I’d like to acknowledge the traditional
custodians of the land on which we meet
I’d like to acknowledge this year’s
NAIDOC team because of her we can and
I’d like to acknowledge all of you in
February last year I was at a crossroad
do I start up a micro law a law firm
micro meaning me a laptop and a phone or
do I pursue the obvious alternative
career path stand-up comedy the fact
that I couldn’t even complete the
business plan had no capital well I did
but it was all in small change and had
no immediate clients made my decision an
easy one stand-up comedy it is my first
performance wasn’t actually until
November last year at the Queensland
heat of the deadly funny which is the
competition held by the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival to provide
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
a pathway into stand-up comedy the
winner of the Queensland heat would go
on to compete at the national finals
that happened in the festival at the
festival in April this year I didn’t win
the heat but I was fortunate enough to
secure a wild-card I attended the
festival and competed along with 11
other stand-up comedy acts from across
the country to my shock I was announced
the National deadly funny winner for
2018
after returned from Melbourne I
continued doing stand-up comedy but
mostly at independent open mic stand up
comedy rooms in Brisbane but also some
corporate and community events as well
one night after I’d finished the set I
was approached by a young lady
excuse me Leon I’ve come out tonight
especially to see you
my ego went oh my god
my first groupie cool she continued you
enter kids he didn’t she
yes I studied a Bachelor of Laws and did
my graduate diploma of legal practice
there I have a sharpie where would you
like me to sign Oh No thank you
see I curate the talks at TEDx at QUT
and I’ve come to arcs whether you’d be
interested in doing a talk oh wow
really what’s the topic we think it
would be interesting to find out why you
went from law to comedy in order to
facilitate important conversations and
that’s what I’m here to share with you
all today why did I go from law to
comedy to facilitate important
conversations to answer the question I
needed to unpack it why beyond this
amazing feeling that I get when I make
somebody laugh did I want to pursue
stand-up comedy you need to understand
the inspiration and the reasons why I
studied law in the first place in order
to answer the question but before I tell
you why I studied law I need to tell you
where I’m from
see there are two indigenous races in
this country the Melbourne Cup and the
Sydney to Hobart
but they’re also two unique indigenous
races of people the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders there are people
that were on this continent for sixty
thousand years before the first fleet
which is really just a nice way of
saying first boat people arrived from
England two hundred and thirty years ago
unfortunately there wasn’t a processing
facility at Manus Island at the time if
you converted the 60,000 years into a
period of 24 hours the English have been
here for five minutes
and just look at what they’ve done with
the place I mean the national debts the
highest has ever been fuel prices
ridiculous
and eighty percent of the recycling bin
is going to landfill that never happened
on my indigenous ancestors watch just
saying sixty thousand years a pretty
good track record see I’ve ancestry or
heritage from both races in the Torres
Strait I’m from the I have a lineage
from the yoga ROM layer in the east and
the you toggle and Merle gal in the West
my Aboriginal ancestry stems from the
cocoa mini kuku yalanji and gira my
people of Far North Queensland now the
is because mixed in with my indigenous
heritage I have English Scottish Welsh
Chinese Indian Malayan Polynesian and
Papua New Guinean I like to think of
myself as the poster boy for
multiculturalism and cultural diversity
so I was born and raised on ti-ti is an
acronym for Thursday Island Thursday
Island is a small island located between
Wednesday and Friday Islands in the
Torres Strait people always laugh there
and say that’s such a silly joke and I’m
always like joke 80% of the population
in the Torres Strait are indigenous
there are four languages spoken there
including English but it’s not the main
one traditional culture is alive and
well in the Torres Strait and it
influences day to day life I therefore
grew up in an remote indigenous
community and I know firsthand that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
are proud of their culture and generally
proud to be Australians I now live in
Brisbane and are very well accustomed to
Western social norms and conventions but
my upbringing in my culture still
informs my identity and how I view and
for example traditionally in my culture
the men always walked ahead of women and
children
not because they were chauvinistic or
rude but because in all times if there
