Running until April 24, the festival will feature more than 450 shows from local, national and international performers.

Italo-Australian actress, writer and producer Maria Angelico will make her comedy festival debut at this year’s edition, performing her one-woman show The Disappearing Act at The Malthouse Theatre from April 12 to 24.

“It feels really special to be doing it in my hometown because the show is so personal,” Angelico said.

“I’ve worked and travelled around the world but Melbourne is home to me.

“It’s such a beautiful city, particularly with all of its arts, and I love The Malthouse; I’m so happy to be performing at such a special theatre.”

Born in Melbourne, Angelico has southern Italian blood running through her veins from her paternal grandparents, who migrated to Australia from the Sicilian city of Catania in the 1950s.

“Even though my sisters and I were raised more around the ‘Aussie, white’ side of the family, we’ve always felt that connection to our heritage and Italian values are very much in us,” she said.

“When I went to Italy for the first time in my 20s, I felt so at home and it had a really big impact on me.”

Best known for her roles in television series such as Sisters on Network 10, and Stateless produced by Cate Blanchett, Angelico began her acting career in her teens.

However, her passion for performing surfaced at a much earlier age.

“It was just in my bones,” she said.

“I was always forcing my mum and relatives to watch me do little shows in the lounge room with my sisters or friends.

“I loved dancing and I was always performing; it came very naturally to me and my mum really nurtured that.

“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Even while playing roles in drama series, Angelico was always exposed to an element of comedy, making her transition into the industry relatively smooth.

 “I find comedy to be a really wonderful way to tell a story and connect people,” she said.

“It’s such a safe way to explore heavier topics or things that are difficult to talk about because laughing about them can make it lighter.

“The more I do it the more I love it.”

The Disappearing Act is a fine example of how comedy can foster conversations around the tougher topics and be a cathartic experience.

In the 50-minute theatrical show, Angelico discovers the meaning of magic in the not-so-magic world of magicians.

Giving a voice to the women who have been “put in boxes”, the show is inspired by Angelico’s unique upbringing and the idea of navigating life amid all the chaos it can bring.

“Both of my parents were performing artists; my father is a magician and my mother was a cabaret performer, but she passed away when I was 21 years old,” she explained.

“I was raised by my mother and my father was absent.

“It’s a great line: my father’s best disappearing act was when I was born.

“It always felt as though I had such an interesting and confusing situation that brought me into the world and I always knew I wanted to talk about it but it always felt like something that was a bit too whacky and painful to share.”

Following a visit to The Magic Castle in Los Angeles while on a work trip to the United States, Angelico had an epiphanous moment in which she realised her distaste for magic growing up stemmed from her complex family dynamic.

“It was a big shift for me to realise that a lot of the issues with my father that I’d always found difficult to explore were all caught up with the world of magic,” she explained.

“There’s something really funny and tragic about it.

“While in lockdown, I had a lot of time to reflect and I started writing about it and looking at my parents’ relationship, which had quite a toxic dynamic.

“I found it mirrored the relationships within the magic community; it’s quite an archaic industry that has a lot of misogyny.

“It feels like the story I was literally born to tell; it’s a very bizarre story but it’s my story.”

Angelico hopes her show will inspire festivalgoers and allow them to “feel seen”.

“The show’s about living your truth and finding your own true voice, particularly for women and people in unhealthy or abusive situations,” she said.

“I’d like to give a voice to those who haven’t had one.”

While comedy comes naturally to Angelico, she admitted to having some nerves about making her debut at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

“I feel a little bit like I’m asking comedians to join their club,” she laughed.

We have a feeling Angelico will be welcomed with open arms.

After all, comedy is a kind of magic in itself; it has the power to unite and connect people from all walks of life over a common desire to laugh at the ups, the downs and everything in between.

For more information on the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, visit the website.

To find out more about Maria Angelico, follow her on Instagram.