Hey all, I know I said I'd post more reviews, but life has the most irritating habit of getting in the way when you least expect it.
Instead, I thought I'd talk to you today about a play by Greg Fleet called
Die On Your Feet.
In 2005, MICF audiences were lucky enough to witness one of the best plays I have ever seen.
Die On Your Feet, written and directed by Fleet, starred some of Australia's best comedians, and was quite simply about the gruelling experience of getting onstage, "strapping on the happy pants" and trying not to let life get in the way of the performance.
It centred on a group of 5 friends; Doctor Bob (Greg Fleet), Brian (Adam Hills), Sophie (Corrine Grant), James James (Steven Gates, "Gatesy" from Tripod) and Other James (Alan Brough). The play spanned the lead up to and aftermath of the MICF, then jumped to post-Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and featured both dialogue and monologue performances by each member of the cast.
Doctor Bob, an inspiration to all Melbourne-based comedians, in dealing with his apparent lack of material success ("If you view the term 'success' with, like, how
successful you are, then arguably I'm an abysmal failure!"), keeps a positive attitude throughout the show, and is rewarded in the end by being offered a spot on a TV show with his nemesis The Hoots Mon.
Brian and Sophie are an estranged couple, having recently broken up. Brian is essentially lost without Sophie, who is fed up with his childish behaviour and attention-seeking attitude. Their story reaches the heartbreaking climax of Brian attempting suicide, only to be saved at the last moment by a phonecall from Sophie, completely out of the blue. ("Fuck you've got amazing timing." "Really? What are you doing?" "Oh, you know... just hangin'...")
James James and Other James are a comedy duo who've decided to persue separate careers because of creative differences (JJ: "I wanted to be creative, he wanted to be different!"). OJ, a comedian who "doesn't do jokes", has great difficulty trying to come up with a festival show, largely due to his obsession with the video game
Civilisations. The others repeatedly attempt to cajole him into writing, culminating in JJ's idea of OJ basing his show on his obsession with a game, winning a "major prize from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival". However, OJ's success was short lived; in Edinburgh, another comedian did a show about a more popular game and was labelled 'post-modern', while the crowd largely ignore OJ and called him 'Australian'.
The music included The Rolling Stones'
Gimme Shelter (opening and closing the show), and REM's
Bad Day among other songs. The use of music and tail-ends of conversations gave a good sense of progression, with hilarious scene openers such as "They reckon that the last thing he said was 'Did you know that bread can be used as an adhesive?'", and "Now, he reckons he stabbed a guy with a gun, but I reckon that's bullshit." "What, he stabbed a guy who was holding a gun, or he stabbed a guy
with a gun?"
Without getting too emotional, I can honestly say that at one point I was on the verge of tears, a rather embarrassing situation as I was in the front row. The tone was raw at times, riotous as others, and felt too short at only one hour. I'd like to think that, Festival time contraints aside, this play could easily be extended and performed again. I'd like to see it again.
Fleet may have grown up in Geelong, he may have publicised problems with addiction, he may even have been Simon Pegg's flatmate (as one of my sources tells me)... Say what you want about Greg Fleet, but I do believe that underneath his vitriolic and at times manic exterior, there beats the heart of a poet.
Die On Your Feet is now a memory, but it is an enduring one, and I'm a better comedy fan for having seen it. Thanks Fleety.
