Stand and Deliver!

What a joy Episode 35 was to do!

Judith Lucy agreed to come in and co-host. Now, Judith is someone I've been familiar with since her days on The Late Show on the ABC, one of the later members of the D-Generation, but one that didn't quite make it to The Panel. She always seemed to be part of a sub-unit with Mick Molloy and Tony Martin, so it's no surprise that she wound up as leading lady in their first films, Crackerjack and Bad Eggs, respectively (playing leading lady opposite Mick Molloy).

If you're a fan, you'll know that Judith Lucy is always a joy to watch - that each stand-up show is always better than the last, but that each show seems to grow out of great personal misfortune. In the past, her shows have involved: discovery of her own adoption, well into adulthood, at a family Christmas; the time she paid for the services of a male prostitute; how she dealt with her mother's death. This time round, she deals with a horrible year trying to succeed in commercial radio in Sydney; unfortunately, the breakfast shift she co-hosted with Kaz Cooke and Peter Helliar didn't rate sufficiently. Lucy and Helliar were moved to drivetime. Eventually, Lucy was sacked. And so her show is called I Failed!

This episode features an excerpt from I Failed! - as featured in Judith's set at the 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala. (And, as previously played on Episode 32 of Radio Ha Ha – when we were showcasing the nominees for the 2006 Helpmann Award for Comedy, of whom Judith Lucy is one.) Judith discusses the process of preparing a set for the Gala, some of what may or may not go on backstage, and some of the issues surround I Failed!, the show, and the hell year that inspired it.

In addition to Judith Lucy, this episode also features a great interview with Wil Anderson who, between appearing at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, spent five days doing ten sold out performances of his current show Wil Communication at the Newtown RSL. Like Judith Lucy, Wil Anderson has stopped doing breakfast radio and begun concentrating more seriously on his comedy. We discusses the effect of that on his work, as well as talking about his 'youth' audience and his Today Tonight-publicised spat with Shannon Knoll.

And to kick off proceedings, more of the stand-up of Mat Kenneally is featured at the beginning of the show. If you'll recall, some of Mat's material got a run last week. Then he was talking about terrorism and public transport. This time, he's talking about drinking.

Once again, there is a transcript of the episode available for perusal.

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