Michaela and I went to see a really great show tonight at Belvoir Street called Page 8.

Actually, Michaela had seen the show before, though she noted it was “different tonight”.

“It’s always evolving in some ways”, a friend of the actor who features in the show told us later in the night.

In essence, it’s a one-man show, and a largely auto-biographical piece about David Page, growing up in Brisbane (and nearby Beaudesert) during the 1960s and 1970s.

There’s a lot of humour in this piece based in everyday observations about life in Brisbane during this time, and which I related to.

David talks for example about his mother washing clothes in the copper. Coppers no longer exist, I think, but for many Australians for many years, the copper was how you washed your clothes, with the water heated by a fire underneath. One of my earliest memories is of having a bath in the copper in the backyard.

There are also some gratuitous mentions of Brisbane locations including “Cloudland” with its famous sprung dance floor, Mount Gravatt (which is near to where my sister has lived for almost forty years), and one of the pubs where he performed as a youngster.

The storyline follows the career path of David who began his life on the stage as “Little Davy Page”, a short-lived career which included a single and appearances on televsion including Countdown and “The Paul Hogan Show”.

I had absolutely no memory of David as a “teenage pop star” until some of the footage was shown, and then it all came flooding back.

The show lasts about 1 hr 40 without a break. David sings, tells stories, dances, and even does a bit of drag. Overall, a really entertaining evening.

And especially since we had dinner at Mohr Fish, a great little place on Devonshire Street which has been there for ages, and which still, consistently, delivers a great fish and chips.

Over dinner, we also chatted for a while about my new job which, unofficially I commence tomorrow, looking after the networked content of ABC Local Radio.

This year, it’s been Sydney, then NSW, and now National programs. What’s next? Sweden obviously… :)