People say “when one door closes, another opens” as if it were always true, a law of the universe like gravity or something. Truthfully, sometimes doors close and that’s just it. Welcome to my nihilistic worldview where nothing happens for a reason!

Anyway, I was pretty heartbroken to report a few weeks ago that Comedy At The Cen Ten was ceasing operations. I had no reason to believe that the Cen Ten closing it’s doors would make new ones open, but maybe it’s time to revise my assumptions.

With the other changes and the impacts of Covid on live entertainment here, this put pretty much 100% of the burden of local live comedy on the shoulders of Simon Cheers who heroically runs the monthly comedy events at Molly Malone’s in the city.

Fortunately there’s other news to get excited about as other NQ rooms are rising to the challenge. Firstly, I’m thrilled to say that the Commonwealth Hotel is hosting comedy again!

A bit of history: ‘The Commy’ had great monthly open mic nights before Covid stopped everything at the beginning of 2020. After six months of life with no comedy (unless you count a never ending bukkake of Covid memes and nauseating puns on your Facebook newsfeed. I sure don’t) local legend Justin Brown revived the nights in September last year, with a new post-Covid outdoor format situated in the venue’s lovely beer garden.

The image at the top of the page is from that revival gig, which had well over 200 attendees. Comedy was back and bigger than before! The open air events at the Commonwealth were legendary nights with good food and lots of fun. I’m not sure why it stopped at the beginning of this year but it’s back!

Townsville’s best regular open-air comedy event returns 16th of September 2021. With a line up of great local comic talent (including me) you don’t want to miss it.

More great news from the north is the return of comedy nights at the Barron Valley Hotel in Atherton. My mate Peter Sheere was one of the first experienced local comics to offer their support and encouragement for what I was doing. I’m forever grateful for that.

It was sad when he moved further north to the beautiful Atherton Tablelands, but Pete’s done something great – he started a comedy room, bringing comic entertainment to a part of NQ that doesn’t usually get to enjoy live standup without driving to Townsville or Cairns.

His comedy events have been infrequent, thanks to all the plot twists that Covid keeps introducing to live entertainment, but he hand-picks comedians he knows from both cities while encouraging the emergence of local talent.

I’ve not been able to get to one of them so far, due to the logistics of it, but from what I hear these nights have all the warmth and fun of the Cen Ten events, mixed with the excitement and energy of a new scene with untapped potential. It’s a great thing to be doing there.

After a hiatus the Barron Valley Hotel comedy nights resume on 2nd October and Petes’ asked me to make it to this one. I’m excited to participate and to catch up with my good friend, so I’ve committed to performing at this one.

Also, I got a sneak peek at the rest of the line-up. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to divulge it, but let’s just say there’s some killer acts – really funny comics I know from Townsville and Cairns, and some high-profile heavyweights. (Oh, and did I mention myself?) Atherton, come to this event and you’re going to have a great time.