By Ben Pobjie
Corey White had a tough childhood, and not the "we had to play an outdated Nintendo" kind of tough childhood. His is genuinely a story to make you wince. A violent father described as "a jack of all trades criminal", constantly in and out of jail; a drug-addicted mother who also spent her fair share of time behind bars.
Corey and his sister, Rebecca, were shuttled between foster families, visited their mother in prison and, somehow, survived.
From a bleak upbringing to comedy gold: Corey White.Credit: Kylie Northover
That a man with such a backstory ended up the subject of an Australian Story (ABC1, 8pm) is no surprise: the program specialises in profiling those who made it against the odds. It's not even surprising that White became a comedian; the comedy ranks are full of those who turned backgrounds of misery into laughter. However, White is, nevertheless, a surprising – the better word might be extraordinary – individual.
First of all is the fact he's here at all. Anyone who has seen his award-winning show, The Cane Toad Effect, knows that after that traumatic childhood, White underwent his own nightmares of addiction, depression, and a brush with suicide. He's a survivor in the most heroic sense of the word. Then there's the comedy itself: it's sharp and it's honest, and it never shies away from the harsh realities of his life, while at the same time being gut-bustingly hilarious. That alchemic trick of turning tragedy to comedy is White's stock-in-trade, to the point where one feels slightly guilty for laughing. Not that you could help it: too funny.
However, what really amazes about White's work is how compassionate it is: he doesn't joke about the hard road he's been on with anger or bitterness. He manages somehow to portray the stark horror of his upbringing, poke fun at it, and treat those who were responsible with sympathy and understanding all at once.
In this Australian Story, White and his sister revisit the places where they grew up, reliving those dreadful days and examining how they got from there to here.
The title of his show is a reference to the law of unintended consequences: nobody could have predicted that this kid, beaten down by the world for so many years, would be the hottest thing in comedy, blowing audiences away at home and abroad. However, that he has is something to be thankful for: his triumph has ended up being a gift to us all.
Further viewing: Witches of East End (Eleven, 10.30pm) is currently the world's best show about mildly interesting witches talking to each other.
Pawn Stars (7Mate, 7.30pm) features a speedboat and a motorcycle, but not in any exciting way, they're just buying them.
NCIS: New Orleans (Ten, 9.30pm) investigates the murder of a chief warrant officer, presumably to an infectious soundtrack of hot jazz.