Special Event: Rhys Nicholson

Rhys Nicholson is a Multi-award winning Australian stand-up, writer, actor and collage. With an enormous passion for live performing, their work continues to receive awards and accolades around the world. As well as numerous televised stand-up performances in Australia, the UK and Canada, in 2019 Rhys was hand-picked to open for comedy legend Conan O’Brien on his Australian tour. A few months later this led to Nicholson’s USA television debut as the stand-up guest on CONAN (TBS). 2019 proved to be quite a big year for Rhys (which is lucky because 2020 and 2021 were a bit of a nightmare) when in November they recorded their third stand-up special. This time for Netflix worldwide, making Rhys one of only three Australians with a solo show on the streaming giant and earning them a nomination for Best Stand Up Comedy Special at the AACTA Awards in 2021. Alongside a booming stand-up career, Nicholson is a favourite across our small screens. From panel shows to documentary and acting roles, he clearly doesn’t like to sit still very much. Over the years Rhys has had a whole bunch of guest and supporting roles in a plethora of sitcoms across networks and countries. In 2021 Rhys was cast as a series regular in the Netflix Sci-Fi comedy The Imperfects. Rhys was very excited about the fact they had a stunt double. You can also catch them on the judging panel of all three seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. Not to let something like a devastating global health crisis from keeping them busy, the last couple years have seen Rhys continue to rise. From co-opening Melbourne’s newest live comedy venue, The Comedy Republic (Rhys cannot recommend you do that during a pandemic), to numerous acting roles and now setting their talents writing a book of essays, Nicholson is focused on continuing to work and diversify in the comedy industry they love so much. 2022 continued to raise the bar for Nicholson’s career where they hosted Melbourne International Comedy Festival All Stars Gala (ABCtv) & toured across Australia with brand new live stand-up show Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!. Rhys garnered multiple sold-out seasons and won prestigious awards: Most Outstanding Show at Melbourne International Comedy Festival & Best of the Fest at Sydney Comedy Festival. Rhys then took the critically acclaimed show abroad where they performed at the renowned and invite only Just For Laughs Montreal, followed by Edinburgh Fringe, London Leicester Square, Soho Playhouse New York, Just For Laughs Toronto and a month-long US Tour. 2023 has proven to be a monumental year for Rhys, seeing them perform a nationwide encore tour of the award-winning and critically acclaimed show Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!. Performing a sold-out show at Melbourne Town Hall for one last showing of this amazing hour. Most recently, Rhys has been announced as one of the contestants for season two of Network 10’s Taskmaster Australia, premiering in 2024. Rhys’s first book Dish: Spiels, Scoops, Emotional Outbursts and the Occasional Recipe, published through Penguin Random House Australia was released November 2023. To round of a massive year, Rhys has also collected 3 nominations for the 2024 AACTA Awards, for Best Stand-Up Special, Best Comedy Performer, and Best Reality Program with RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. Management reserves the right to prevent customers from entering the facility who they deem disruptive or dangerous to other patrons.