Following huge success at this years Melbourne Comedy Festival, Judith Lucy and Denise Scott have decided to bring their highly acclaimed show ‘The Spiral’ to Perth. The seasoned comedians have been around the traps for decades and are still bringing high energy, comedic genius to Australian audiences nationwide.

- Advertisement -

Denise Scott chatted on the phone to OUTinPerth’s Nadine Walker about what the show entails, being a narcissist in showbiz, and how gay men loving taking their mums to her shows.

Whereabouts are you today?

I’m in Sydney today, Judith and I are doing the show!

How did you come about meeting Judith and what made you decide to work with her on the show?

I first met her when we started so 24 years ago, 25 years ago, I saw her doing stand up comedy in Melbourne and she was twirling a stick of salami over her head and I thought well there’s someone that’s never going to make it in comedy.

See with that I would have argued that she would make it in comedy!

I never thought she’d make it! Then not long after that we started seeing one another at gigs and it wasn’t until 1999 we finally did a show together then and really enjoyed working with one another. We did another show in 2003, but that was the last time.

Talk to me about the show, ‘The Spiral’.  

It’s one long advertorial for our books! That’s what it is! We’ve both written second memoirs and we both went into a spiral of self loathing like we’d never experienced so we’d meet and have long lunches involving much wine and after you get through a bit of wine you think ‘oh what a great idea for a show’, it’s got everything, Nadine, we’ve got video, dance, stand up, book reading, costume change, there’s a very dramatic costume change, it really is a highlight.

Does you feel a bit narcissistic at times?!

Oh we’re never narcissistic… no one’s ever picked up that that’s what it is! You’re perceptive, Nadine! [laughs]

[Laughs] I think it’s interesting about anyone that does performance, you do have to be a bit narcissistic, you have to self promote and talk about yourself a lot.

Yes! Especially in comedy, in fact, it’s almost the opposite with Judith and I where we’re like, could we talk anymore about ourselves, and we don’t we think we’ve got much more in us actually, as far as talking about ourselves goes. It’s really great working with Judith, we’re really enjoying having company on stage because we’re on stage together the whole time, we’re really loving it, that’s the part we love.

Do you have a natural chemistry?

When we started off we wanted to write a really loose show, really loose, but we didn’t know how to write a loose show so we did the opposite and wrote every syllable and every word of it and did a trial show and it was disgustingly bad. The audience were mystified, Judith and I were more mystified, so we started shedding bits of it, we’ve got very little of the original script left. There are sections where it’s totally improvised and others where it’s scripted and tight.

What’s the most awkward thing that’s happened to you whilst on stage?

To us both? During this show we did have a man run from the theatre, like run, run, down the aisle and everyone could see this, it wasn’t long after we started, then he did try sneak back in 20 minutes later and I said ‘what’s going on?’ and he said ‘bad curry’, and then in a really big moment in the show, he took off again.

You must be flattered though to be fair!

Yeah! He came back the second time as well! We’ve had a lot of fun in this show actually, where Judith talks to young people about pubic hair and why would anyone have no pubic hair down there, why would you ever choose that, and this quite middle aged woman at the back of the theatre yelled out cunnilingus! It was like, wow! Okay! Well! We had a tiny ten year old girl sitting in the second row at one of the shows which is awkward let me tell you, its not a show for ten year old, but anyway, other people had paid so off we went, did our show, knowing we destroyed their life, I just consoled myself with the thought there is always councillors.

Is there such a thing as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from a Judith and Denise show?

Yes, definitely! A lot of mothers and daughters come to the show or mothers and adults sons; I suspect the boys are gay though. I suspect that men in their late 20’s that come to the show with their mother, like our show, are probably gay boys.

How was the Melbourne Comedy Festival?

Oh it was wonderful! We got to perform at the Princess Theatre which is an absolutely theatre, it’s a 1500 seater, and we had to do extra shows Nadine! Talk about narcissistic! I couldn’t fit my head through doors it was so big. I really did enjoy it I’m 58 now and I’ve occasionally I’ve had shows that do really well audience number wise, this was just glorious though, I’m not taking it for granted at all.

Absolutely! Have you got any surprises up your sleeve for the Perth audiences?

There are always surprises; we’ve got a couple of doozey surprises with this show, real doozeys. One of the surprises, let’s just say the costume change; it enables people to leave the theatre feeling so much better about themselves.

What’s next for you after this?

We’ve just finished filming season three of Winners and Losers, which starts on TV next week. What I want to do is start writing a new stage show, I’m not sure what yet, I really like doing the stage work.

Maybe just start with your name and do a brainstorm from there.

[Laughs] Hey! You’re onto it. You are onto it.

Nadine Walker

Read More

09-08-2011   Sister Judith

06-03-2009   Judith Lucy is Seriously Funny