Members of the group have cited comedians Monty Python, Shaun Micallef, The Mighty Boosh, Nathan Fielder, and Tim & Eric as influences, as well as television series such as Mr. Show with Bob and David and Stella, and programming block Adult Swim.

[4][5][6][7][8][9] Aunty Donna was formed in 2011 after its five original members (Mark Bonanno, Broden Kelly, Joe Kosky, Sam Lingham, and Zachary Ruane) met at University of Ballarat's Arts Academy.

[16] To perform at the festival, MICF required the group to film a selection of comedy sketches, for which they recruited director Max Miller, who Kelly and Zahariou knew from high school.

Their second live show, Aunty Donna and the Fax Machine Shop, debuted at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2012,[17] and won its People’s Choice Award.

[23] They released the sketch "Bikie Wars" on YouTube, featuring John Wood of Blue Heelers fame, which became their most popular video.

[23] In 2016, the group released the web series 1999, based on the Y2K panic and funded by Screen Australia as part of their $100,000 Skip Ahead talent development initiative.

[42] In August 2022, the group announced that they had been signed by ABC to create a new sitcom TV series depicting them running a café in the Melbourne laneways.

[44] Alongside the main members of the group, the series starred Gaby Seow, Sally-Anne Upton, Michelle Brasier, Vidya Rajan, and Mish Wittrup.

[46] After returning from the tour, the group began to release a three-hour Dungeons & Dragons campaign via Patreon in November, hosted by Bonanno and titled The McMuffin MacGuffin.

However, the hard drive holding the footage was destroyed, leading to the release of only one episode and the filming of a second campaign featuring writer Sam Lingham.

It has produced several comedy webseries which are hosted on the YouTube channel Grouse House, including Hug The Sun (2021) featuring Ben Russell and Xavier Michelides,[51] Hot Department: Dark Web (2022) featuring comedy duo Hot Department,[50] and Finding Yeezus (2022), a six-part documentary web series that revealed the identity of the creator of the 2013 video game Kanye Quest 3030 starring Cameron James and Alexei Toliopoulos and directed by Max Miller.

[52][53][54] The five-part comedy Descent (2024), set on a submarine and featuring comedians Millie Holten, Madi Savage, and Ella Lawry, was also released on the channel.

[58] In June 2024, the company announced a commercial division, having already filmed ads for Samsung, PlayStation, Heineken, Coles and a campaign for a collaboration between Lego and Sega.