The Butterfly Club and the Melbourne Cabaret Festival are proud to announce the return of the Melbourne Cabaret Fringe Festival. Building on the success of the inaugural festival in 2016, this year’s program brings together 7 independent cabaret shows.

This year’s program is focussed on productions that push the boundaries of the artform – aiming to define the uniquely ‘Melbourne’ format of cabaret: productions that take risk, make social commentary, play with format and run for under an hour – allowing audiences to sample multiple shows in a single winter night, cocktail in hand.

“We have focussed on productions that are independent: intimate, risky, subversive or untested” says Xander Woollard, who has programmed the festival. “We believe these artists will be playing much bigger stages in a short amount of time”.

· Featuring two of Melbourne’s funniest musical comedians Jude Perl and Lauren Edwards, Yada Yada Yada will bring you the best of every favourite 90s sitcom. From the Rachel hair cut to the nanny named Fran the duo’s original songs will make you want to dance like Elaine.

· Fully Made Up! An Improvised Cabaret is one part Liza Minelli one part Shirley Bassey and a splash of audience suggestion mixed well to create a Butterfly Club style performance cocktail.

· One of the greatest emotions is to feel like you can relate, and that’s what Tash York (seen in our festival in the show Dolly Diamond: The Lady is a Tramp) does in Adulting. She makes you relate to all the hard truths about growing up and how to deal with that.

· Imagine Dante’s journey into the Inferno, but set in 2017. The 7 deadly sins are replaced by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Grindr and Youtube and Dante is played by a cacophonous collection of four singers, a saxophone, a violin and a piano. That’s Raising ‘Ell!

· Send nudes teaches you that tryna be funny and thin and sarcastically single and always just like, a little bit drunk, is easier than waiting to get asked on second dates.

· Football, red heads, kidnapping and love. Finding Felix touches on all of the true pressing matters we often face on our road to self discovery.

· Tragedy! (a new comedy) pokes fun at a world of smartphones and narcissists and everyone’s desire to have their fifteen minutes. Greek tragedies, pop culture and original chorus collide in this intriguing work of pop-art-cabaret.

Dates: Tuesday 4 July – Sunday 16 July
Cost: $25-32
Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Tickets: thebutterflyclub.com