Local communities will receive some much-needed comic relief in the face of the ongoing drought, and fires which have devastated the region.
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Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor on Friday announced a free dose of much-needed comic relief, along with access to health and rural financial advice, will be on offer via the extended What a Relief! tour.
Multi-award-winning comedian, actor, screenwriter and storyteller, Damian Callinan, will tour his one-man show to 15 small towns and villages across the New England and North West.
The Comic Relief Drought Tour will kick off in Warialda today and ends in Walcha on March 8.
Next week, the performance will come to the Deepwater School of Arts on Sunday, and the Tenterfield Golf Club on Tuesday.
Damian is best known to television and film audiences for his roles on Skithouse, Before the Game and Backyard Ashes. He has made regular appearances on Spicks and Specks, The Project and the Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala.
His most recent country caper, The Hall Committee, beautifully captured the idiosyncrasies of small-town committees and halls, where the chairs are stacked in fives, the cutlery is in bundles of 10, the smell of passionfruit sponge lingers long in the air and 21sts have been banned after too many incidents with sheep dip.
Damian is perhaps best known for his award-winning feature film The Merger which screened at the North West Film Festival in Inverell in 2018.
Mrs Taylor said counsellors from NSW Rural and Remote Mental Health, primary healthcare nurses from Healthwise, rural financial counsellors from the Rural Financial Counselling Service and Local Land Services will be on hand at every stop of the tour.
"Our counsellors continue to work closely with people in both drought and fire affected regional communities around the State, helping them remain focused on getting through these times and I encourage anyone doing it tough to take up these services," Mrs Taylor said.
- To attend your free local What a Relief! event, RSVP via Tenterfield Golf Club or Deepwater School of Arts.