One of Queensland’s most dynamic and funniest Indigenous performers, Mareeba Murri Mark Sheppard will bring his one man show Chasing the Lollyman to Cairns on October 27.

Performing at the Centre of Contemporary Arts, Chasing the Lollyman is a joyous sharing of stories and a celebration of urban Indigenous identity, which takes a satirical look at the media and popular culture.

Playing a variety of characters, weaving stand up with storytelling, Mark pokes fun at everything from Neighbours and what would it be like if a Murri family moved into Ramsey Street to politics.

Mark has an insatiable need to make people laugh, a trait he says he inherited from his grandparents. Chasing The Lollyman is a one-hour lesson in life, which comes from his upbringing in Mareeba where being the funniest in his family was almost a competition.

Celebrating Mark’s unique blend of comedy, Chasing the Lollyman draws on fond childhood memories of the lollyman, who entertained the children from the Seventh Day Adventist church across Cairns, Mareeba and Kuranda.

“This was always a very social occasion when communities were brought together. There was a whole lot of laughter. We shared yarns and looked for a connection in our everyday conversations.

“Chasing the Lollyman is about this time and place, being uniquely about Mareeba and Kuranda and the Barron River, and how that identifies where we are from and our connection to that country [area].”

Mark said it was also about having a good “ol laugh” without having to think to deeply.

Written in December 2009, the show is currently on a national and Queensland tour, although Mark has previously performed to a number of sold out audiences including the Dreaming Festival.

Tickets are available online at www.artscairns.com.au or by contacting the ticket hotline on 4050 9400.