I wondered for just a brief moment tonight if I should be concerned that I’ve just had dinner two nights in a row at Opera Bar.

Last night I went to The Helpmann Awards, and tonight Damo and I went to see Judith Lucy.

As we waited for the show to commence we struggled to remember the last time we had been to see her perform.

For some odd reason, we’ve remembered every time we’ve seen Wil Anderson, including just a few weeks ago, but struggled to remember exactly when we’ve seen Judith, though we both knew we had on a few occasions.

It’s a shame since she’s an absolutely terrific performer. Tonight’s show must have gone 70 to 80 minutes, and she never dropped a beat in what was obviously a well-rehearsed show.

But obviously not so well-rehearsed that she couldn’t be spontaneous. There was a terrific moment when a pair of late-comers arrived at the show, and in typical comedian style, she asked them why they were late. The woman replied she had lost a couple of diamond rings in the toilets. “Let’s forget the fucking show”, she said, “let’s go looking for those rings”.

She says “fuck” a lot by the way. And she also said “cunt” a few times too. But she does it with such honesty, and without any sense of it being gratuitous, oddly enough.

At one point she noted she had been performing as a comedian for twenty years.

This surprised Damo, as he noted, “She must have started very young, and yet she’s always seemed quite old”.

He’s right about that. I get the sense she was always a grown-up from childhood. Maybe that’s why both of us connect to her?

And you get the sense from her act that she’s obviously struggled with some things throughout her life, including obviously the booze, and some self-esteem issues.

Maybe comedy is the way in which she makes sense of her life? Or maybe I’m just reading too much into her act?

Maybe I should just accept it as great comedy, which it is.

So yes, it’s my second night out in a row. And it ain’t over yet. Tomorrow night I’m off to see a new Australian film The Stone Bros.

All of this in a week when I’ve started to act in a new job. Life is rich and busy at the moment.

Dinner tonight, by the way, was the beef cheeks. Not as good as last night’s ravioli.