Australians have faced plenty of adversity in recent times – fires, floods, an epidemic – and they have faced it with courage, kindness, community spirit and, often, not a little humour.

It’s not being pessimistic to predict that there’s more adversity to come, so it’s a good plan to learn more about how to laugh when bad fortune strikes – and there are few people on the planet better able to help you do so than the multi-talented Mandy Nolan.

Mandy will be one of guests on the next Regional Gallery-hosted Thursday Night Live! panel, which has Laughing in the Face of Adversity as its topic.

Mandy is popularly considered one of the funniest people in Australia, with more than 25 years of industry experience. Ruby Wax, herself no slouch when it comes to comedy, recently declared Mandy as being "hysterically funny".

She has tackled adversity with laughter before, creating Stand UP for Dementia, a humour therapy programme for people with dementia, and other comedy programs for people with lived experience of mental illness, and for people with disabilities and children.

Mandy and the other panel guests will be introduced by Gabrielle Griffin, an independent performing artist since 1994, and specialist in disability dance, adult puppetry, improvisation and clowning.

Gabrielle says she is attracted artistically to the darker sides of human existence, such as grief and death, and has been challenged to find the humour and joy in merely being alive.

Others on the panel include stained-glass creative and hoarding support worker Maire Barron and creative performance maker and circus performer Simone O'Brien.

Thursday Night Live! is a monthly talks program putting critical, thought-provoking topics in the spotlight.

Lismore Regional Gallery, Thursday, March 12, 6pm – 7.30pm. Free event. Bar opens at 5:30pm.