The Show of the Year 2015

Casey Bennetto is an award-winning writer, musician and radio broadcaster. He wrote the musical KEATING!, hosts the program Superfluity on Melbourne’s 3RRR, and has appeared in places as diverse as ABCTV’s Spicks and Specks, the Melbourne International Arts Festival and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at Sydney Opera House.

Born in 1969, Bennetto spent his formative years amongst the fragrant meadows and blossoming malls of Greensborough, Melbourne.

He made his way to university, procured a BA and worked variously as a proofreader, a copywriter, an IT specialist and as the lead singer in the band Skin, which garnered national commercial airplay for their 1994 EP, Waking Up With You.

As part of the ‘Drowsy Drivers’ project, in 2004 Casey wrote a musical theatre biography of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, KEATING!.

In late 2008, Casey premiered a new project as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival: A Largely Fanciful History Of The Spiegeltent, in which he also starred; he also wrote and performed in 2009's Evening and provided the songs for the ever-threatening Christmas pantomime The Terminativity in 2010–11. He served as dramaturge on Eddie’s Shane Warne: The Musical as well as making contributions to Company B’s The Adventures Of Snugglepot And Cuddlepie and Die Roten Punkte’s Super Musikant and Kunst Rock.

He scored both series of Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar's Lowdown and was nominated for an AACTA with Shellie Morris and Tim Cole for work on the 2014 musical documentary Prison Songs. He appeared with Alan Brough as underappreciated alternative rock icons The Narelles in 2015, and has hosted A Swingin' Bella Christmas for the past five years. He has hosted The Show Of The Year for the Wheeler Centre since the show's inception in 2013.

Most recently, he scored the ABC TV series Get Krack!n and is currently working on several things at once, obviously to the detriment of all of them.

Casey has also hosted a regular show on 3CR, worked extensively for PBS FM and made many appearances on 774 ABC Melbourne as host, co-host and guest.

His appearances on ABC TV’s Spicks And Specks resurface occasionally to shame him.

Santilla Chingaipe is a filmmaker, historian and author, whose work explores settler colonialism, slavery, and postcolonial migration in Australia. Chingaipe’s critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary Our African ...

Writing and performing comedy for kids and their adults (kidults), the Listies are Melbourne-based duo Rich Higgins and Matt Kelly. Originally meeting each other during a production of Roald Dahl's The Twits (Rich was Mr Twit, Matt was Mrs Twit) they enjoyed performing together so much they decided to take the logical next step – purchase an inflatable unicorn costume and make a show for Melbourne Fringe.

Since then, they've made seven live productions, two CDs and a book, Ickypedia: A Dictionary of Disgusting New Words, published by Penguin. Their first children's show, More Fun than a Wii, was the first show for kids to be nominated for the best show award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2010.

The Listies have toured all over the country and internationally, with seasons in South Korea, Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, England and New Zealand. They are currently working on a show for Sydney Theatre Company called Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark (with Declan Greene), and have a column in the Big Issue.

Marc Fennell is an Australian radio and TV presenter, film critic, award-winning technology journalist, author, MC and the host of The Feed on SBS. Marc's first book, That Movie Book, was a guide for people who stay home watching films every weekend of the year. His most recent book, Planet According to the Movies, was released in late 2015. Now he's a father to Max – and has become one of those people.

Penny Wong is the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Penny was born in Malaysia. As an eight year old she moved to Australia with her family and settled in Adelaide.

Penny graduated in law and arts from the University of Adelaide. She went on to practice labour law, advocating for the rights of workers. She also secured better pay and conditions for workers as a union representative, and served as a policy adviser in the New South Wales Government.

Penny was elected to the Australian Senate in 2001, with her first term commencing in 2002. She was re-elected in 2007, 2013 and in the double dissolution election of 2016.

After just two years in the Senate, Penny was promoted to the Shadow Ministry.

Upon the election of the Labor Government in 2007, Penny was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Water. In Labor’s second term, Penny served as Minister for Finance and Deregulation.

In 2013 Penny was appointed Leader of the Government in the Senate, the first woman to hold this role. After the change of government she became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. 

Since 2016, Penny has served as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Penny lives in Adelaide with her partner and their two daughters.

First Dog on the Moon is the internationally renowned, Walkley Award-winning and also very humble cartoonist for the Guardian Australia. First Dog's latest collection, A Treasury of Cartoons, has just been released and is really quite good.

Nicholas J. Johnson grew up in the circus around carnies and sideshow folk, understanding and practicing sleight of hand and card tricks, and intimate with the power of manipulation, deception and distraction. After decades of rubbing shoulders with fraudsters and liars, Nicholas J. Johnson is now a sought-after performer, writer and scam consultant, educating the public about the tricks of the con artist’s trade. 

He has appeared on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Kids WB, Today, ABC Radio National and Triple J as an expert on fraud and deception. He has consulted with everyone from magician David Blaine to Circus Oz. An acclaimed comedian, Nicholas J. Johnson has performed at Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and the Melbourne Comedy Festival, where he was nominated for the 2014 Golden Gibbo Award for best independent comedy, and received the 2015 Moosehead Award.

His debut novel Chasing The Ace was published in 2014. His follow-up, Fast and Loose, was released July 2015. Nicholas J. Johnson lives in Melbourne.

Jane Caro AM is a Walkley Award-winning Australian columnist, author, novelist, broadcaster, advertising writer, documentary maker, feminist and social commentator. Jane appears frequently on Q&A, The Drum and Sunrise ...

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media.
Clare ...

Truly unique, Tina Del Twist is Australia’s much-loved nightingale, known for her ‘beautiful voice and wicked sense of comic timing’ (the Age). With a voice as smooth as honey and a comedic wit that could shred brie, you’ll have a ball enjoying the talents of Tina Del Twist.

Tina Del Twist has featured on ABCTV’s Comedy Up Late, has performed sell-out seasons with Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Darwin Festival and has been invited to perform in Copenhagen, Berlin, Edinburgh, and New York. Tina has also performed with the Melba Spiegeltent playing a lead role in La Soiree. And then some.

'Fabulousness' - Age
'Super fabulous' - Herald Sun
'I must apologise for my overuse of the word "fabulous"' - Inpress

Toby Halligan writes for Channel 10's The Project and SBS's Legally Brown, and has appeared on ABC's Strictly Speaking. His debut comedy show, Electile Dysfunction, was nominated for the best newcomer award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and he regularly performs with Australia’s preeminent live political stand-up comedy group, Political Asylum. He is the co-author of the popular Diary Leaks website and his writing has appeared in Mamamia, the Monthly and the Age.