The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory

Corey White was a golden child. He knew this because his father would hit his mother and his sisters but not him. And his mother adored him so much she let him drop out of primary school.

After losing his father to jail and his mother to heroin, though, he became a target for cruelty and dysfunction in foster homes. A scholarship to a prestigious boarding school lifted him out of foster care and awakened a love of learning and reading for him, but this was soon overwhelmed by a crushing depression and drug addiction.

Through it all, he kept thinking - sometimes hoping, sometimes fearing - that he was destined for something bigger. Would he find salvation in the halls of a university, or a poetically grimy crack den, or through love? Or would the golden glow that had been in him since childhood ultimately fade, leaving only darkness and ruin?

The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory is a memoir of trauma and survival that will break your heart and then show you how to rebuild it. It is a powerful, lyrical and darkly funny debut from one of Australia's brightest young comedians.

'Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, Corey's story is one of the most powerful I have ever read.' Wil Anderson 'Look back in anger. Look around in acceptance. Look forward in love. Harrowing, and yet hopeful.' Tim Rogers

“"Wonderful . . . It's a rare stand-up show that you emerge from feeling like a better person, and that you want other people to see so that they can be better people too. I can't give any higher praise than that." -- Guardian”

"Captivating." --Tom Gleeson "Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, Corey's story is one of the most powerful I have ever read." --Wil Anderson "Look back in anger. Look around in acceptance. Look forward in love. Harrowing, and yet hopeful." --Tim Rogers "Wonderful . . . It's a rare stand-up show that you emerge from feeling like a better person, and that you want other people to see so that they can be better people too. I can't give any higher praise than that." --Guardian "It's a spiritually enriching show. Whitey has safer hands than Gilchrist circa 2003 . . . Strap in for this one, it's a harrowing little number that leaves you in a good mood, quite a feat." --Herald Sun "He seems like an everyman you could happily have a beer with . . . A winner straight out of the gate, a show with depth and insight." --Courier-Mail "Corey White runs the full gamut of human existence in a well planned, carefully executed show with a consistent voice and thoughtful jokes that, at times, had me crying with laughter." --Crikey "A ferocious talent. Pay attention." --Age

There are few voices in comedy as unique and potent as Corey White. In 2014, Corey performed his debut stand up show, The Cane Toad Effect - a staggeringly personal story of his experience growing up in foster care, surviving domestic violence, recovering from drug addiction and dealing with mental illness. He handled this material with a deftness and humour that far exceeded his experience, garnering critical praise and winning Best Show at the 2014 Sydney Fringe and Best Newcomer Award at the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival.

He was later profiled on ABC TV's Australian Story, shining a light on his and his sister's experience growing up in the foster care system and the path that took him all the way to the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe. In late 2016 he was selected to have his show recorded as part of the ABC Next Gen comedy series. In 2018, Corey White's Roadmap to Paradise, a series created by Corey for the ABC, finally solved all the world's problems while continuing to advocate for change for kids stuck in our dysfunctional foster care system. He is also very funny.

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