Media Release

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Get your laughingear around this

What do you call 375ml of comedy gold in a can, with a dry, subtle wit and a hoppiness that will give you belly laughs?

It’s called Canned Laughter and it’s the latest limited edition pale ale from innovative Brisbane-based brewery, Newstead Brewing Co., specially brewed for this year’s Brisbane Comedy Festival.

Thousands of the brightly-coloured cans will be available exclusively at the 10th annual festival which runs from Friday, February 22 to Sunday, March 24 across four venues: Brisbane Powerhouse, City Hall, SunPAC and, for the first time, Newstead’s two brewpubs at Milton and Newstead.

Newstead Brewing Co. brand manager Darren Magin said the Brisbane Comedy Festival partnership combined three of Newstead’s favourite things – community, great beer and a good laugh.

“It’s in our DNA to have a bit of fun so it seemed like the perfect fit to jump on board with one of Brisbane’s favourite festivals and have some laughs along the way,’’ he said.

‘’Brisbane Powerhouse is an institution in the arts scene. To be able to work with this iconic community organization is a pleasure for Newstead Brewing Co.’’

The team at Brisbane Powerhouse were even involved in the process to help design the lively- looking cans, which feature the Brisbane Comedy Festival branding, and they also collaborated on the brew.

“Why did we call it a ‘New World Pale Ale’? There are so many pale ales out there we wanted to highlight its quirky personality,’’ Darren said.

‘’The hops are all-Australian with refreshing hints of citrus fruit and it is as fresh as fresh can be having been canned just this week. At 4.4% it has its own little punchline, but won’t get you ‘skit- faced’.’’

Brisbane Powerhouse artistic director Kris Stewart said the Brisbane Comedy Festival had become Australia’s fastest-growing comedy festival.

From international superstars to local dive-bar legends doing stand-up to sketch and improvisation to cabaret, the Brisbane Comedy Festival will feature 75 hilarious acts over four weeks.

The events at Newstead Brewing Co.’s brewpubs include the sold-out Comedy Smorgasbord on Sunday, February 24 at Castlemaine St, Milton and Brewhouse Comedy on Thursday, February 28 and Thursday, March 14 at Doggett St.