Why did the comedian cry and cry and cry? Because he missed the registration period for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

And then to rub it in, his friend said: "But it was so easy, you could even do it online!”

The 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival will take place from Wednesday 28 March - Sunday 22 April and registrations to get your show in the program open today, Monday 17 October at 12noon.

The 2011 Festival had over 350 shows including local and international stand up, musical comedy, theatre, kids comedy, visual art and cabaret.

There were over 950 adventurous artists sharing their comedy wares to over 600,000 audience members over a period of 26 days.