Rice boils over
Comic Mike's fury as his passport is rejected
Mike Rice will have to miss some of his shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after his passport was rejected at the airport.
The Irish comic was due to fly down under today via Hong Kong – but was denied boarding because the travel document was damaged.
In an Instagram video posted from the airport, he explained: ‘So I’ve not been allowed to fly to Australia; I’ve been told my passport is too damaged.’
He showed a small mark on the corner of the photo page, and a rip in the page opposite, but said: ‘I fly every two weeks for work constantly; I’ve never had a problem, which gave me the false impression that I didn’t need a new passport.’
The comic then unleashed on the Cathay Pacific staff member who denied him boarding, calling him a ‘jobsworth’, ‘a toad of a man’, ‘worthless little piece of sentient dogshit’, a ‘weasel’ and a ‘measly little man’.
The airline worker said he would have to contact Hong Kong and Melbourne to see if they would accept the passport – and while his final destination did give the OK, there was no response from Hong Kong, even though it was a only a stopover that would have lasted ‘not even an hour’.
‘I’m not trying to get into Hong Kong, so why would it matter?’ Rice complained. ’I have to get a new passport now, there isn’t anything that you can’t get an emergency passport in Ireland till Thursday. I have a show starting in Melbourne Tuesday. I’m gonna try everything I can to get back there.’
He then issued a plea for any help in getting his new passport issued faster, saying: ‘Lads, I’m absolutely heartbroken.’
Rice is due to perform his Cruel Little Man tour at Melbourne until the end of the festival on April 19, followed by dates in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
• Click here to make Chortle a 'preferred source' on Google, which means results from this site will appear higher in your search results.
Published: 6 Apr 2026
