Airdate: Crack Up

In the third instalment of Opening Shot, showcasing emerging doco filmmakers, Crack Up features young comedians who have endured mental illness but still find reasons to laugh.

Mental illness is no laughing matter. But then again, sometimes it can be.

Crack Up follows three Aussie hopefuls as they embark on a unique stand-up comedy training program, transforming their devastating experiences of mental illness into comedy gold.

Comedian David Granirer is a veteran stand-up comedy teacher with a niche market for his classes – people with mental illness – and he is coming to Australia to transform the lives of a group of comedy hopefuls. David’s new clients will learn the art of turning their most painful memories into hilarious one-liners.

As a person who has depression himself, David knows all too well the difficulties that sufferers face. The students will have to push through the secrecy and stigma surrounding their experiences of mental illness and find the courage to talk about it, let alone tell jokes about it. And they only have 12 weeks to prepare a side-splitting routine for a sold-out performance at the Deakin Edge Theatre in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.

Follow the journey of comedy hopefuls, Rohan, Julian and Gizem, as they discover that there can be a funny side to living with mental illness.

9:30pm Monday, 1 December ABC2