“I’m Graham and I’m a comedian.””Hi Graham!”
I’m a musician, comedian and confidence coach from Sydney, Australia. I write songs to vent my repressed anger and rage. Other people find them hilarious and healing, so it’s a win for everyone.
I gave up a successful career in Computer and Biomedical Engineering to become a musical comedian and therapist. I now help other comedians and musicians overcome anxiety and depression using a combination of somatic expression techniques, trauma awareness and emotional intelligence.
After experiencing overwhelming anxiety and depression in my mid-30s, I developed a chronic fatigue-based physical illness in my 40’s which turned out to be caused by undiagnosed sleep apnea associated with a lack of vocal and emotional expression.
In my search for a cure I experienced and studied a vast array of healing therapies and recognised a link with unresolved childhood emotional abandonment trauma. I created The Confident Man Project, an online resource for helping men with similar backgrounds and worked as a freelance confidence coach.
After helping many clients overcome the adult effects of unresolved childhood traumas ranging from controlling mothers and passive fathers to chronic illness and repressed grief and anger, I concluded that the key element in healing virtually all mental and even many psychosomatic physical illnesses, is empathy.
While studying acting and comedy, I saw clear parallels between many popular actor training techniques and somatic trauma release exercises. I became interested in using humour as part of the trauma healing process; something that has traditionally been taken very seriously.
And hence the role of Comedy Therapist was born.
My first musical instrument was playing tamborim in a Samba band. In my early 40’s I started learning to play guitar. Now I write and sing songs that express the many feelings I used to suppress. My main instrument is now voice, followed by guitar. I can also play keyboard, bass, ukulele and kit drums.
A traumatic incident at my first solo musical comedy gig left me needing a way to overcome stage fright, so I spent 3 years studying Music Performance full-time at the world-renowned bastion of Sydney music education: Ultimo TAFE.
With the support of many talented fellow musicians from the college he learned to vent his own inner rage musically by writing, recording and releasing the song Everything Is Fucked; which totally failed to rank in the 2018 Triple-J Hottest 100.
I have been in several bands including Herd of Cats, Samba Frog, Sambaloco (now Batteria 61), The Vipassana Agents, The Sketch Artists, Margot & Graham and The Graham Stoney Band. I have also performed in several musical theatre shows.
My first solo musical comedy show Difficult First Show premiered at the 2017 Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival, followed by A Show About Anger at the 2018 Sydney Fringe Festival. Even if you didn’t go, you can still buy the merchandise in my online store.
I have a Certificate 3 in Music Industry (Performance), a Diploma in Music Industry (Performance), and in 2019 will complete an Advanced Diploma in Music Industry (Performance) from Sydney TAFE.
I entered the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Australia and am currently working towards releasing my first album for release in 2020. I also plan to further develop my musical and performance skills, and have a special interest in the use of music and comedy for healing emotional trauma.