Comics at the Melbourne festival are claiming a world record for the longest ever comedy gig – at 53 hours 11 minutes.

A total of 78 comics took part in the event, with organiser Aaron Keeffe, pictured, hosting the entire show.

The marathon gig, originally pegged to be 48 hours long, started early because the audience turned up at the Exford Hotel ahead the scheduled start time, so the comics decided to begin anyway.

In the end, the show ran from 9.14pm on Wednesday to 12.25am on Saturday, and the comics always performed a genuine audience – even though at 4am on Thursday, Keeffe entertained just one person for 45 minutes.

British acts Dan Willis and Nik Coppin were among those taking part in the gig, which raised £3,300 for charity, thanks to the venue making a donation for every pint sold.

It’s not the only marathon gig to be taking place at the festival, with a 20-hour show celebrating the event’s 20th birthday starting at the Hi-Fi bar at 11.30pm on April 29.

The line-up for this show will include Daniel Kitson, Demetri Martin,  Arj Barker,  Rhod Gilbert, Jason Byrne and Stephen K Amos.