A chef's apprentice, a miner and a video reporter walk into a bar.
What emerges is a stand up comic, and now indigenous Perth man Craig Quartermaine is taking his show Race Off to the Edinburgh Festival.
Moving from the shrinking mining and media industries to an even smaller one is a ballsy move that's paying off for the 35-year-old Nyoongar man, who's forging a name for himself on the international stand-up comedy stage.
Quartermaine is again teaming up with his Caucasian Yoda, Brendon Burns, for their edgy new show, which will run at the Edinburgh Festival through August before moving to Finland and Croatia.
It's a stark contrast to Quartermaine's day job as the Western Australian correspondent for NITV, his second broadcasting gig, which came after an unstimulating career in the mining industry.
It often sees him covering emotionally draining issues like the Stolen Generation, before the Perth-based comedian hits the stage just a few hours later.
Like all great double acts, the pair couldn't be more different, but the one thing they have in common is a fearless, uncompromising take on touchy topics like race relations.
"He's everything I hated - private school boy, encouraged to be creative. My background was 'get a job'," Quartermaine told AAP.
Journalist and comedian Craig Quartermaine poses for a portrait in Sydney Source: AAP
"Ordinarily we wouldn't hang out. Stand-up brought us together."
He's learnt a lot from Burns, an award-winning comic of 25 years who was supportive when Quartermaine started out in the funny business three years ago.
Equally, Burns has been challenged by his apprentice, who feels he picked up the microphone at the right time in his life.
"Brendon is a lunatic but he knows what he's doing up there," Quartermaine said.
"Had I been younger, I probably wouldn't have had the anger.
"I'm probably mauling this quote, but when the student is ready, the teacher will appear."
Quartermaine was sceptical about Burns' intentions at first, concerned he was "looking for an Aboriginal comedian".
"'I'm not going to be your little pet' - I said that to him," he said.
"I hate being the black oracle in the office or friendships."
Quartermaine, a Raw Comedy competition finalist who was also once a chef's apprentice, lists his comedic influences as Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, and recalls secretly listening to Eddie Murphy's R-rated 1983 TV special Delirious on his cousin's teddy bear tape deck in their Kununurra home as a formative experience.
"I was six years old and wasn't meant to be listening to it," he laughed.
AAP
