Thai Die
Reviewed by Starbug
Greg Fleet takes us back to his 1995 show and demonstrates just why it was so successful at the time.
There's always one person at a dinner party who has a fantastic story to tell. It might be that they were once in a queue at the cinemas with Jeff Fenech, or they swam with the dolphins at Monkey Mia and had a genuine 'moment of cross-species communication'. Often the stories aren't all that interesting, but the storyteller will paint the picture so clearly and with such magical recreation of the moment that you are immediately lost in the tale. Other times, it will be a real 'wow' yarn, but the teller will have all the charisma and narrative skill of battered flake.
In 'Thai Die' Greg Fleet has both a terrific tale and skilled recreation of the moment. We hear how Fleet was doped, duped and dragged on a journey from the back alleys of Bangkok to the jungles of Burma. Flowing either from his great desire to just 'let things happen' and be open to new experiences, or just because he is a 'fucking idiot', Fleet ends up $4000 poorer but innumerably richer in experience.
I have rarely been as caught up in a story as I was with 'Thai Die'. The hour and ten minutes passed in a flash as I was taken from a gambling den to the mountain hideouts of rebel forces. There were no dramatic devices used in this narration, (apart from judicious use of a bell and a few slides), but with such a roller-coaster of a story, Fleet had no need to weigh it down with distractions. It was simply a terrific yarn told with flawless comic timing and an ability to suck you into the moment completely.
This show contrasted with what I had previously seen of Greg Fleet. Both his 1998 and 1999 Comedy Festival shows were somewhat less than structured. Fleet himself admitted that 'Bridge over the River Me' was written in the Peter Cook Memorial Bar five minutes before curtain. 'Thai Die' has a very definite path from event to event, with only small asides to provide light relief from what is, in fact, an incredibly intense experience.
I left the North Melbourne Town Hall full and satisfied. Had Fleet been my dinner party guest I wouldn't have touched a bite. Needless to say the show was food for thought enough.
8 bug-stars out of 10.

The Final Cheeseshop
Reviewed by Starbug
Last night saw the final night of the Cheese Shop Live. Largely recognised by punters and comedians alike as the best gig in Australia, the Cheese Shop at the Prince Patrick Hotel in Collingwood has packed up it's signature entrance music and shuffled off.
It came as a surprise to many, but the final night of the 'shop was definitely a night to remember. The last few weeks have seen many top shelf comedians up on stage, including Lano and Woodley, Tony Martin (in his first stand-up gig since MC Hammer last sported happy pants), Miss Itchy, spraying cheese and greens over a rapturous audience, and other 'shop regulars. In retrospect, it seems appropriate that the last month saw some absolutely classic 'shop moments.
The Ultimate Cheese Shop Live played to a full house, with about two dozen local comedians, partners and media types filling out the packed audience of regular punters. With Janet A MacLeoud playing the part of Dave Taranto (a part that had also been filled with due reverence by Alan Brough, Rove McManus, and Greg Fleet over the last couple of months), the night kicked off with two 'Shamers', Adam 'Brittany' Richard and Melbourne's 'fluffiest' comedian, Dave Callan.
The Second set saw one of the'shop's old hands, Tim Harris deliver some gems; crusty, bitter and jaded. Perfect. Greg Fleet *eventually* arrived to do a typically freaky set which *most* of the audience adored.
The Scared Weird Little Guys then took the stage to do the final set, an absolutely terrific series of classic Scaredies nonsense songs. The 'shop was then privileged to see Col and Frank join John and Rusty in a very brief reformation of PLOP, a 'shop specialty and the best way imaginable to finish the night.
There were some tears, but mostly some hearty guffaws as Dave Taranto stepped onto the stage to finally shut it all down. After months battling a ravaging brain tumor Dave took the well-deserved pleasure of calling the audience a pack of cunts. The 'shoppers returned with shouts of 'We love you Dave" and other more traditional heckles. He even conceded to the oft requested 'show us your tits'. Fortified by occasional whiffs of lavender oil kept on hand by the lovely Rachel Berger, Dave regaled the audience with tales of Dr Wong the 85 year old acupuncturist and celebrated the fact that the had the fastest growing type of tumor. Even the dreaded MICF office got a mention with them being gracious enough to send Dave and his wife to Edinburgh.
Even if it was, as they so thoughtfully put it, for "one last time". Dave assured everyone that he fully intends to live 'til he's 90, but to make sure we didn't let the ComFest office know that.
Another irony that Dave delighted in pointing out was the flyer for 'Antarctica's IMAX that he received in the post. A huge fucking screen, of a predominantly white background probably wasn't the best thing for him to be seeing at that moment. *g*
Dave then asked the question: "Is there sufficient love and energy in the room to shut this down forever?" And judging by the standing ovation, there was a fuckin' shitload.
Dave, we wish you all the very best.