Mark Bin Bakar, the creator of the outrageous, hilarious Indigenous icon Mary G, has worked tirelessly to better the position of Aboriginal people in today’s modern society. Like many comedians, though, his life has been both painful and testing. For services to his community he received the 2008 Western Australian of the Year Award. He says that being a public figure, a link between his community and the mainstream has, at times, added to the hardship. But through laughter there is healing.