Billy T award-winning comedian, actor and writer Cori Gonzalez-Macuer hit the TEDxAuckland stage at Flipside in May 2016.
As someone who makes a living talking to crowds and making people laugh, talking openly about his father’s depression and suicide tapped into a part of his life not many were aware of.
“I’ve always wanted to talk about it in public but never had the guts to do it. I thought if I agreed to do a TED talk about it, there was no backing down – even though I came close a few times.
“Coming into it, I never realised how big TED talks actually were or how much of a community feel they had amongst the organisers and other speakers. It was really cool to experience it with a large group of people.”
His words obviously had a profound impact on the audience, evident in the personal response he received after his talk.
“I’ve had a lot of people get in touch with me via social media saying that my talk helped them or that they’ve showed it to someone who might need some help dealing with depression or suicide.
“I was also contacted by a few organisations to work with them in order to get the word out there a bit more.”
Cori is keeping busy enjoying his young family and is currently in the middle of a stand up tour around New Zealand. He’s also in the works of developing a couple of TV shows that he says “fingers crossed” will see the light of day.
By Ciara Pratt @ciaracpratt