was an ambush by warriors from another
island those men would be in a position
to fight and protect the women and
children today in the city I consider
myself a gentleman and accordingly I
hold the elevator door open for women to
to be truthful though being a gentleman
suits me because I couldn’t fight my way
out of a wet paper bag but I can draft
an awesome witness statement so that
paints a picture of where I’m from why
then did I study law there are three
reasons one I wanted to prove that
someone from a remote indigenous
community like T I could go on to become
a lawyer too because of the racial
discrimination and social injustice that
stemmed from our racist colonial history
and five because maths wasn’t a
but the main reason was the second one
it hurt me and concerned me that the
country that I loved that I called home
Australia had a history of cruel and
inhumane treatment of my race of people
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders when I grew up I wanted to be
in a position to protect my community
I thought by becoming a lawyer I would
be able to achieve that at the time I
also had ambitions of joining the circus
I mean sorry federal parliament but not
anymore sorry what was that if those are
my reasons for studying Lord and why
comedy
that’s a great question very timely
thank you for asking it as a lawyer I
was militant every opportunity I got in
relation to discussions around racial
discrimination and social injustice and
after many confrontations I had an
epiphany people appreciate being
challenged about Australia’s true
colonial history their bigotry and
racism in small doses shrouded in Yuma
and when they don’t know it’s happening
you know just like when you give you a
fur baby it’s warm tablet hidden in a
tree otherwise we all know the gagging
and struggle that ensures take this
bitter pill of truth your little denier
or you offer them the tablet and they
look at it and dismiss it just like that
then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
over the years I’ve heard so many
insensitive and ignorant questions and
I’ll give you some examples I’m not
racist but don’t have Aboriginal people
get university for free may I hope not
because that means I’m the only black
fella paying off AX debt I’m not racist
but Aboriginal people don’t they get
free accommodation well actually in
particular indigenous men who are 15
times more likely than non-indigenous
men to not only get free accommodation
but free meals and their laundry done to
in jail I’m not racist mate but you’re
only at that you’re only at the firm
because you’re black ouch yeah well
you’re only at the firm because you’re
white I thought that was a great
comeback but unfortunately it was only a
thought that I had two years later I’m
not racist but why don’t you so just get
over the past already ah the ignorant
list of white privilege hmm I wish I
could say that to my landlord for
goodness sake why do you keep bringing
after years of these sorts of questions
it got me to thinking as an indigenous
man if I could choose one superpower I
would choose white privilege I mean from
what I’ve seen some people with that
superpower can say think and believe
whatever they like about people of other
races doesn’t even have to be true and
if somebody challenges them or tries to
make them see things from their
perspective and have some empathy they
exercise their superpower in a number of
ways they can be dismissive oh they say
political correctness has gone mad or my
favorite they convene a panel with
everybody else with that superpower and
discuss how it’s an example of reverse
racism and it’s unfair every superpower
has a weakness white privilege is
kryptonite there’s only one wealthier
white privilege people than them to be
fair dinkum we as Australians need to
acknowledge and understand the true
colonial history of this country
Australia
Watson all the destruction the hurt and
the ongoing intergenerational trauma it
is caused Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders because no country can realize
its full potential if its history is
comedy has the ability to remove blame
while delivering hard truths comedy is a
powerful platform that can bring people
together to educate to expose
stereotypes and make us aware of our
respective of our respective privileges
and in turn create empathy not sympathy
empathy for Australia’s first people and
and if we as Australians demonstrate our
empathy then Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders will have a voice in
the Constitution a treaty and Australia
Day held on a date we can all celebrate
armed with the law degree a strong and
proud culture in the delivery of comedy
I’ve shared a story I’ve shared my story
not just in the hope of finding one
groupie but in the hope of sharing an
insight today we have advanced the
conversation and together together we’ve
embarked on a journey on a path to
healing and that is why I went from law
[Applause] [Music]
