IF EVERYTHING happens for a reason, if there's a God out there somewhere with a plan for every one of us, then Australia's Greg Fleet must have spent the early part of his life fried out of his mind on all the narcotics under the sun so that, in his
later years, he could draw on those experiences to make comedy fans all over the world laugh until their cheeks hurt.
This show contains what must surely be the best LSD trip story in the history of comedy. There's no point even attempting to do it justice here, but it should be prefaced with some kind of health warning: "would all weak-cheeked people please leave the room now".
And that's not even the best bit. Fleet has a toe-curling description of a time he met Stephen Fry that made me weep with laughter, and his list of "the best things people have ever said to me" is a laugh-a-second romp through some of the moronic things that fall out of people's mouths when their brains aren't quite engaged. Or, in some cases, when their brains have never really been engaged at all.
The only mystery about this show is why Fleet takes so long to get to the good stuff. He kicks off with some pretty average material about drunken Scots shouting outside his bedroom window and goes on to note that us Brits seem to get "a bit more stabby" every time he pays us a visit. After 15 minutes, my mind was starting to wander; after 60, I would have crawled over hot coals for a 30 second encore.
If Fleet could only hit his stride a little faster, he'd be pretty much perfect. Then again, cheek muscles are like any other muscles – it's as well to warm them up gently before putting them under continuous strain.
• Until 25 August
The full article contains 333 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
