The Comedy Festival has once again descended upon Sydney. Posters of quirky/surprised/defiant/quizzical comedians urging us to take a holiday from the un-hilarious, wallpaper the cafes and bookstores of the inner west, amongst them, Greg Fleet.

NIDA trained, with a string of Australian TV credits including “the guy that killed a main character on neighbours” and the voice behind “Sandy” the Yellow Labrador in TV commercials for the Home Hardware – there’s no doubt about it – Greg Fleet has lead a very interesting life – and has a pretty diverse career as actor, comedian and writer – which is no mean feat. Add to that a string of review grabs from all over the world that talk of his hilarious, inspired nonsense and his congenial manner and it’s clear why this guy has had such a long lasting career – he’s funny, he’s smart and he comes across as a really nice/normal guy.

Reviving one of his favourite shows at The Factory Theatre in Enmore, Thai Dai is the story of Greg Fleet’s “relaxing” holiday to Thailand in 1988, which involves the usual stranger-in-a-strange land narrative, a holiday romance, negotiating the hills of the Thailand/Burmese border peppered by mortars and being fleeced out of $5000 on his mum’s Diner’s card.

A pork pie hat, a coat, two glasses of orange juice, a couple of sheets of crib notes and even a well-thumbed publication of the story accompany a disclaimer – “I haven’t done this show in a while – so I might need to just check I don’t forget a crucial part of the story.”

The magic of this story is really the wide-eyed innocence/gullibility/naivete of Fleet as he willingly (and not so willingly) is taken on an adventure by the people around him. It is his niceness, his compassion and his libido that drives him forward into the unknown, and despite being stripped of all his cash, kidnapped and having a gun pointed at him- he remains throughout the story a likable larrikin with a heart of gold.

It’s true with all things -you can’t put your foot in the same river twice – and with time, age and experience comes perspective… And Fleet’s revival of this show comes as a cautionary tale (of sorts) but more importantly an inspiring story about surrendering to life as an adventure (with all it’s potential dangers and uncertainties).

Though some contexts have changed – the global financial crisis, immigration politics and the rise of terrorism as a part of the traveler’s/DFAT’s consciousness, some things never change… Yobbo Aussie behaviour, drug use by young men, holiday romances and being caught in cultural conflicts between western wealth and eastern poverty.

Thai Dai is an amazing story- partly because it’s a true story, but mainly because of Greg Fleet’s natural, unpretentious storytelling style… witty, occasionally self-deprecating and never cruel or nasty – this guy really knows how to spin a yarn.