Get set Brisbane – hitting the stage for the 2016 Brisbane Comedy Festival are 14 of Australia’s funniest comedians with local favourites, the usual sell-out superstars and some news faces in the mix.

First up are hometown heroes Damien Power and Mel Buttle. Both return to the Powerhouse after a killer 2015 where Damien was nominated for the Barry Award for Best Show at the 2015 Melbourne Comedy Festival and Mel co-hosted the popular The Great Australian Bake Off on Foxtel’s Lifestyle FOOD channel.

Comedy superstars Wil Anderson (host of ABC TV’s Gruen), Sam Simmons (winner of the 2015 Barry Award for Best Show at Melbourne Comedy Festival & 2015 Fosters Award for Best Comedy at Edinburgh Fringe) and Tom Gleeson (as seen on ABC TV’s The Weekly) are also in the mix but punters better get in quick as these shows are known to sell out quick.

After taking a break on 2015, Australia’s bendiest comedian, Frank Woodley, and everyone’s favourite funnyman, Peter Helliar, also make an anticipated comeback to the stage with new shows guaranteed to make your sides split.

TV stars Celia Pacquola (ABC TV’s Utopia & The Beautiful Lie) and Hannah Gadsby (ABC TV’s Please Like Me) also return with a new hours of funny along with the usual favourites Tom Ballard, Tommy Little and Dave Thornton.

Rounding out the 14 with a deserving special mention are Anne Edmonds and Steen Raskopoulos. Considered as one of the most exciting comedy acts on the stage today, Anne returns after winning the highly coveted Comic’s Choice Award at the 2015 Melbourne Comedy Festival. Meanwhile, no one does one-man sketch comedy like Steen. In his Brisbane debut, he comes off the back of a Barry Award for Best Show nomination at the 2015 Melbourne Comedy Festival. He was also in the UK in 2015, playing the role as ginger-haired detective, John Mahogany, alongside award-winning comedian John Kearns in the BBC3’s Top Coppers — a ridiculous action comedy set in the fictional world of Justice City.