King Billy Cokebottle

Louis Beers (23 July 1949 – 26 September 2019) was an Australian comedian who performed under the stage name King Billy Cokebottle. He attracted controversy at his performances by wearing blackface to impersonate an Aboriginal Australian. Beers was born in Holland and his family migrated to Australia when he was 3 years old, where he grew up in the Perth suburb of Riverton in Western Australia. He began performing as King Billy on Perth radio in the 1970s and moved to Townsville, Queensland in the early 1990s. Amongst the orders sought by Kelly-Country were a prohibition against Beers making recordings or performing live shows, a public apology, financial penalty and compensation for humiliation. Beers successfully represented himself in the case, which ended in May 2004 with the determination that while his performance was offensive, it was exempted under Section 18D of the Act as an artistic work. The case has subsequently been discussed in relation to the operation of the Act and proposed revisions would remove Section 18C. It was reported that leaders of other Aboriginal interest groups had not taken issue with Beers' performance.

Live albums The Lighter Shade of Dark Billy Cokebottle 2 - Australia Nil (Bohle Barn, Townsville, Queensland) Free and Fully Grunted 1993 - Four Play (Bellevue Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 1994 - Gibbit Five! (Townsville Rugby League Club, Townsville, Queensland) 1995 - Six Pack (Raffles Hotel, Perth, Western Australia) 1996 - Seventh Heaven (Townsville Rugby League Club, Townsville, Queensland) 1997 - No. 8 Out the Gate 1998 - No. 9 and Still Being Fined (Herbert Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 1999 - The 10 Committments (Reef Gateway Hotel, Cannonvale, Queensland) 2000 - Legs Eleven (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 2001 - The Dirty Dozen (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 2003 - Black Magic (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 2005 - One For the Road (Dalrymple Hotel, Townsville, Queensland) 2007 - Ward 15

Compilations The King Billy Cokebottle Trifecta 1996 - The Best of Tapes One to Six The Six Pack Collection 2002 - Best of No. 2 2002 - Black Label 2014 - Blew Label