Kiwi comedians to perform as part of Younity
Kiwi comedian Chris Parker hopes performing at a stand-up show in Tauranga this weekend will put a spotlight on queer success, joy, and celebration.
Parker is one of eight comedians — including Ben Hurley, Justine Smith, Michelle A’court, Corey Gonzales-macuer, James Mustapic, Donna Brookbanks and Summer Xia — who will be performing at Baycourt Community and Arts Centre tomorrow.
The show is part of the Younity series of events organised by the newly-created charitable trust Youbeyou to rally support for the city’s LGBTQIA+ community.
It follows a family gala and gig — including performances from Tiki Taane and The Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O’brien — today.
Parker, who performed at Baycourt in August, said the fact a portion of the funds from the event were being donated to local schools’ queer-straight alliances (QSAS) meant it was a “no-brainer” to get behind.
“It’s a really important cause to me. I know the value of that money in terms of outreach and improving the quality of life for queer students.”
Reflecting on his time at Christchurch Boys’ High School, Parker said conversations around sexual orientation and gender identity were often “uncomfortable”, but now it seemed people had the confidence and ability to discuss it.
“There was always a tenseness around the idea of people having different sexual orientations or gender identities — whereas now it is more robustly talked about.”
Parker said it was encouraging to see Tauranga schools had groups like the QSAS — which often existed through “student willpower”.
“It’s so exciting it’s being talked about and being led by the students. It shows there has been heaps of progress made.”
But most of all, Parker said he was keen to “celebrate all that is good in our community” after the “unfortunate” events — including the fire at Tauranga’s hub for queer and gender-diverse youth — earlier this year.
He hoped the comedy event would help turn the focus to “queer success, queer joy, queer celebration”, instilling hope in the city’s young people.
“A comedy event is so good because it’s a celebration — and I feel like these conversations are always linked to hardship . . . It’s important to feel a sense of hope.
“And a good way of doing that is by reminding ourselves we love each other, support each other and having a good time to celebrate all that is good about our community.”
Parker said it was also important to take the conversation offline, with this type of rhetoric often existing “entirely in comment sections” which only increased feelings of isolation.
“People are showing up with their bodies to get behind a cause. I feel like that is important for youth to see.”
Parker said he loved how Tauranga had a “strong arts community” and crowds really showed up to support him.
On Wednesday, Parker told the Bay of Plenty Times he was working on new material, saying the stand-up may include jokes about the “happiest day of my life” after getting married last month.
“We want to see a community come together, laugh together, celebrate each other — a damn good time is always important.”
Tauranga comedian Summer Xia said the charity’s ethos of inclusion, diversity, and equality “really resonated” with her.
Xia, originally from China, felt the city was becoming “more diverse” and said it was “really good timing” for the initiative.
“When I first moved here six years ago I hardly saw any Asian faces — it was really hard to find fellow Chinese Kiwis.
“I found it hard to meet people because we didn’t have many events like this or occasions to connect with others. But over time, I think Tauranga is becoming more diverse and inclusive.”
Xia, who did her first-ever stand-up in October last year, said she used comedy to challenge stereotypes and “make peace with uncomfortable experiences”.
“If something can bring people together — laughter is one of those things.
“Being a Chinese Kiwi based in Tauranga it’s a really good opportunity to make my voice heard.”
Organiser Gordy Lockhart, who founded Youbeyou Tauranga Moana, previously said the driving force behind Younity events was to recognise minority groups and celebrate difference, inclusion and equity.
Youbeyou was formed after Lockhart criticised Bethlehem College for asking school parents to acknowledge its belief that marriage was between a man and a woman.
Its creation was also prompted by the arson attack that destroyed a hub for queer and genderdiverse youth in the city.
Ticket sales for the comedy show would go towards the charitable trust. Youbeyou would donate a portion of the money to local secondary schools’ queer straight alliance groups.