Ahead of the third edition of Melbourne WebFest, we are profiling all the official selections that will be screening 10-12 July at Deakin Edge. 

Set in the city of Melbourne, comedian CJ Fortuna shares a beer with celebrated stand-up comedians and comedy actors in iconic bars. This web series is an informal one-on-one interview style inspired by Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Whether it’s Dave Hughes at the Vineyard or Fiona O’Loughlin at the College Lawn, we invite you to pull up a bar stool and join these veterans as they chat about their strangest gigs, their worst heckles and what they’ve learned along the way.

The series was produced by The Comedy Cartel who have made four short films and a feature film to date. Despite this fact they still work together.

Were there any particularly revealing interviews in the series?
The most revealing interview was Fiona O’Loughlin. She was very honest and candid.

How do you reach your audience?
Through the power of YouTube

How do you finance your series?
That came from the producers pocket money…..and they don’t have big pockets.

Is your series an ongoing project? If so can you give us some clues about what comes next?
There are quite a few comedians asking us to be involved in a second season – so it is possible.

How long have you been making web series for?
The production took close to a year to complete – part time of course. Comedians are hard to track down.

When are you completely satisfied with your work?
Never. There’s always something to tweak and refine but it comes to a point where you just have to let it go.

What’s the magic formula for a successful web series?
If there is a magical formula I’d like to know.

Comedians in Bars Drinking Beer on the web:

Watch Comedians in Bars Drinking Beer
Comedians in Bars Drinking Beer on Facebook
Comedians in Bars Drinking Beer on Twitter

Keep up to date with Melbourne Web Fest on twitter: @MelbWebFest.

La Trobe University is Melbourne WebFest’s exclusive learning partner.