International comedian headlines Country Club Comedy
Ballina RSL – Thursday 28 Feb | Ocean Shores Country Club – Tuesday March 5 | Court House Mullumbimby – Thursday March 7
This month’s Country Club Comedy welcomes the hilarious Irish comedian Mandy Knight, star of Jongleurs Comedy Chain and The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.
Mandy has a strong following across the UK and Europe. Her comedy has been described as ‘inspired’, ‘a stream of priceless gems’, and Mandy herself has been called ‘A virtuoso comedienne’, and ‘As frisky as a terrier on heat!’
Mandy is one of a kind and is performing at the Ocean Shores Country Club with our own Mandy (Nolan) as MC on Tuesday at Country Club Comedy. Supported by up-and-coming comedians John Peacock and Matt Price. 7pm. Free
The Men of Kath and Kim are coming!
Byron Bay Surf Club | Fri May 19 | 9pm| $65
The Byron Comedy Festival present three of Australia’s most iconic comedians when they launch their inaugural event this May! Colleagues and close friends Glenn Robbins, Peter Rowsthorn, and Dave O’Neil come together for Mixed Nuts, a once-in-a-lifetime standup comedy opportunity to see three of the best in jest!
Jumping up as MC is national treasure and comedy superstar Glenn Robbins. Best loved for his role in Kath & Kim as the heartwarming Kel Knight, and as Australian Adventurer Russell Coight, Robbins has always had a knack for not just getting us to laugh at him, but getting us to love him at the same time. Pretending you’re Russell or Kel at a dressup party or for a laugh has become part of the Aussie vernacular, something that is testament to Robbins’s unique ability to craft comedic but empathetic subjects. He can do this because he’s an astute observer. Mixed Nuts allows comedy lovers to see the man behind the characters, the insightful, laidback, easygoing Glenn Robbins! Although be warned he’s only ever a mannerism away from any of his iconic creations!
Well you can’t have Kath’s husband without Kim’s, can you! Peter Rowsthorn aka Brett is a high-energy, fast-paced standup comedian one minute and a measured character the next. Lovers of Kath & Kim may not be aware but Rowsthorn has been performing his slick and blistering standup for three decades.
And then there’s Dave. He refers to himself as a man of leisure, but he’s one of the hardest-working blokes in the industry! A master of his craft, O’Neil is also a regular on Hughsey We’ve Got a Problem, The Yearly with Charlie Pickering and had the honour on ABC TV’s ever-popular Spicks and Specks of being the guest with the most appearances – over 50 in fact! Dave is also an author, a skilled broadcaster and, more recently, he launched his podcast: The Debrief with Dave O’Neil where he drives a comedian home and discusses the trials and tribulations of being a comedian!
Mixed Nuts featuring MC Glenn Robbins, and a double feature by Dave O’Neil and Peter Rowsthorn at the Byron Comedy Fest – Friday 17 May at 9pm. Tix at byroncomedyfest.com.
Lismore Women’s Festival
March 1-9
The Lismore Women’s Festival, which coincides with International Women’s Day, is shaping up to be huge, with record crowds of 2,000+ expected to attend.
The Lismore Women’s Festival is an ongoing, grassroots community effort, facilitated and organised by YWCA Australia. The multi-day event focuses on the businesses, ideas, skills, and knowledge of women in the local community, featuring markets, music, dance, panel discussions, theatre, comedy, and art.
The festival will culminate in a symbolic rally on Friday 8 March, marking International Women’s Day. This will be followed by a panel discussion facilitated by former Lismore mayor, Jenny Dowell OAM, with robust discussion covering the personal and political aspects of feminism, diversity, women’s empowerment, sexuality, challenges to equality, and more.
Lismore Women’s Festival takes place over March 1–9 with the festival program going live next week. Check lismorewomensfestival.org for more information and to purchase tickets.
She-Rated
Lismore City Hall | Saturday March 2 | 6pm | $15-$20
She-Rated is an adults-only cabaret night at NORPA, featuring only female performers, with three local MCs.
