Louis Beers (23 July 1949 – 26 September 2019) was an Australian

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

who performed under the stage name King Billy Cokebottle. He attracted controversy at his performances by wearing

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

to impersonate an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

. Beers was born in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and his family migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

when he was 3 years old, where he grew up in the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

suburb of Riverton in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He began performing as King Billy on Perth radio in the 1970s and moved to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in the early 1990s. Changing attitudes towards the use of blackface and towards

racism in Australia Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Australia, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions (including ...

led Beers to receive less work in his later years. Despite the contents of his performance, Beers denied allegations of racism and claimed to have Aboriginal family members. In July 2002, the

Crown Casino Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...

cancelled a scheduled Beers performance after receiving complaints from various Aboriginal and other ethnic community groups. In the same month Aboriginal activist John Kelly-Country lodged a complaint against Beers with the

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

. After the Commissioner terminated the complaint in March 2003, Kelly-Country commenced proceedings against Beers in the

Federal Magistrates Court The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, ad ...

in Darwin, claiming that Beers' performance breached Section 18C of the ''Racial Discrimination Act''. Amongst the orders sought by Kelly-Country were a prohibition against Beers making recordings or performing live shows, a public apology, financial penalty and compensation for humiliation. Beers successfully represented himself in the case, which ended in May 2004 with the determination that while his performance was offensive, it was exempted under Section 18D of the Act as an artistic work. The case has subsequently been discussed in relation to the operation of the Act and proposed revisions would remove Section 18C. It was reported that leaders of other Aboriginal interest groups had not taken issue with Beers' performance, and that even

Ernie Dingo Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born ...

was a fan.

Live albums

* The Lighter Shade of Dark * Billy Cokebottle 2 - Australia Nil (Bohle Barn,

) * Free and Fully Grunted * ''1993'' - Four Play (Bellevue Hotel,

, Queensland) * ''1994'' - Gibbit Five! (Townsville Rugby League Club,

, Queensland) * ''1995'' - Six Pack (

Raffles Hotel Raffles Hotel is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singap ...

) * ''1996'' - Seventh Heaven (Townsville Rugby League Club, Townsville, Queensland) * ''1997'' - No. 8 Out the Gate * ''1998'' - No. 9 and Still Being Fined (Herbert Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) * ''1999'' - The 10 Committments (Reef Gateway Hotel,

Cannonvale Cannonvale is a coastal locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Cannonvale had a population of 5,716 people. Geography Pioneer Bay (part of the Coral Sea, ) forms the northern boundary of the locality. Pigeon Island ...

, Queensland) * ''2000'' - Legs Eleven (Dalrymple Hotel,

, Queensland) * ''2001'' - The Dirty Dozen (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) * ''2003'' - Black Magic (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) * ''2005'' - One For the Road (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) * ''2007'' - Ward 15

Compilations

* The King Billy Cokebottle Trifecta * ''1996'' - The Best of Tapes One to Six * The Six Pack Collection * ''2002'' - Best of No. 2 * ''2002'' - Black Label * ''2014'' - Blew Label

References

External links

A sample of King Billy Cokebottle's humour
1949 births 2019 deaths Australian stand-up comedians People from Western Australia People from Queensland {{Australia-comedian-stub