Greg Fleet Articles/Reviews

[Munchkin]

Straight Talking

Straight talking
June 18 2003



Rise and shine: Greg Fleet in a Bondi cafe. Photo: Marco Del Grande.

Related:
Dirty, rotten cad: That's my Dad



2Day FM's Greg Fleet levels with Sue Javes about his work ethic, his relationship with Wendy Harmer and those heroin rumours.



Late last year when 2Day FM replaced popular comedian Peter Moon with another Melbourne comic, Greg Fleet, it was taking a gamble. Despite years of success on the comedy circuit, Fleet was virtually unknown to Sydney audiences. He was entering the pressure-cooker environment of breakfast radio in the toughest market in Australia, partnered with the talented but volatile Wendy Harmer, with 2Day trying to fend off an aggressive push from Nova.

On top of that, Fleet had a long history of heroin abuse, had never had a regular day job, had to leave his wife and baby in Melbourne and is a self-confessed lazy sod. Hardly a recipe for success. What he did have was strong backing from Harmer - an old friend (and, briefly, a lover) from their stand-up days - and the goodwill of The Morning Crew's other member, Paul Holmes.

Seven months on it hasn't been all beer and skittles, but there's increasing confidence from 2Day executives, and the stars themselves, that the new arrangement is going to work.

The initial fall-out from Moon's departure was a 2 per cent drop in audience share, but over the past few months many of those listeners have returned. Although the show is not achieving the ratings it enjoyed in the pre-Nova years, it still wins the FM slot, 2 per cent ahead of Nova's Merrick and Rosso.

For the 40-year-old Fleet, one of the biggest challenges has been confronting his own laziness. "I used to just turn up in the morning and scan the newspapers, hoping to find something before the others realised I was empty-handed. It made people very nervous. It came to a head at one of our meetings when I acknowledged I was lazy and surprisingly no one argued with me. Now I do the prep work the day before, pre-recording sketches and writing material. I've found that very liberating - with something concrete under my belt, my mind is free to improvise once the show starts. I reckon the show's got a lot better [as a result]. It's really taken off in the last month."


Moon left 2Day in December when long-running tensions with Harmer came to a head. Fleet says she's definitely tough but it brings out the best in him. "You certainly know when you've displeased her. She's a perfectionist. Paul has strong opinions, too. It tends to be quite volatile with the three of us, and once every three weeks there might be a major shouting match. But I think Wendy's right when she says it is part of the creative process. I've got the job because she thinks I'm good at what I do, so when she's criticising me I know it's her saying, 'You're much better than that.' In a way it's a compliment."

A few weeks ago there was a whispering campaign that Fleet was back on heroin. An unlikely proposition considering he is on deck at dawn each morning for the breakfast show, performs stand-up a couple of nights a week and is about to star in his own show at the Opera House. He is surprisingly unruffled by the gossip, accepting that with his 20-year history of drug abuse, people will always look for signs.

"The rumours don't worry me because, after all, I was on it for a long time and even I was surprised 2Day was prepared to take me on. Not so much because of the danger of going back, but just the history."

Fleet doesn't expect people to accept the word of an ex-addict so he started having regular urine tests a year ago to head off debate. It's not just about reassuring work colleagues. It has also given his wife, whom he joins in Melbourne each weekend, peace of mind.

[barryboy]

What kind of sick twisted person would attempt to start a rumour that Greg Fleet was back taking heroin.
Surely no one would wish that addiction on anyone, the fact that he came through such a long battle should be applauded and celebrated, not used against him.
Grrr stuff like that really annoys me becuase it is an easy attack. It probably means that he is doing well

[unfrufru]

Why he failed acting school

By Suzanne Carbone and Lawrence Money
March 23, 2005

CARBONE: Ready to be funny?

FLEET: Not really.

CARBONE: Try. Do you like our new column?

FLEET: Which one? I can't read, I'm a comedian.

CARBONE: The whole city is talking about this column.

FLEET: I usually read The Age but I read the Herald Sun when I don't feel like reading a newspaper.

CARBONE: Go with your feelings. You're Geelong's most famous export since Ford.

FLEET: Don't forget Barry Crocker and Jet's Mark Wilson.

