My piece for Fairfax:

Well boys and girls, it’s January in Australia, and we all know what that means: family holidays, sizzling barbecues and blatant racism. Hooray! What would Australia Day season be without our political leaders wheeling out some sweet nationalism infused with xenophobia?

Why, that would simply be forgetting the reason for the season.

Anti-Immigration Minister Peter Dutton got into the spirit of things this week as he called for a revamp of the citizenship test that prospective Australians have to undertake. “We need to have a look at the way we welcome people into our country,” he said (the phrase “TELL US ABOUT IT!” could be heard echoing around Nauru and Manus Island).

Read it in full here.

It’s our first ever LIVE episode of LIASYO!

To wrap up the shitshow that was 2016 and to see if there’s any hope out there at all for progressive people, I’ll be sitting down to chat and cry with the Greens MP for Melbourne, Adam Bandt.

It’s happening on Sunday December 4th at 4pm. Doors open 3:45pm.

Come along to listen, commiserate, laugh and ask questions and we’ll all try to figure this out together.

Entry is free but bookings essential – get your tickets here.

BIG OL’ NEWS: I’m going to be taping The World Keeps Happening for streaming service Stan.

This will be the final performance of the show ever and is going to be shot in Melbourne’s beautiful Comedy Theatre. Here are the details:

THE WORLD KEEPS HAPPENING

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3RD, 7:15PM

THE COMEDY THEATRE, 240 Exhibition St Melbourne

Tickets are on sale now here. More info over on comedy.com.au here.

I’m touring my comedy lecture about Australia’s treatment of refugees around the country in 2017.

The show was created with the help of the Brian McCarthy Memorial Moosehead Grant and was nominated for the Barry Award at the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Guardian Australia liked it very much indeed. I hope you will too.

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SYDNEY: JAN 13th – 15th (4 SHOWS ONLY) @ BELVOIR THEATRE 

Tickets from $25 – $49, available here.

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PERTH: FEB 4th & 5th (2 SHOWS ONLY) @ HEATH LEDGER THEATRE

5:30pm. Tickets from $31, available here.

AUSLAN interpreted on Sunday Feb 5th.

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ADELAIDE: FEB 18th & 19th, 25th & 26th (4 SHOWS ONLY) @ TANDANYA THEATRE  

4:30pm. Full $32, Concession $25. Tickets available here.

AUSLAN interpreted on Sunday Feb 26th.

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BRISBANE: SAT MARCH 25th & SUN 26th (2 SHOWS ONLY) @ ITHACA AUDITORIUM, BRISBANE CITY HALL

4:15pm. Full price $32, Concession $25. Tickets available here.

AUSLAN interpreted on Sunday March 26th.

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MELBOURNE: SAT APRIL 22nd (1 SHOW ONLY) @ THE COMEDY THEATRE 

5:00pm. Tickets $24 – $32. Tickets available here.

AUSLAN interpreted.

This was drunken fun. You can grab it for free here.

So I’ll be joining Ray Martin, David Oldfield, Natalie Imbruglia, Nicki Wendt, Dicko and Renae Ayris in season 2 of Blackfella Films’ First Contact. The three-part series will screen on SBS in late November.

This show was one of the most rewarding and challenging things I’ve ever been a part of. I laughed and cried and at one point I threw up.

I really hope you can tune in and check it out.

If you’re in Daylesford and like laughing a lot whilst simultaneously raising money for Australia’s only primary school centred around Buddhist principles (the good ones, not the dodgy ones), come along to this!

More info and tickets here.