“I make an adorable moth”: Judith Lucy

JUDITH Lucy needs no introduction.

The comedian has been entertaining audiences for 27 years since her first show King of The Road, and nothing really fazes her.

[showads ad=MREC]So much so, that at the beginning of her interview ahead of the Sydney leg of her Ask No Questions of the Moth tour, she laughed at the suggestion a glass of wine may need to be involved — simply because much of her career is based on stories that involve indulging in too much alcohol.

“When they did sack me from doing breakfast radio, management did say, in the nicest possible way, that, ‘yeah you might not really be cut out for breakfast radio’,” she said.

“And I suspect that [needing a drink] might be what they were referring too, that I have the sort of voice and persona that is much more suited to night time.

“You don’t really want to wake up with me, you really want to pass out with me.”

This lead Lucy straight into a story from her upcoming one-woman stand up comedy show, which premiered to sold-out audiences at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival earlier this year.

“I once passed out in a toilet, because I am a sophisticated person, and a gay male friend of mine had to climb over the wall and jump into the toilet and wake me up,” she recalled.

“I will say that that friend and I have never discussed the incident, I don’t know what he saw, but I am pretty sure it did not turn him into a heterosexual.”

Nonetheless, Lucy said her gay friends have always been there for her.

“There was another time when I was drunk in a hotel hallway, I had one of those key cards that wasn’t working, and a friend said, ‘don’t worry I’ll go back to reception and get another one for you’,” she said.

“In the meantime I lost consciousness, but it was a lovely image because when he got back he had to open up the door which kept shutting, he keep the door open with one leg while he picked up me by the ankle and dragged me into the room … so many good times.”

Lucy was then asked if there was a particular story behind her eye-catching tour poster, in which she is dressed as a moth.

“Does it really matter? Because let’s be honest I make an adorable moth,” she said.

“I can honestly say that that poster has got a better response than anything else I have ever done. The number of people who have said to me, ‘you look pretty hot as a sad moth’.

In regards to the title of her show, Lucy explained that she wanted to have some sort of mystifying, meaningful name. She found it from a verse from a 12th century Sufi mystic poem called The Conference Of The Birds which read: “I have no news of my coming or passing away — the whole thing happened quicker than a breath; ask no questions of the moth.”

But one question that was unavoidable was the one about the lesbian rumours that have surrounded Lucy’s career.

“Oh, everyone thinks I am a lesbian, and the truth is that while I have pashed a number of ladies… I am afraid that I just like cock at the end of the day,” she said.

With marriage equality continuing to be a hot topic not just in politics but also on social media, Lucy had no qualms with expressing her dismay at how far behind Australia is.

“I find it really hard to believe that it just hasn’t already happened because I think it is so incredibly clear that it should happen, most Australians want it to happen and it’s just a basic right that everyone should have,” she said.

Judith Lucy Ask No Questions of the Moth

WHERE: Enmore Theatre & Chatswood’s Concourse Theatre

WHEN: Friday, July 31 at 7.30pm and Saturday, August 1 from 7pm (Enmore shows); Sunday August 2 from 6.30pm (Chatswood show)

TICKETS: $50

BOOKINGS: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=JUDITHL15

Listen to Judith Lucy’s full interview with The Andrew and Troy Show on OX Gold: