Fast Ford
Comedian Matt Ford hosts open mic comedy at the Brewery on Thursday night. Just seven years ago Matt himself was a beginner, starting out with RAW comedy as a national finalist. Now touring nationally as part of the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars with Kev Kopinyeri and a featured comic for Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow, Ford’s insightful observations and his candid style show how it’s done. He is joined by new and emerging stars from the comedy circuit! Thursday at the Byron Bay Brewery at 8pm. Free.
Magic Mullum
Brunswick Valley Historical Society have commissioned another documentary feature from award-winning local filmmaker and Screenworks member Sharon Shostak – on the history of the new alternative settlers (aka hippies) and their legacy on this Shire. But this one is even more ambitious in its scope than the wildly popular Mullumbimby’s Madness – the Legacy of the Hippies, released in 2015: the number of interviewees has tripled, and this time Sharon has been asked to turn her lens to three main areas of cultural flowering in the 70s–80s. Part one Health and Wellbeing chronicles how the iconic Santos Organics started from a delivery run in the back hills, the first hippy eatery – the Sunflower Restaurant and the characters who ran it – the rise of yoga, the first rural doctor in Australia to assist women to birth at home, and the start of the alternative medicine scene: acupuncturists and homeopaths and a multi-million-dollar essential-oils business emerging from a local couple’s growing of herbs. Mullum’s Magic features archival treasures and intimate interviews with the usually zany characters, preserving the stories of a special, pioneering time. After five sold-out screenings with their first doco, get your tix early to avoid disappointment. See ad for details or www.mullumbimbymuseum.org.au. Mullumbimby Magic – premiere at Mullum Civic Centre Saturday 25 November, screening 7.30pm; music by Broadfoot; and then at the Byron Theatre on Friday 1 December, screening 7.30pm; Drill Hall Mullum Saturday 2 December. Tix at the Mullumbimby Bookshop or byroncentre.com.au.
Spirit of Abstraction
The Byron School of Art are offering two workshops for aspiring art makers in the region. The first is Spirit by Michael Philp, a half-day workshop where Michael will guide students to explore how they perceive spirt in their daily life in connection to country, family and self. Thursday 23 November, 10am–1pm, and on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 November Amber Wallis presents Where Representation and Abstraction Meet, a workshop that explores the painterly terrain that exists between the two. 10am–4pm both days. To enrol go to byronschoolofart.com.
The guts of the matter
The scientific world is rapidly uncovering a vast population of organisms that exist inside every human being on Earth: the microbiome. These microbes mostly inhabit the human digestive system, and prestigious universities around the globe are uncovering incredible facts about their impact on human health, such as their positive effect on our metabolic, immune and neurological systems. Largely touted for its almost 100 per cent cure rate of the often-deadly C.difficile infection, the procedure is now being looked at as a method to treat various other conditions from digestive ailments like irritable bowel disease and Crohn’s, immune conditions such as asthma, and neurological conditions such as depression and Parkinson’s. The Gut Movie is at the Byron Theatre on Friday at 7.30pm.
A Troubled Brew
From England’s seaside town of Brighton to India’s slums of Calcutta and the breathtaking Himalayan mountains, The Tea Gardens is a wildly exciting novel of heroism, heartache and healing.
Fiona McIntosh is an internationally bestselling author of novels for adults and children, including The Chocolate Tin, The Perfumer’s Secret, The Last Dance and Nightingale. Fiona roams the world researching and drawing inspiration for her novels, and runs a series of highly respected fiction masterclasses.
Join Fiona and Friends of Libraries Byron Shire for an evening of treats, tea and discussion at the Byron Library on Tuesday at 6pm. Tix are $15. Bookings essential – byronbayfol.com – or call Bookworms & Papermites 6687 1396 (aka the Bangalow Newsagency).
Pop in to Ballina
It’s London, 1910 and the Banks children, Jane and Michael, have just sent yet another nanny packing, dismissing them as hopelessly and irrevocably spoiled, misbehaved, and severely under-parented. Then Mary Poppins magically appears, bringing with her a combination of whimsy, magic, and disciplined common sense to the children’s lives. Of course it’s not just the children; eventually she teaches the parents to open up and realise that ‘anything can happen if you let it’.
Ballina Players’ production of the musical Mary Poppins tells this universal tale of childhood rescue in a spectacular way, with music, lights, dancing and sets. The total cast numbers 60, of which 24 are children (half appearing each alternate night).
Sing along or tap your feet to more than 20 songs, including Let’s Go Fly a Kite, A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee, Practically Perfect and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. And for spectacle, Jaime Sheehan’s choreography matches the alternate moods of the production with the dancers varying between fantasy and traditional Broadway.
Mary Poppins opens on Friday: a special event with complimentary glass of champagne and canapes before the show. The season runs until Sunday 10 December.
Tickets are available either online at ballinaplayers.com.au or from Just Funkin Music in River Street, Ballina, 6686 2440.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
