Tour news: The laugh lineup

Colin Hay will be performing at the 2015 Comedy Festival.

The line-up for the 2015 Comedy Festival is out today with a programme featuring everyone from returning international and local stars to provocative new acts.

The most attention-grabbing show on a sneak peek given to TimeOut is Adrienne Truscott's Asking For It:, a one-woman show dissecting rape culture and delivered, semi-nude, by American performer Truscott which one British reviewer described as "an hour of blisteringly sarcastic comedy".

Truscott's Edinburgh award-winning show was inspired by the rise of rape jokes in stand-up comedy. Her pants-free performance has a point - that being dressed, or undressed, provocatively, should not put her at risk of being raped.

Comedian Adrienne Truscott.

"The not-wearing-of-the-pants is partly a very serious point taken to the nth degree," she told the Guardian "partly because I think it's a hilarious costume and partly because I'm well aware it's a gimmick. I've been around the block and on stages long enough to know it's a very inexpensive and effective costume, nudity, and alongside that, can be very powerful."

New Yorker Truscott has a background in dance and was a part of the burlesque-vaudevillean act the Wau Wau Sisters. She'll play The Basement Studio from April 25 until May 2.

Another new comedy festival star with a colourful background is Australian Colin Hay who once stood on top of the pop world as the frontman for band Men At Work with their 1980s hits Down Under and Who Can It Be Now?

He's maintained a solo musical career - he's made 11 solo albums since basing himself in Los Angeles in 1989 - but has also branched out into comedy, and his show Waiting For My Real Life recounts his rollercoaster ride in the music industry and "a runaway love affair with alcohol".

He's playing at SkyCity Theatre on May 1 and 2. It's possible vegemite sandwiches will be served at the bar beforehand.

Another act with a colourful past is Red Bastard, the former Cirque du Soleil clown whose solo show promises something less family friendly in a character described as "a dangerous, seductive comedy monster".

Mr Bastard [Eric Davis to his mother] comes to town with his alarmingly lumpy costume and trailing a long list of five-star reviews and best-of-fest awards. He's be at the Herald Theatre from May 4 to 9.

Comedian Red Bastard.

Among the festival's returning international stars is UK-based Irish star Ed Byrne who will host the festival's opening night gala at Auckland's Civic on Friday April 24 and the First Laughs show in Wellington on Monday April 24.

And from Australia, the country that brought us regular comedy festival visitors Puppetry of the Penis, comes another nude bloke double act, The Naked Magicians.

No, nothing hidden up their sleeves. But where are they going to pull the rabbits from?

* For the full line-up go to comedy.co.nz from midday today.

- TimeOut