An interview with Greg Fleet about his new play, A Star Is Torn
Greg Fleet returns to the Adelaide Fringe with a new play, A Star Is Torn, so it was a perfect opportunity to spend a little time with him, digging through the arc of comedy during the time of his career, and the art of being brutally transparent about life’s challenges on stage.
In the Musical Pilgrimage, we have a song by an artist making her Adelaide Fringe debut, Emilie Kate.
And Steve plugs his 2023 Adelaide Fringe show: 100% MBA Success: Whisky And Trivia With Professor Longsword.
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Running Sheet: Greg Fleet Is Torn At The Adelaide Fringe
00:00:00 Intro
A quick plug for Professor Longsword’s Adelaide Fringe show, 100% MBA Success: Whisky And Trivia With Professor Longsword.
00:00:00 SA Drink Of The Week
No SA Drink Of The Week this week. It now an occasional segment when stellar beverages are discovered.
00:03:02 Greg Fleet, A Star Is Torn
Greg Fleet, “the comedian who can act”, is back with a new play this Adelaide Fringe. That’s how I began my 2021 review of Greg’s previous play, The Twins, which I loved. This Fringe, he is back with a new show, A Star Is Torn, in which two stand up comedians meet, resulting in laughter, tears, and laughter.
Greg, in A Star Is Torn, you play a “one-time king of comedy who is brilliant but is gradually drinking and drugging his way out of the limelight”. Did you choose this autobiographical set of character traits because, when it comes to acting, you folloow the Stanislavski Method?
Seriously, this play, The Twins, and an earlier piece, This Is Not A Love Song, all have very broken lead characters. What’s your attraction to these characters?
One thing I have noticed in your work is that when you have a character who is “drugging themselves out of the limelight”, you put a lot of focus on how their actions impact those around them. Tears flow with your work. Do they flow in the writing process?
Can you take us through the story of A Star Is Torn, and introduce us to your co-star, Krutika Harale?
Your blurb says, “Stand-up comedy is internationally “sexier” than ever,” why is this? And can you give us a potted history of the scene since you began?
I am not a prude when it comes to explitives but I have a very low tolerance for comics who rely on vulgarity for laughs. To me, they’re just scooping up the easy stuff. Ban them from swearing, and watch them flounder. Your thoughts?
You go warts and all in your writing. Do you have any filter? I ask because I think I still have a parental filter at work in my mind.
One step further on transparency. It’s one thing to be personally open, but you also break down maleness. In reviewing your work with Ian Darling in Twins, I wrote: We might think that we primarily get “man stories” all the time due to white male privilege, but we don’t. What we usually get is male bravado and posturing. The Twins takes us behind the veil and into the swirling thoughtscape of imposter syndrome, anxiety, questioning, and vulnerability that still exists in even the most privileged of people; well, at least those who allow time for reflection. Do you get pushback from “blokes” about your work, especially in the blokey world of stand up?
00:37:34 Musical Pilgrimage
In the musical pilgrimage, we have Walk by Emilie Kate.
Emilie is making her Adelaide Fringe debut with Songs and Stories with Emilie Kate.
The blurb for her show says, ‘Growing up. Absent father. Loving home. Country kid. Moving. Trauma. Self hate. Love. Broken heart. Moving. Loneliness. Self love. Moving. Falling in love. Moving. Getting everything you’ve asked for. Staying still. Living every single moment.’
Sounds intriguing and satisfying. All the best to Emilie with her show, Sunday afternoons at My Lover Cindi, with an hour of original songs and stories.
Here’s this week’s preview video
No preview video this week.
SFX: Throughout the podcast we use free SFX from freesfx.co.uk for the harp, the visa stamp, the silent movie music, the stylus, the radio signal SFX, the wine pouring and cork pulling SFX, and the swooshes around Siri.
One Response
I have fond memories of a Greg Fleet set, performed at the UniBar in 2002 (ish). His semi-autobiographical show, 5 Years In A Long-Sleeved Shirt
is the most frank, funny, and occasionally sad show by an Aussie comedian; certainly this century! What a plus to meet him at the bar afterwards,
where he was genuinely interested in my little higher education goings on, and appeared to be a man at peace with himself and his inner demons.
A class act in every way!