Mark Bonanno

Mark Samual Bonanno is best known for his general silliness within comedy troupe Aunty Donna, one of Australia's biggest comedic acts who have garnered a huge international audience both live and online. Since studying Acting at the University of Ballarat Arts Academy, Mark's work has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy in 2017, Best of The Fest at Sydney Comedy Festival in 2018, and across the last few years, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble and Best Comedy Web Series at the Melbourne International Web Festival. Mark's work directing Demi Lardner's 2017 and 2018 stage shows also saw award attention, winning both the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Director's Choice Award and Pinder Prize in their respective years. In 2020, Mark has co-written/created the six part sitcom Why Are You Like This, which will be coming to the ABC (Australia). Mark also live streams weekly on Twitch under the name VeryPoliteGamer.

Works

Have You Been Paying Attention?

Topical comedy-quiz show featuring five guests competing to see who can remember the most about events of the week. A fast-paced, funny look at international affairs, politics, sport and entertainment news, we test just how well our contestants have been paying attention.

Release Date2013-11-03

Charactersd Guest Quizmaster

Episode Count1

Vote Count7

Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe

Starring Aunty Donna's Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly, and Zachary Ruane, the high octane and unpredictable series follows the story of three best mates running a trendy cafe down one of Melbourne's less-than-iconic laneways.

Release Date2023-04-12

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Mark

Episode Count1

Vote Count12

The Wizards of Aus

Fed up with the Magical Realm's obsession with large-scale fantasy warfare, Jack the Wizard decides to migrate to the sanest place he can think of: Melbourne's Western suburbs. After accidentally causing Flinders Street Station to turn ever so slightly into a giant Fish monster, his existence (and that of his fellow magical immigrants) is revealed to the Australian public. Fearing a backlash against himself and his kind, Jack swears off using magic in a bid to better assimilate into human life. But of course, fitting in was never going to be easy when people tend to get a bit 'explode-y' whenever you sneeze...

Release Date2016-01-19

Charactersd Skulldrich

Episode Count6

Vote Count13

Aunty Donna: Glennridge Secondary College

Comedy group 'Aunty Donna' present a sketch show set in Glennridge Secondary College, a quintessential Australian public school.

Release Date2019-02-20

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Charactersd Mark / Various

Episode Count[ 16 ]

Vote Count4

Aunty Donna's Big Ol House of Fun

Comedy trio Aunty Donna showcase their uniquely absurd and offbeat style through an array of sketches, songs and eclectic characters.

Release Date2020-11-11

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Himself

Episode Count6

Vote Count48

The Most Upsetting Guessing Game in the World

The 'Most Upsetting Guessing Game' is a comedy/improv guessing game based on 'Party Quirks' from the Aunty Donna Podcast. Each week a 'party host' is selected and tasked with guessing what 'characters' are attending their party. Sounds simple enough? It's not... it's cooked.

Release Date2023-05-08

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Charactersd Self - Host

Episode Count[ 2 ]

Vote Count1

Aunty Donna: 1999

Sketch group Aunty Donna's limited workplace comedy web series

Release Date2016-02-11

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd

Episode Count10

Vote Count3

Hug the Sun

BJ, Trent, Linda and (occasionally) Trina host Australia's favourite religious variety hour that is most certainly NOT for children. Praise Oxtos.

Release Date2021-05-06

Charactersd The Shädow Män

Episode Count6

Vote Count2

Trope RPG

A show where chaotic comedians roleplay through your favourite movie genres.

Release Date2024-06-24

Charactersd Haley Joel Osment

Episode Count4

Vote Count1

Aunty Donna's Dungeons and Dragons

Aunty Donna dives into D&D with their signature absurdism. Expect outlandish characters, unexpected tangents, and a playful disregard for the Player's Handbook.

Release Date2023-11-30

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Charactersd Dungeon Master

Episode Count[ 10 ]

Aunty Donna: New Show

A cheeky taping of Aunty Donna's singular award winning "New Show". Filmed at the famous Enmore Theater in Sydney, and featuring all three of the Aunty Donna boys, "New Show" is legally a 'comedy'.

