Greg Fleet has something to say

We’re pretty sure this is a public Facebook post from Mr Greg Fleet, so if you’re a member may we direct your attention there for a saga that begins with:

Last night I did a couple of gigs. I did well at each of them, people laughed, I made up a few new things etc.I felt confident and very good at what I do. It was great to hang out talking with the other comics and to make the audiences happy for a time. During the gigs I had about 5 or 6 drinks (mostly shots of whisky that Sammy from the Rochester kindly gave me). After the second gig I ‘started’ drinking and had about 5 more shots and a couple of beers before I got a taxi home. In the cab I realised I was a bit drunk.

Stops off at

At home I woke my partner and stumbled around thinking I was being hilarious before I tripped and fell over. I was not physically hurt but I did feel a tad degraded. My partner said I was scaring her (a vile and shameful thing to do to anyone, ever). My way of dealing with this was to become rude and defensive to my her before storming out to the lounge room where I became convinced that I was being persecuted by just about everyone, just about all of the time. (This suggests that I feel I SHOULD be persecuted, that somehow I deserve punishment. And I’m not even Catholic…)

Passes through

What I’m more interested in is the booze itself. Obviously the best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink at all, but for most of us that is simply not going to happen. I have known many alcoholics and I do not think I am one. I rarely crave booze. I can go days without any alcohol, but I can also drink like a lunatic. I have at times sat at the computer writing and blitzed an entire bottle of single malt or good Polish vodka. Drinking a couple of bottles of wine in an evening is not beyond me. So while occasionally I drink alcoholically, I do not think I am an alcoholic and I am not in denial about it either

And takes a tight turn around

I don’t NEED booze. I just like it.

I just want it.

And why not? It’s legal, for the most part it’s socially acceptable and its everywhere. Im not a violent drunk. Im not usually abusive. Im quite fun when I drink. But WHY drink when I can end up feeling like I do this morning? I think I have a Mt Everest approach to booze;

INTERVIEWER; “Why did you drink that bottle of gin?”

ME; “Because it was there”.

Before ending with

Writing with a hangover? That says ‘journalist’ to me

He’s looking to have the whole thing published professionally somewhere, so if you’re an editor drop him a line.

After reading the whole thing, well… Look, there’s very little doubt that Fleet is a very talented comedian. But there can be times where his somewhat… romantic view of the world and his place in it seems to get between him and the kind of insight into behaviour that people turn to the truly great comedians for.

Put another way, being Greg Fleet is perhaps not as interesting as Greg Fleet sometimes thinks it is, which is a shame as Greg Fleet often has some very funny and insightful things to say when he looks out beyond Greg Fleet. And the insights when he looks back at Greg Fleet sometimes don’t seem quite as sharp as they should be.