custodians of the land on which we meet
I’d like to acknowledge this year’s
NAIDOC team because of her we can and
I’d like to acknowledge all of you in
February last year I was at a crossroad
do I start up a micro law a law firm
micro meaning me a laptop and a phone or
do I pursue the obvious alternative
career path stand-up comedy the fact
that I couldn’t even complete the
business plan had no capital well I did
but it was all in small change and had
no immediate clients made my decision an
easy one stand-up comedy it is my first
performance wasn’t actually until
November last year at the Queensland
heat of the deadly funny which is the
competition held by the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival to provide
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
a pathway into stand-up comedy the
winner of the Queensland heat would go
on to compete at the national finals
that happened in the festival at the
festival in April this year I didn’t win
the heat but I was fortunate enough to
secure a wild-card I attended the
festival and competed along with 11
other stand-up comedy acts from across
the country to my shock I was announced
the National deadly funny winner for
2018
after returned from Melbourne I
continued doing stand-up comedy but
mostly at independent open mic stand up
comedy rooms in Brisbane but also some
corporate and community events as well
one night after I’d finished the set I
was approached by a young lady
excuse me Leon I’ve come out tonight
especially to see you
my ego went oh my god
my first groupie cool she continued you
enter kids he didn’t she
yes I studied a Bachelor of Laws and did
my graduate diploma of legal practice
there I have a sharpie where would you
like me to sign Oh No thank you
see I curate the talks at TEDx at QUT
and I’ve come to arcs whether you’d be
interested in doing a talk oh wow
really what’s the topic we think it
would be interesting to find out why you
went from law to comedy in order to
facilitate important conversations and
that’s what I’m here to share with you
all today why did I go from law to
comedy to facilitate important
conversations to answer the question I
needed to unpack it why beyond this
amazing feeling that I get when I make
somebody laugh did I want to pursue
stand-up comedy you need to understand
the inspiration and the reasons why I
studied law in the first place in order
to answer the question but before I tell
you why I studied law I need to tell you
where I’m from
see there are two indigenous races in
this country the Melbourne Cup and the
Sydney to Hobart
but they’re also two unique indigenous
races of people the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders there are people
that were on this continent for sixty
thousand years before the first fleet
which is really just a nice way of
saying first boat people arrived from
England two hundred and thirty years ago
unfortunately there wasn’t a processing
facility at Manus Island at the time if
you converted the 60,000 years into a
period of 24 hours the English have been
here for five minutes
and just look at what they’ve done with
the place I mean the national debts the
highest has ever been fuel prices
ridiculous
and eighty percent of the recycling bin
is going to landfill that never happened
on my indigenous ancestors watch just
saying sixty thousand years a pretty
good track record see I’ve ancestry or
heritage from both races in the Torres
Strait I’m from the I have a lineage
from the yoga ROM layer in the east and
the you toggle and Merle gal in the West
my Aboriginal ancestry stems from the
cocoa mini kuku yalanji and gira my
people of Far North Queensland now the
is because mixed in with my indigenous
heritage I have English Scottish Welsh
Chinese Indian Malayan Polynesian and
Papua New Guinean I like to think of
myself as the poster boy for
multiculturalism and cultural diversity
so I was born and raised on ti-ti is an
acronym for Thursday Island Thursday
Island is a small island located between
Wednesday and Friday Islands in the
Torres Strait people always laugh there
and say that’s such a silly joke and I’m
always like joke 80% of the population
in the Torres Strait are indigenous
there are four languages spoken there
including English but it’s not the main
one traditional culture is alive and
well in the Torres Strait and it
influences day to day life I therefore
grew up in an remote indigenous
community and I know firsthand that
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
are proud of their culture and generally
proud to be Australians I now live in
Brisbane and are very well accustomed to
Western social norms and conventions but
my upbringing in my culture still
informs my identity and how I view and
for example traditionally in my culture
the men always walked ahead of women and
children
not because they were chauvinistic or
rude but because in all times if there
was an ambush by warriors from another
island those men would be in a position
