Judith at Melb writers festival

[Pete the Clown]

Judith is appearing as a guest at 2 shows/appearance at the Melbourne Writer festival. On Saturday 23rd August between 11:30-12:30 at BMW Edge at Fed Square she will be appearing in Getting Personal where she, David Sedaris and Nam Le discuss mining the personal in their books with Jason Steger. And on Friday the 29th August at the same venue between 7-8 p.m in the show name Alphabetic disorder, it's blog ijn the Age's offical guide said "In this anecdotal monologue based on her memoir, The Lucy Family Alphabet, Judith Lucy blows all the family secrets". I think tixs are about $20 for each show.

[menagers]

Do you have a link Pete? I'm very keen to get some tix. Thanks for the heads up.

Judith will love this, she's a big fan of Sedaris. That would be good value.

[Pete the Clown]

Ask and you shou receive

Getting personal (Sold out by the looks of it)
http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_events.asp?name=2312

Alphabetic Disorder
http://www.mwf.com.au/2008/content/mwf_2008_events.asp?name=2917

[13 schoolyards]

Yeah, Getting Personal is sold out, and Alphabet Disorder is co-hosted by Fiona Scott-Norman. So no seeing Judith at the Writer's Festival for me, dammit.

[menagers]

I thought you might take umbrage at her description of "fellow comedian". A STRETCH MUCH? I sense some history schoolyards ;-), one day I'll get you to spill the beans!

It turns out that I'm not going either. My husband has some date with his man friends at some brewery.

[13 schoolyards]

No real history (well, there was an office party once...), I'm just not a fan. So much so that I'd be unable to enjoy Jude through the red mist. I'm really annoyed, as otherwise I could (for once) easily make that gig. Grrr.

[Pete the Clown]

I'm jacked because I saw Judith and Sederis advertised in the guide I saw it in about a week and half ago but didn't do anything about it till yesterday like booking tixs and his 3 shows are all sold out. Damn and blast.

[menagers]

No real history (well, there was an office party once...)

Oh, I could so tell! :-)

[13 schoolyards]

I knew that's what you'd think if I put it that way - but no, we just talked. I was actually coming out of a v. bad break-up so I was probably a bit more snarky than I needed to be. But still, what do you say to a woman who says "so, your whole deal is telling the truth, right?" "Sorry, no, I'm A LIAR?!?"

Also, crap DJ.

[menagers]

I'm sorry for being such a cheeky chopper.

[13 schoolyards]

Hey, feel free to dig deep - my lame brushes with half-arsed 'celebrities' is pretty much all I have to offer conversation-wise. Apart from irrational rage towards said celebrities. I'm sorry, but she really gives me the irrits. Which is a shame, as I really wanted to see Judith... maybe I should just lurk around afterwards...

[Pete the Clown]

I went to the Judith Lucy book talk on Friday night. The most interest things from the night was how in her routine a few years back when she told how she slept witha male prostitute for $648 and afterwards males would came up to her to talk to her about there experiences with those services and Greg Fleet said to her after he mention it to him 'Well Judith, if you were desperate for a root I would have done it for a flat $500." The final question of the audience Q and A was an Irish guy about 60 years old who asked Judith "Should I give up the drink?" Her response "Are you F&(*ing crazy ?" Someone asked what her brother's reponse to the book has been and there seems to be a bit of distance between her and her brother at the moment as Judith know he has read the book and hasn't express to her a opinion about the book. This question was asked back in May at Readings and she said that he was fine with her writing the book but hadn't heard what he was thinking back then.

Spoke to her afterward after all the people had lined up and had there book signed (she remembered me not by name and the phrase "champagne comedy") said I really enjoyed the book and told how a reader on this forum (13) wanted to buy her a house after reading it which she took a good review. Said she seeing Tony the next day and guessed that his next book won't be out until early next year and she will be doing a show at the Melb comedy festival next year.

[13 schoolyards]

Thanks for the report - now I wish I'd gone...

I actually gave Judith's book a good review for real in The Big Issue when it came out - and (now that the issue has been and gone) here it is:



Book review: The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy (Penguin)

All families are pretty weird if you look close enough. But as fans of her comedy know, not many families were as weird as Judith Lucy’s. Her father’s fondness for wearing make-up, her mother’s habit of encasing everything in Glad-Wrap, the fact she found out she was adopted from her brother’s wife during a family Xmas at the age of 25; she’s mined her family to great effect in her act and if you’re after more bizarre Lucy business this memoir doesn’t disappoint.

What does surprise is the depth of feeling running throughout this book. Lucy’s always been amazingly open about her life in her comedy, but in the past she’s mostly played her family’s quirks for laughs. Here the comedy is balanced with often painful insights into her family dynamics and a fierce and clear-eyed love for both her (now deceased) adoptive parents despite their many, often hilarious, faults.

As raw and as honest as the best memoirs (but with more stories about blowing air up a cat’s bum than most), the result is a “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry” triumph, both powerfully sad and hysterically funny.

Four stars

[half goon half god]

Hm, that would have been an interesting talk. Not only Judith, but David Sedaris as well. I've read 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and have almost finished his latest one 'When You Are Engulfed In Flames', and I quite like his writing style. I imagine he would have had some interesting things to say about writing about his personal and family life.