The LNAC board chairperson Richard Fejo is a man of many talents, one of them is making people laugh.
A founding member of the Aboriginal stand-up comedy group Deadly Darwin, Richard and other Larrakia Nation members are taking to the stage over the dry season to promote healing through laughter.
“We believe laughter is the best medicine and there a lot of healing that needs to be undertaken today and we believe we are the ones to do it”.
Deadly Darwin started back in 2018 with founding members Normie Grogan, Richard Fejo, Desmo Lewis and Micha Kickett. Back then they were competing against each other in the national Aboriginal comedy competition Deadly Funny and decided to create the Darwin based group Deadly Darwin.
The talented group has been popular since they began but this year they decided to expand and offer a chance for other skilled comedians to perform. “After last year we decided we needed new material and we needed new comedians and we opened a new show called the Black Spot and we grew” said Richard.
Today the group has 11 comedians who will be performing throughout the dry as part of the Seabreeze Festival, shows at Browns Mart and the Garmarrlang Festival at the end of May.
Richard explained the importance of the humour as a tool for healing “We are bringing people together to laugh. For us it’s important to bring humour into communities and promote healing through laughter”.
The comedians are Richard Fejo, Normie Grogan, Micha Kickett, Desmo Lewis, Paul Sedan, James Parfitt, John Rawsley, Rob Randall, Emily Ford, Aunty June Mills and Nathan Wright.
Shows are:
Browns Mart Thu 20 & Fri 21 May 7PM | Sat 22 May, 1PM & 7PM
Garmarrlang Festival (Darwin Entertainment Centre) 30 May 6.30PM