possibly Rhys Mathewson, who won the Billy T Award last year, maybe Rose Matafeo who is hosting the fan fiction evenings, or Billy T nominees Joseph Harper or Cameron Murray, unless we are being fooled by their innocent-looking publicity shots.

What's there for kids? Big Laughs for Little Monsters hosted by Jarred Fell, who, if we remember rightly was one of the most perverse performers we saw last year. And Mr Boon's Big Time Last Chance Quiz Show.

What if I think I am funnier than the comedians? You can enter the Raw Comedy Quest search for New Zealand's funniest new face. Perform six minutes of original live comedy at The Classic and you could win up to $2000 in prize money.

-TimeOut