Not only will veteran stand-up performer Greg Fleet take to the stage at the Royal Oak as part of Fresh Comedy, but his show will be less than 100 metres away from the Princess Theatre, where fellow comic Carl Barron is booked to appear.

For his part, Fleet hoped the crossover between fans would be minimal.

“Apparently his show is sold out, so there could have been 900 people that were going to go to my gig, but aren’t anymore,” he laughed.

“Fresh Comedy is always a lot of fun, so I think this will be the same.

“It sounds like I’m sucking up, but I always enjoy a trip to Tasmania.

“There is definitely something special about the arts community there.”

When it comes to the art of performance, the 56-year-old is more experienced than most.

Born in Michigan, Fleet’s family moved to Victoria when he was four.

He studied at Geelong Grammar School for 12 years and then attended NIDA for a year, before being expelled.

It didn’t stop him from beginning his acting career opposite Nicole Kidman in the 1984 television movie Matthew and Son.

He would go on to have memorable roles in Prisoner, Underbelly: Squizzy, and Neighbours, while also managing to showcase his range onstage in a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

It was his stand up career, however, which brought him international acclaim and made him a regular on shows such Full Frontal, Spicks and Specks, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala.

In 2015, he added successful author to his repertoire, with his memoir ​These Things Happen ​praised for its honesty in detailing his struggles with addiction.

Fleet said he was in the process of branching out into fiction, while also putting a new spin on his debut novel.

“I’ve been asked to do the memoir as an audiobook,” he said.

“With the popularity of podcasts, they seem to be one of the only aspects of literature where the sales remain strong.

“Hopefully the new book I’m writing will be out by Christmas.

“It’s mostly made up, but some of it is based on my experiences.”

Fleet still makes time for stand-up, with his Tasmanian shows preceding a tour to Asia, where he is scheduled to perform in Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Jakarta, and Thailand.

Before then, he will be at the Royal Oak on Friday, May 18.

Door open at 8pm for an 8.30pm start.

Tickets are available through https://www.trybooking.com/VJWE.