Through a combination of group and focused sessions, participants will spend time working on their comedy concepts with the aim of being further developed and produced as short narrative content for broadcast on NITV.
Darren is a Badimia from Yamatji country in WA. He loves playing music and plays guitar like his father. Darren grew up a house of ten kids with five older brothers, and feels like life in an Aboriginal family and community is like an apprenticeship in making people laugh as “every black fulla in the room thinks they are the funniest black fulla in the room”. He decided to have a go at standup comedy because he was getting too old to be afraid of trying new things. Darren who loves data and recently completed a Master of Public Health through the Institute of Koorie Education.
Davey is a Bidjara, Inningai, Wakka Wakka, Gubbi Gubbi writer, producer and activist. He majored in acting at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts before pursuing an event planning and producing career. Davey manages Circus Oz's BLAKflip program and recently produced Chasing Smoke, which premiered to a sold-out season at City of Melbourne’s Yirramboi First Nations Arts Festival.
Dion got his first acting break in Chris Lilley’s Angry Boys before going on to have roles in Redfern Now, The Time of Our Lives and Gallipoli. Dion was recently “thrown head first” into the 2017 Deadly Funny heats (his first shot at stand up) where he came second in the National Showcase.
Elijah is a Pitta Pitta, Maiawali and Karuwali man raised in Brisbane, QLD. He has an undergraduate degree in Creative Writing from The University of Melbourne and last year completed his master’s degree in Screenwriting at the VCA where he focused on drama and horror. Since graduating Elijah started to write comedy and has just completed a first draft of a mockumentary about a housemate from hell.
Ian is a WAAPA graduate based in Melbourne. His one man show Hart had sold out and award winning seasons at the Melbourne, Adelaide and NZ Fringe Festivals in its depiction of the impact of the Stolen Generation on four Noongar men. Hart was nominated for Best Independent Production at the 2016 Green Room Awards. Ian will play the lead role of Oskar in Black Swan State Theatre Company's, Let the Right One In at the end of 2017.
Jason Tamiru is a proud Yorta Yorta man. Through his roles in production he has helped to create Blak Cabaret; The Shadow King and Smith Street Dreaming. Jason is Founder and Producer of the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s Deadly Funny program; and Associate Producer of the inaugural Melbourne Indigenous Arts Festival.
John is a writer, radio broadcaster and actor. He was Assistant Director for the 1989 National Black Playwrights' Conference; Artistic Director of the 1996 Nambundah Festival; and a founding member of Melbourne’s Ilbijerri Aboriginal Theatre Company. His television credits include Lift Off, Blackout, The Masters, and indigenous current affairs program, ICAM.
Kat Clarke is part of the Victorian Blak Writer’s Group and collaborated with organisations such as The Rag and Bone Man Press, RISE for Refugees, Sista Girl Productions, The Wheeler Centre, The Footscray Community Arts Centre and the Emerging Writer’s Festival.
Kimberly Lovegrove is studying Communications and Public Relations at RMIT and is also an aspiring stand-up comedian. She has entered Deadly Funny for the last four years – making it to the finals for the first time this year. Kimberly did not find out she was Aboriginal until she was 10 and her comedy is based on her experiences getting to know her cultural background.
Samantha wrote and directed the short film Turn Around which premiered at Sundance and played at Aspen, Flickerfest, Clermont-Ferrand and St Kilda Festivals. Her other credits include writer/director of documentary Home Away From Home, Director and Script Assistant on House Husbands and Producer’s Assistant on feature film The Mule.