This weekend the beautiful Atherton Tablelands are going to be a great place to be for anyone who loves live comedy. In addition to the local talent there’ll be comics visiting from both Cairns and Townsville, and the line-up is going to be stellar. I don’t know how much of it I can reveal but I can tell you these three things:

• I’ll be performing there.
• Townsville comedy legend Justin Brown is going to be MC.
• Cairns comedy icon Peter James will make a final NQ appearance before moving to Brisbane.

And there’s more! I don’t know whether I can disclose the rest because these things change and I don’t want to speak out of turn, but the line-up is one of the reasons I’m making the pilgrimage to Atherton this weekend.. Besides the chance to catch up with my comedian friend Peter Sheere who runs these comedy nights in Atherton, that is.

I’ve mentioned how fond I was of the Open Mic nights at the Cen Ten, where I started comedy just over two years ago. Peter Sheere was one of the comics involved in running the room and one of the first people to offer me encouragement and support, for which I will always be grateful.

Since then Pete’s life has taken him further north and the Cen Ten is no longer a comedy venue, but Peter started one at the heritage-listed Barron Valley Hotel in Atherton.

Thanks to what Covid’s done to live entertainment everywhere it hasn’t been as regular as anybody would like but they’re great nights: Thanks to Peter Sheere’s respect and standing in the comedy community, he has great comics from Cairns as well as Townsville coming to these.

He’s made something special: A venue that discovers and nurtures new local talent, but injected with the comedic skill and experience of seasoned performers from out of town. If I were an Atherton resident, I’d be excited as both a comedian and audience member that these nights exist!

This Saturday night, $10 at the door. A massive comedy line up with talent coming from two other cities. I believe there’s even alcohol available, so if you’re Atherton you don’t want to miss this. And when you see me there, come say Hi!