Help the Homeless: Comedy Fundraiser – Jimeoin, Dan Willis, MC Mandy Nolan
Bangalow A&I Hall | Wednesday 11 September | 7pm | $40
Funny people unite to save our koalas! Irish comedian Jimeoin is on board as the headline. He’s the loveable Irishman who makes brilliantly funny observations about the absurdities of everyday life – mostly just using his eyebrows. You might not know that he came to Australia at the age of 22 and started work as a gardener.
Jimeoin’s green thumbs have been back in action recently when he and more than 50 volunteers planted 2,000 koala-habitat trees on his Coolamon Scenic Drive property. His property is now part of the koala wildlife corridor being created by Bangalow Koalas; 13,500 trees have been planted in 18 months on 16 properties and two council areas. By year’s end 27,000 trees will have been planted.
The plight of the Byron Shire’s population of koalas is anything but funny. Recent studies suggest that fewer than 9,000 koalas survive on the north coast, a 50 per cent decline in the past 20 years.
Habitat loss is widely acknowledged as the main driver of the decline but chlamydia and cars are also taking their toll.
With his new saplings safely planted and the volunteers happily tucking into a snag sanga (courtesy of the Lions Club) Jimeoin raised his eyebrows. He’d had an idea. What about doing a comedy fundraiser? After all, more money means more trees in the ground. Each tree costs $15 to plant and maintain for three years.
On 11 September Jimeoin and fellow comedian Dan Willis, both recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe festival, will take to the stage at the A&I Hall, Bangalow. They’ll be joined by MC Mandy Nolan, whose rapid-fire observations about the human condition and exotic life forms around Byron make her an instant hit. Jimeoin, Dan, and Mandy have all volunteered their time to help Bangalow Koalas give our furry friends a home.
Tickets are $40 (plus booking fee), beer/wine, and paella will be available. Tickets at https://bangalowkoalas.eventbrite.com.au
Melissa Lucashenko in Conversation
Enterprise Lab, Southern Cross University | Thursday | 5.30–7.30pm
Writer and 2019 Miles Franklin Award winner Melissa Lucashenko will be in conversation in Lismore on Thursday in a special literary event presented by Southern Cross University. Too Much Lip is her latest novel that won the Miles Franklin prize.
She will be in conversation with one of Australia’s leading researchers in the area of Indigenous literature and culture, Professor Adam Shoemaker, vice-chancellor of Southern Cross University.
Lucashenko describes Too Much Lip as ‘a foray into the harder edges of Aboriginal life in country NSW… inspired by the black and queer women I know who’ve done jail time, or who’ve only barely escaped that fate by the skin of their teeth.’
At the Enterprise Lab at SCU 5.30pm. Bookings scu.edu.au/lucashenko. Tickets to the event include a copy of Too Much Lip.
Dangerously Poetic at Ocean Shores Art Expo
Ocean Shores Primary School | Sunday | 1.30–3pm | $2 donation
This Sunday Dangerously Poetic Press present a cultural afternoon of song, dance, and poetry from 1.30 till 3pm at the Ocean Shores Primary School Hall.
Poets and poetry lovers are invited bring an ode celebrating a moment (one you wrote or one you treasure by someone else) to share in the open reading.
These will be the final hours to see the talented visual arts on display at the Ocean Shores Art Expo.
Byron’s own Mana Aloha Hula Troupe will enchant with their poetry of movement. The Bowlo Choir from Brunswick Heads led by Janet Swain will add a musical touch.
The performances on Sunday are free. $2 donation entry for Ocean Shores Art Expo. A coffee-and-snacks wagon will be onsite.
Casablanca Mullum
Drill Hall Film Society at the Mullumbimby Drill Hall are screening the classic film Casablanca on Sunday at 2pm with doors open 1.30pm. Refreshments available and post-screen discussion.
Phone Sonia on 6684 2112 to book, or just turn up if you are not a member, with a friend or two! Tix at the door!
Solar Viewing with David Reneke
Corndale Hall | Saturday | from 2.30pm | Free
Help raise funds for Corndale’s annual $8k insurance bill by seeing stars with a spectacular solar viewing inside the inflatable planetarium inside the hall!
David Reneke from ABC radio is the guest speaker who will be delivering a lecture titled Apollo 11 – The Untold Story. He will also be doing a laser sky tour later in the evening. At least ten telescopes will be aimed at various planets and deep-space objects!
The raffle features a six-inch Skywatcher Dobsonian telescope, drawn by David Reneke at 7pm. Solar viewing starts on Saturday from 2.30pm. Bring a cushion! Entry is free! Rug up, Look up, eat up, drink up!
Big Gig – Kirsty Webeck, Andrew ‘Buster’ Kirby, MC Mandy Nolan
Ballina RSL | Wednesday | 8pm | Free
Melbourne-based standup comedian Kirsty Webeck is the feature at the next Big Gig at the Ballina RSL, happening this month on a Wednesday! Kirsty debuted at Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) with a twelve-show run of Hoping For the Best back in 2015; the show was a huge success and was met with critical acclaim. She’s performed a brand-new show at MICF every year since her debut.
She’s winning hearts around Australia with her hilarious humour, gift for storytelling, and her capacity to have everyone walk out of her shows feeling great.
As seen on the ABC’s Tonightly with Tom Ballard,’ The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, Audible’s Comedy Up Late, The Upfront Gala, The Moosehead Benefit, and as heard and as a regular guest on ABC Radio.
Kirsty was recently the opening act for Tommy Little at Hamer Hall during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and for Joel Creasey at The Enmore Theatre for Sydney Comedy Festival and The Astor Theatre in Perth.
She is supported by Andrew ‘Buster’ Kirby, the plumber with a penchant for storytelling, and MC, the Northern Rivers Number 8 most influential woman, Mandy Nolan.
Wednesday at the Big Gig at the Ballina RSL – 8pm and free.
Ballina Players Theatre present: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ballina Players Theatre | Friday 1 Sep 8pm | Sundays 2pm | $25/adult, $15/child (16 & under)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has been regarded as one of the greatest American films and was deemed ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ by the United States Library of Congress. Ballina Players will produce the play of the same name over the next two weekends.
Scenes in the play are linked with short soliloquies by Chief Bromden (played by Dane Bodley), a deaf-and-dumb patent at the mental institution where the action tales place. The Chief talks to his papa and his elders about a machine called the Combine, a metaphor for society in general, which takes people in, turns them around and spits them out, ruining their lives.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest opens at Ballina Players Theatre, 24 Swift St, Ballina, this Friday evening for seven performances, finishing on 1 September. Tickets are $25/adult, $15/child (16 & under), and are available at Just Funkin Music shop at 124 River St, Ballina, 6686 2440 (a $2 booking fee applies) or online at www.ballinaplayers.com.au (no booking fee). All shows are at 8pm except for Sundays, which are at 2pm.