Release Date2018-02-14

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Himself

The Comedian

A want-to-be stand-up comedian uses comedy routines to spark a connection with a Chinese girl. They are surrounded by an empty, urban landscape, yet an intimacy grows.

Charactersd Simon

Bald Future

Peter believes his baldness is the root cause of his colleague's distain towards him. His struggle for acceptance leads to an unintended tragedy. With his job hanging by a thread, Peter devises a hair-raising, high-stakes plan to regrow his standing in the office and save his dwindling career.

Release Date2023-05-12

Charactersd Owen

The Aunty Donna LIVE Spooktacular

It's here, our third Aunty Donna special...the "Aunty Donna LIVE Spooktacular" filmed live at Stupid Old Studios in Brunswick.

Release Date2017-10-30

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Himself

Vote Count2

Aunty Donna: The Magical Dead Cat

Aunty Donna Presents a Brand New Live Special, 'The Magical Dead Cat'.

Release Date2025-05-27

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Self/Italian

Vote Count1

Descent

Convinced they can find a new home for humanity and save the world from climate doom, three 'scientists' descend to the bottom of the ocean...to Eel City.

Release Date2024-08-28

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Poker Player/Additional Voices

Aunty Donna - The Album Tour

Australian comedy trio Aunty Donna, along with Michelle Brasier and Tom Armstrong, perform songs from their debut album at Max Watts in Melbourne. Haven't they done well?

Release Date2019-02-07

Charactersd Himself

Vote Count1

Aunty Donna Presents a Brand New Live Special: The Magical Dead Cat

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Mark

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under

Drag queen contestants compete in an elimination-style contest and strut their stuff in a variety of challenges - all to prove that they’ve got what it takes to be Down Under's next Drag Queen Superstar!

Release Date2021-05-01

Charactersd Self - Special Guest

Episode Count1

Vote Count25

Melbourne Comedy Festival

After a less-than-hilarious 2020, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival will be back, delivering COVIDSafe laughs and comedy good-times to Melburnians and the world.

Release Date2021-03-24

Charactersd Self - Host

Episode Count2

Finding Yeezus

FINDING YEEZUS is a six-part investigative comedy web-series starring comedians and pop-culture detectives Cameron James and Alexei Toliopoulos. The pair embark on an action-packed investigation to find out who made ‘Kanye Quest 3030’ – an infamous RPG game that went viral in 2013 after a hidden level was uncovered with potential links to the cult ‘ascensionism'.

Release Date2022-09-26

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Self

Episode Count6

Vote Count3

The Story of Pud: A Tell All Documentary

Join Aunty Donna and friends for this raw exposé into the making of the 2018 classic sketch 'Always Room For Christmas Pud'.

Release Date2024-12-16

Charactersd Self

Why Are You Like This?

Penny and Mia are best friends, but they are not good for each other or anyone else. Leaving a path of destruction in their wake wherever they go, they say and do what they want - regardless of the consequences.

Release Date2021-02-16

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count15

Fairbairn In The City

Simple farm boys Lachlan and Jaxon make the move to the big city from their rural home. Although they thought it would be fun, it transpires the boys know nearly nothing about the modern world. Understanding dating, managing relationships, living with a girl: these are all things the boys are going to have to get a lot wrong, before they get them right.

Release Date2023-12-13

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Episode Count6

Scopa

A lonely widow is pulled from her grief when a lonelier, more determined widow forces her to realise that even in death, it’s important to win.

Release Date2019-06-22

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count2

Thank God You're Here

Each episode involves performers walking through a door into an unknown situation, greeted by the line "Thank God you're here!". They then had to improvise their way through the scene. At the end of each episode a winner was announced.

Release Date2006-04-05

Episode Count1

Vote Count6

Lesbian Space Princess

A space princess is thrust out of her sheltered life and into a galactic quest to save her bounty hunter ex-girlfriend from the Straight White Maliens.

Release Date2025-09-11