Sarah Cran's alter-ego Raylene helping break stigma around mental illness

Now, Ms Cran is hoping to help her following of nearly 25,000 people through the mess that is 2020.

Her Facebook page Sarah the Entertainer is the outlet for Ms Cran's alter-ego Raylene, who's the star of short comedy videos tackling a whole range of issues - from trivial to topics as serious as suicide.

Discussing suicide is also what makes the videos a lifesaver - Ms Cran credits running the page with giving her a purpose after she nearly took her own life earlier this year.

After her mother's death, her father having a fall and someone close to her dealing with drug abuse, she had to shut down her page and pick up the pieces.

"I ended up losing myself in the process, when I went to take my own life. Prior to that I never thought I could give up on my kids by leaving them, but in that moment when I lost myself I thought my kids were better off without me," she said.

"When I turned my life around I realised I wanted to make people laugh because I knew what it was like to be so miserable."

When she fired the Sarah the Entertainer page back up, she found dozens of messages saying it had helped people get through hard times - from people struggling with lockdowns to who'd had family members die.

"I thought if I can help someone who's losing family members and watching my video in a hard time, I had to keep going," she said.

Her brush with suicide - with only a phone call from her sister Jinaya Walford stopping her - inspired her to make a video to spread awareness that people need to reach out if they need help.

The video she made about the incident - tracking the day she nearly took her own life - was an "emotional" one to make.

VIDEO: Sarah Cran's video about mental health. Content warning: suicide.

"When we finished it I watched it 1000 times and cried," Ms Cran said.

"I remembered coming home to my kids after wanting to take my own life and they came out and gave me a big cuddle.

"Trying to mix that in with the comedy - I was scared to think if that'd take away from the funny side [of the page] but everyone liked it."

The video included a message telling people to "yarn up".

"It's an aboriginal word which means speak - yarn up, speak up - even on those days you feel like you've got no-one someone will listen," she said.

While the 32-year-old Gamilaroi woman had always considered Aboriginal people her audience, she realised it had appeal across the board.

"I only thought black people only got my sense of humour," she said.

"When I saw non-aboriginal people seeing me in the street and wanting photos and stuff so I was really surprised to have a lot of people other than black people like my stuff."

She's attracted a wider audience - some of whom have recognised her and stopped her on Summer Street for photos.

Ms Cran said she'd reached out to NITV and community groups to continue getting her comedy and messages around mental health out to as many people as possible, but no matter what happens, "Raylene is here to stay".