It’s one of those stories that captures a nation. A frenzied tale full of feathers, deep-fried potato and the inimitable Frankston line.
Hailed by some (the guy who wrote it) as the “true-crime story of the decade“, the story of the bloke who fed his chippies to a ravenous pack of gulls and set them (the birds, that is) on a carriage full of commuters has inarguably captured the national conciousness.
While most savvy citizens agreed it probably never happened, I think we were all secretly hoping that Chris Harrigan’s Facebook epic contained at least a teenie crumb of truth.
In case you missed, it went like this:
Sadly, as it turns out, the tale is less defining Australian mythology, so much as a pretty standard joke the late Australian comedian Maurie Fields told on “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”. In 1989.
A Twitter user broke the news on Tuesday arvo:
Sigh. Maurie Fields’ son has since confirmed with Mashable:
“Yep, he did. Circa 1989,” Fields Jr. replied when asked if his father had previously told the joke.