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Promotional art for Ask No Questions of the Moth
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Ask No Questions of the Moth

Judith Lucy

Stan · 2017 · 75 min

A veteran comedian finds the humor in grief, menopause, and bad dates.

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Judith Lucy starts the show shaking a pair of maracas, awkwardly dancing across the stage, and declaring that she can move. It is a silly, high-energy opening that quickly gives way to her signature dry delivery as she spends the next twenty minutes directly bantering with the front row and tearing into latecomers. This comfortable, loose crowd work sets the stage for a performance that is deeply personal but entirely stripped of self-pity. Lucy treats her audience like old friends, sharing a series of mortifying stories with a casual indifference that makes even her darkest moments feel incredibly funny.

Filmed at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne for Stan’s “One Night Stan” stand-up series in 2016 and released in April 2017, the special captures the material that won Lucy the 2015 Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performance. The show’s title is a nod to a 12th-century Sufi mystic poem, which Lucy used as an excuse to pose in a sad moth costume for the promotional poster — a look she jokingly regrets not wearing on stage. The material itself is born from what she describes as a “magnificently terrible” year, specifically dealing with the death of her brother, the onset of early menopause, and the stress of producing her television series.

Rather than letting the heavy themes drag the room down, Lucy pivots to lighter, grosser territory. She recounts a disastrous night of passing out on a restaurant toilet, waking up next to a wool jumper she mistook for a partner, and dealing with a relationship with a man twelve years her junior. Through all the physical indignities of middle age, her deadpan perspective keeps the show grounded. It is the work of a seasoned veteran who knows exactly how to convert genuine grief and personal embarrassment into an evening of shared relief.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Audience check-in about their bad year and confronting late arrivals

    Arrives on stage shaking maracas, engages in extensive banter asking audience members how their 2014 was, and warmly roasts latecomers who took the time to grab champagne at the bar.

  2. Reflections on the making of 'Judith Lucy Is All Woman'

    Shares candid behind-the-scenes insights, mishaps, and personal realizations encountered while filming her ABC documentary series.

  3. Modern physical trends and bodily maintenance

    Examines the absurdities of aging, cosmetic trends like striving for a streamlined mons pubis, toe nail fungus pharmacy ads, and shifting sex lives.

  4. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Family portrait and the fleeting nature of life closer

    Refers to a projected family photograph behind her and ties the show's title poem back to loss, the death of her brother, and coming to terms with change.

How it plays

Tone
Raw, darkly funny, warm, and poignant.
On stage
Candid, conversational, self-deprecating, and dryly sarcastic, delivered with her trademark rolling, lilting cadence.
Pace
Fast, sharp, and physically loose, opening with high-energy maraca dancing before moving smoothly between easygoing audience banter and thoughtful, poignant reflections.
About
grief and family death, early menopause and aging, female sexuality and bodily changes, romantic relationships, impermanence and personal change

What the critics said

Lauded by critics for turning a devastating personal year into comedic gold, seamlessly blending razor-sharp, vulgar humor with touching emotional vulnerability.

In the room: Warm and highly engaged, responding enthusiastically to extensive crowd interactions and frank personal disclosures.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: thetvdb.com, token.com.au, nuxt-movies.nuxt.dev, cinegraph.org, australianstage.com.au, theage.com.au, scenestr.com.au, offtheleash.net.au, en.wikipedia.org, smh.com.au.

Backstory

Conceived following an atrocious 2014 marked by early-onset menopause and the death of her brother Niall from cancer. The title is taken from a 12th-century Sufi poem by Attar of Nishapur concerning the relentless, fleeting nature of change and impermanence.

Details

Released
Taped
Comedy Theatre
Runtime
75 min
Where
Stan
Honors
Winner, Best Live Comedy - Helpmann Awards (2015)
Topics
Before
Just for Laughs (TV Special 2002) (2002)
After
Judith Lucy vs Men (2020)

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