Three old friends have come together to create She-Rated in Lismore on Saturday that includes a Clothes Swap 6–7pm, Cabaret 8–10pm, then DJ and dancing till 11.30pm. Gabrielle Griffin, Simone O’Brien, and Claudie Frock aka The Moxies saw a need for a fabulous, feisty, bent, and beautiful event as part of the third Lismore Women’s Festival, hosted by the YWCA Australia, so the sistas are doin’ it for themselves and putting it on!
Byron Women’s Empowerment Festival
Byron Youth Activities Centre | Sunday Mar 3 | 10am-8pm | FREE
Lily Smith is a young woman with a mission. She wants to connect girls and women of all ages to share their voices and their life experience, through her W.O.M.B. project – Women’s Oneness Movement Byron. This Sunday the first of Lily’s W.O.M.B. events will take place at the Byron Youth Activities Centre; the Byron Shire Women’s Empowerment Festival. This will be a totally free event, with guest speakers, a forum, workshops, and an art competition and exhibition, funded though a NSW Women’s Week grant.
The day will be like a mini-festival, showcasing some of the very special women who are actively bringing about change in Byron Shire and beyond, through their own projects and initiatives. Lily has a strong focus on community engagement and at 23 has been part of a large group of volunteers from across the globe who recently hand-built a skatepark in an impoverished area of Morocco.
Lily says, ‘This women’s festival event is just the beginning of something wonderful for the women of Byron Shire, an opportunity to gather our voices together and make positive changes for the future for our community and across the globe. Alone we are just one voice; together we are a movement.’
The Byron Shire Women’s Empowerment Festival takes place on Sunday from 10am till 8pm and will include a range of talks from powerful local women including Delta Kay, Zenith Virago, and Feather, and is aimed at women and girls of all ages.
Poetry at the Rails
Railway Hotel Byron Bay | Sunday Mar 3 | 2pm | FREE
Poetry gets a reboot at the Rails with the autumn show of Writers at the Rails this Sunday afternoon. Featuring Bohemian Beat Jam with a fusion of multi-instrumental music and spoken word, and national award-winning poet Ray ‘The Mullumbimby Bloke’ Essery, the show also includes some invited readings and the popular Poetry Slam. Sunday at The Rails, at 2pm, free entry.
Moving with the Moon
Yummy Studios 1/67 Centennial Circuit Byron A&I Estate | Friday Mar 1 | 6-8pm | FREE
Local yoga teacher and author Ana Davis launches her new book Moving with the Moon: Yoga, Movement and Meditation for Every Phase of your Menstrual Cycle and Beyond on Friday. Ana Davis is responding to the perceived need that it’s time the 5,000-year-old tradition of yoga that was created by men for men’s bodies was updated to include women’s unique hormonal needs. And in a bid to deepen the feminist reach of her book the author is donating 10 per cent of all profits to the not-for-profit organisation Art to Healing, which facilitates the recovery of girls and women from sex slavery.
The book launch is a free event featuring feminist discussion, poetry reading, and live music, at Yummy Studios, 1/67 Centennial Circuit. RSVP: 0449 656 744.
In Cockversation
Byron Services Club- Monday Mar 25 | Mullum Ex-Services Club – Tuesday Mar 26 | 8pm | $25
Naked Ambition is the upcoming comedy show by one of the creators of Puppetry of the Penis – Simon Morley. It’s an incredible and hilarious story of world domination by blokes skilled at genital origami. This was a hit at Edinburgh last year and this is the first Aussie outing of the show!
Did you know that Puppetry was conceived at the Rails? It involves Jimeoin, a bloke called David Friend who used to be the bouncer at a local nightclub, and some very unusual talents having nine troupes touring the world, appearing on Jay Leno and starring on the West End of London. Quite a feat for blokes who started out playing with their privates. The key to Puppetry of the Penis was that although graphic it was a totally nonsexual show – some might say it’s quite the act of feminism for blokes to desexualise and allow people to laugh at their precious pricks! It’s funny. Not probably something you’d take a body-phobic fundamentalist christian to, but if you’re open minded and you love a laugh this is the show for you!
Monday 25 March Byron Services Club, Tuesday 26 March Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club. Both shows presented by Mandy Nolan at 8pm. $25.
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