PERFECT TRIPOD & More Among Comedy Offerings at Arts Centre Melbourne in Coming Weeks

From a musical comedy super group putting their own spin on Aussie tunes in Perfect Tripod: Australian Songs at Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse, to author Andy Griffith's children's wonderland in the stage play The 13-Storey Treehouse, the Arts Centre Melbourne is set to become a comedy hub sure to have everyone in stitches from Wednesday 26 March to Sunday 20 April.

Arts Centre Melbourne will host a diverse program of comedy, music and circus including Gala host Eddie Perfect, who reunites with Tripod for three very special performances of Perfect Tripod: Australian Songs from Thursday 3 - Saturday 5 April. The laughs will also flow when Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton's children's book The 13-Storey Treehouse comes to life on stage from 5 - 13 April, 2014 at Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse. Following sell-out and return seasons at the Sydney Opera House, The 13-Storey Treehouse will turn Melbourne upside down in the April school holidays with a world of 3D machines and monster mermaids.

International acts performing include poet-extraordinaire Tim Key (UK) who will return with a brand new show, Single White Slut, from 8 - 20 April and multi-award winning Seàn Cullen (CAN) in I am a Human Man from 27 March - 6 April. Alan Davies, UK comedian, QI panellist and reticent crime solver Jonathan Creek will debut his highly anticipated show Little Victories at Hamer Hall from 14 - 16 March and Russell Howard, one of the UK's most successful live comedians, will perform his brand new show, Wonderbox on May 20. Another international act is screen icon Isabella Rossellini will turn her passion for wildlife into a charmingly offbeat performance exploring the sex lives of garden creatures in Green Porno on 26 March.

One of Australia's favourite comedians, Denise Scott, will bring together all her stories on motherhood in her most ambitious show yet, Mother Bare, from 27 March - 20 April and one of the most-loved and hilarious raconteurs Colin Hay will perform from 10 - 12 April. Safety expert Tim Lock (comedian Dylan Cole) will take you through a hilarious and comprehensive Occupational Health & Safety seminar in Safety First from 26 March - 19 April and the legendary Umbilicals are back with The Umbilical Brothers: KiDSHoW (not suitable for children) from 27 March - 13 April.

For those wanting a bit more physical comedy the Flying Fruit Fly Circus will perform Circus Under My Bed from 9 - 19 April at Fairfax Studio. The youth circus show, featuring performers aged 9-19, follows a young girl's big imagination and the make-believe circus hidden in her room.

Audiences will also get to have a rare look at where and how comedians prepare to make you laugh in Behind The Curtain, a free photographic exhibition featuring comics in the minutes before or just after a performance. On display from 28 March - 21 April at Arts Centre Melbourne's Curve Bar is the work of award-winning photographer Alan Moyle who gained privileged access to document the unseen backstage spaces during the 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Spaces range from car parks to storerooms to kitchens to proper dressing rooms with doors, and pre-show routines that include meditating, script revising and the odd Twitter audience checks. Featured comedians include Adam Hills, Judith Lucy, Josh Thomas, Frank Woodley, Lawrence Leung, Sammy J, Tripod and Tom Ballard.

And if thirst and hunger sets in before, after or during a show you can head to the Tram or Curve Bars. Tuck into salty pork and a pint for $10 at Tram Bar or The Three Stooges meal deal consisting of 3 sliders and a pint for $30. The Comedy Show Bag of Laughs includes a variety of fun items like popping candy, salty roasted nuts & choc honeycomb for $20 from the nearest foyer bar.

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