2009 Brian McCarthy Moosehead Awards
Applications for the 2009 Award are now open. Please click here to apply and for more information.
What Are The Moosehead Awards?
The Moosehead Awards started in 1987 as a way of remembering Brian McCarthy, a comedian, actor and fringe comedy producer who was tragically killed at the age of twenty-three in a car accident. The organisers of the benefit which kicked off the Mooseheads decided to call them “Awards”, but they very quickly turned into grants.
Brian was a motivator as well as a performer, someone who pulled together the disparate elements of a fringe comedy and performance scene into nights and events where anything went as long as it was new and interesting.
This fusion of styles and the principle of taking on all comers has come to form the core of the Mooseheads. The Mooseheads are about funding shows and artists that are exciting — about getting behind an idea, and loving it a bit more because it is mental and overly ambitious.
The Mooseheads tries to find new playgrounds for working comedians and performers — a chance to spotlight an idea rather than just turning out “another” show.
Following on from a successful partnership that started in 2006 we are proud to have THE COMEDY CHANNEL on board again for 2009 They are funding THE COMEDY CHANNEL Director’s Grant, a $2000 contribution towards a director for each of the Moosehead Award Recipients.
This marries the commitment of both the Moosehead and THE COMEDY CHANNEL to expand creative horizons for Australian comedians. The Award is structured so as to provide artists with more time to focus on their work, the Director’s Grant now give artists the capacity to creatively extend themselves even further.
The Mooseheads have become one of the most enduring traditions in the Australian comedy community. Funded solely through a benefit show on the last night of the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Mooseheads have used the resources of the comedians that make up our comedy community to seed growth and innovation.
For lovers of history the Mooseheads have funded comics as diverse as Judith Lucy, Lano and Woodley, Rachel Berger, Anthony Morgan, Meshel Laurie, Adam Richard, The Four Noels, Sammy J, Corinne Grant, Gerard McCulloch, Lawrence Mooney & Damian Callinan, Clare Bartholomew and Scott Brennan. The Moosehead Benefit show is one of the landmark events on the comedy calendar and remains the hottest bill of the year for those in the know.
The Moosehead is managed by an incorporated association, largely made up of friends and family of Brian McCarthy. The Mooseheads are also unique in that we do not provide cash funding, rather we provide a comprehensive support package to help you get your show up and running.
Good Luck!