to fight and protect the women and
children today in the city I consider
myself a gentleman and accordingly I
hold the elevator door open for women to
to be truthful though being a gentleman
suits me because I couldn’t fight my way
out of a wet paper bag but I can draft
an awesome witness statement so that
paints a picture of where I’m from why
then did I study law there are three
reasons one I wanted to prove that
someone from a remote indigenous
community like T I could go on to become
a lawyer too because of the racial
discrimination and social injustice that
stemmed from our racist colonial history
and five because maths wasn’t a
but the main reason was the second one
it hurt me and concerned me that the
country that I loved that I called home
Australia had a history of cruel and
inhumane treatment of my race of people
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders when I grew up I wanted to be
in a position to protect my community
I thought by becoming a lawyer I would
be able to achieve that at the time I
also had ambitions of joining the circus
I mean sorry federal parliament but not
anymore sorry what was that if those are
my reasons for studying Lord and why
comedy
that’s a great question very timely
thank you for asking it as a lawyer I
was militant every opportunity I got in
relation to discussions around racial
discrimination and social injustice and
after many confrontations I had an
epiphany people appreciate being
challenged about Australia’s true
colonial history their bigotry and
racism in small doses shrouded in Yuma
and when they don’t know it’s happening
you know just like when you give you a
fur baby it’s warm tablet hidden in a
tree otherwise we all know the gagging
and struggle that ensures take this
bitter pill of truth your little denier
or you offer them the tablet and they
look at it and dismiss it just like that
then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
over the years I’ve heard so many
insensitive and ignorant questions and
I’ll give you some examples I’m not
racist but don’t have Aboriginal people
get university for free may I hope not
because that means I’m the only black
fella paying off AX debt I’m not racist
but Aboriginal people don’t they get
free accommodation well actually in
particular indigenous men who are 15
times more likely than non-indigenous
men to not only get free accommodation
but free meals and their laundry done to
in jail I’m not racist mate but you’re
only at that you’re only at the firm
because you’re black ouch yeah well
you’re only at the firm because you’re
white I thought that was a great
comeback but unfortunately it was only a
thought that I had two years later I’m
not racist but why don’t you so just get
over the past already ah the ignorant
list of white privilege hmm I wish I
could say that to my landlord for
goodness sake why do you keep bringing
after years of these sorts of questions
it got me to thinking as an indigenous
man if I could choose one superpower I
would choose white privilege I mean from
what I’ve seen some people with that
superpower can say think and believe
whatever they like about people of other
races doesn’t even have to be true and
if somebody challenges them or tries to
make them see things from their
perspective and have some empathy they
exercise their superpower in a number of
ways they can be dismissive oh they say
political correctness has gone mad or my
favorite they convene a panel with
everybody else with that superpower and
discuss how it’s an example of reverse
racism and it’s unfair every superpower
has a weakness white privilege is
kryptonite there’s only one wealthier
white privilege people than them to be
fair dinkum we as Australians need to
acknowledge and understand the true
colonial history of this country
Australia
Watson all the destruction the hurt and
the ongoing intergenerational trauma it
is caused Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders because no country can realize
its full potential if its history is
comedy has the ability to remove blame
while delivering hard truths comedy is a
powerful platform that can bring people
together to educate to expose
stereotypes and make us aware of our
respective of our respective privileges
and in turn create empathy not sympathy
empathy for Australia’s first people and
and if we as Australians demonstrate our
empathy then Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders will have a voice in
the Constitution a treaty and Australia
Day held on a date we can all celebrate
armed with the law degree a strong and
proud culture in the delivery of comedy
I’ve shared a story I’ve shared my story
not just in the hope of finding one
groupie but in the hope of sharing an
insight today we have advanced the
conversation and together together we’ve
embarked on a journey on a path to
healing and that is why I went from law
[Applause] [Music]
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