CARBONE: Your Comedy Festival show Die on Your Feet is an expose on the stand-up scene. What goes on?

FLEET: It's normally quite supportive but there is paranoia, fighting, jealousy and drinking lots of coffee.

CARBONE: Sounds like an office I know. The Scotsman described you as "devilish, menacing and totally mesmerising" . . . talking about devilish, what is under Daniel Kitson's beard?

FLEET: I've never seen him without a pair of headphones on, so I'm starting to think he's part machine. A couple of highly professional comedy writers must be hiding under his beard. He's too good just for one man.


CARBONE: You are quite a machine with your voice-over work.

FLEET: I'm the yellow dog in Home Hardware "Dogalogue" commercial. It's the highlight of my career.

CARBONE: Better than pouring milk on your gut in 2002?

FLEET: That's why I do comedy. To fund my voice-over work.

CARBONE: You studied acting at NIDA "for a little while" . . .

FLEET: I got kicked out after a year for not turning up, turning up and not looking very well, leaving early, and not really paying attention. It was a good opportunity to waste.

CARBONE: But your acting up led you to comedy.

FLEET: I've done all the Comedy Festivals since 1988.

CARBONE: So you've turned up to all of them?

FLEET: I think so.

CARBONE: What advice do you give to young comedians?

FLEET: Be funny.

CARBONE: How do you do that?

FLEET: That's the hard bit.

[unfrufru]

http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stori...7.htm?backyard

Australian comedian recovering addict


Last Update: Tuesday, March 27, 2007. 8:08am AEST
By Louise Maher and Nicholas Kittel
It's not often that you speak with someone who is open and candid about their most personal of afflictions, but for comedian and broadcaster Greg Fleet it seems to flow as naturally as his sense of humour.
Greg is a recovering heroin addict and, unlike many who are caught in the grip of an addiction, he's the first to admit it.
"I'm a drug-addict and have been for a long time... I've been a drug-addict for probably over half of my life, I'm 44 and I started taking heroin when I was 19," he said.
"I guess you could say I was a functioning drug-addict in that I was working and doing comedy and TV and things like that and it just got to a stage where my life was unravelling to the point that I realised I needed to do something a little bit more permanent about it."
In an attempt to kick the habit, Greg decided to seek treatment at the Karralika Therapeutic Community Program in the Australian Capital Territory. Greg says his decision to quit occurred after seeing the success of a close friend and recovering heroin-addict. Greg says that his friend has been clean for over 5 years and is leading the kind of life to which he aspires.
"He has a sense of peace about him that I really started to want."
A sense of peace that Greg admits was missing from his relationships when he was using.
"The things I did were quite appalling... Not physical abuse but a lot of emotional abuse, a lot of theft, a lot of lying, like always lying - I can't begin to explain."
And so it was that Greg found himself at Karralika.
He says that after many unsuccessful attempts at kicking - he once thought travelling to the Gold Coast to drink copious amounts of alcohol and taking sleeping pills was a "healthy" way to treat his addiction - he is finally ready to take it seriously, revealing a cautious optimism for the future.
"I'm probably feeling better than Robbie Williams and Britney, but it's hard to say. I feel good, I feel really good, I feel really confident, I've never learnt as much as I've learnt since I've been here."

[unfrufru]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...-31624,00.html

Greg's fleeting recovery


March 15, 2007 02:15am
Article from: </IMG>
FASTER than you can say Britney or Lindsay, Australia's Fleety reckons he'll be out of rehab in time to perform at the final Fringe weekend.

Comedian Greg Fleet extended his stay at a Canberra drug rehabilitation centre last Friday. That meant cancelling his show at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. However, producer Michelle Buxton says Fleet is rescheduled to appear on the final three days of the Fringe - March 29, 30 and 31, in Fleetwood Mick with fellow comedian/musician Mick Moriarty.
Other comics have rallied to fill Fleety's 9pm slot. Justin Hamilton, Geraldine Quinn and Sam Bowring appear tonight and tomorrow, then Michael Chamberlain, Big Al and Rob Hunter on March 22 and 23. Eric & Derek's Derek Flores does his solo show on March 17, 18, 24 and 25.