John Safran

While in Mississippi filming an episode of his show Race Relations, John Safran met white supremacist Richard Barrett. He sneakily took a sample of Barrett's DNA, had it tested, and announced publically during an awards night speech that Barrett (like every other human) had African DNA. Barrett threatened to take Safran and the ABC to court and the show never aired. A year later Richard Barrett was murdered at his house by a young African-American, Vincent McGee. Strange circumstances surrounded the murder and Safran, wanting to know more, quickly put things aside in Melbourne and jumped on a plane to the US with the hope of seizing his Truman Capote moment and writing a true crime novel.

“I like crime stories, it gives you something to follow,” begins Safran. “Just say I went to Mississippi and said, 'Oh, I want to talk about racism'. What do I ask people? You'd get nowhere. But in following this crime you ask people about it and then through that you find out all these other things about the community, about racism in Mississippi.”

Safran is bringing his book Murder in Mississippi to life on stage, his show following the story and the circumstances surrounding its creation. “It starts near the end. I play one of the phone calls I have with the killer and some other stuff, like a white supremacist broadcaster who is having a go at me. But I go right back to the beginning about how I ended up there, which includes playing this banned footage. I think it seems like a proper story that I've prepared, not just me slurring it out drunk.”

Safran performed Murder in Mississippi to sold out audiences in several cities late-2013, tying in with the book's release. Unexpectedly, he hasn't done a great deal of live work with an audience before, “It was good because I realised that not everyone hates me. When you work alone you don't really get that much [time] with the public. It's good to go into a space where everyone is on your side and out for a good time.”