Comedian Judith Lucy, 57, reveals dire conditions at her rental home where she’s been left without electricity and trapped inside for days by a broken door after retiring from stand-up

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Judith Lucy has shared her negative experiences with Melbourne’s rental market. 

This week, the popular Australian comedian shared a video on Instagram explaining that she’s been stuck inside her house without power after a screen door jammed shut.

The 57-year-old jokingly described her rental home as ‘The House of Sh*t’ in a video clip.

She explained that she’d had the plumber, Tom, out to the house four or five times since moving in just over a year ago – they’d become friendly enough to be on a first-name basis.

He noticed the problem when my toilet tank detached from the wall and tilted at a strange angle. It was so odd that using the toilet felt like stepping into a surreal painting, similar to those by Salvador Dali.

Recently, there was an electrical issue, and while I was massaging my lower back with a small ball against the living room wall, a section of it suddenly fell in.

Just last week, my friend Michelle literally had the doorknocker come off in her hand when she knocked,” Judith explained, showing me the rusty knocker she still had.

She went on: ‘Then the lock came off the front gate, then the front fell off the kitchen drawer.

Last week, I found my front screen door stuck, and it took three days to fix. I was essentially trapped inside my house during that time because I couldn’t get it open.

I had someone come look at my washing machine last Friday, but it turns out the machine itself wasn’t the problem – the laundry room just doesn’t have any power.

Judith finished by saying she felt lucky to have a place to live, given Australia’s difficult housing situation. She jokingly added that she was even thinking about living in an old chest of drawers she saw on the street, suggesting it might be a safer option.

In 2022, Lucy announced she was retiring from stand-up comedy after 35 years on the road.

The comedian previously announced she was finished with all the traveling and wanted to focus on other things in her life.

‘I started doing comedy before I lost my virginity,’ she told ABC Everyday. 

Relationships, both romantic and platonic, and even personal milestones have changed over time. But one thing has remained constant: my passion for performing stand-up comedy on stage.

‘Until (drum roll) now.’ 

The comedian, known for her work on The Late Show, announced she’s stepping away from performing live shows because it was negatively affecting her happiness.

She still wanted to continue creating and performing, but she no longer wanted a career that felt self-destructive or required extreme sacrifice to achieve success.

In her statement, Lucy expressed regret over the impact her career had had on her personal life.

She shared that she’s leaving stand-up comedy, something that has been a huge part of who she is.

For many, the most important things in life are their spouse and family. I suspect the reason I don’t have those is connected to the career I’m ending.

Lucy explained that her work as a comedian actually increased her anxiety, which led her to make choices that weren’t good for her health.

She explained that for a long time, she’d been very critical of the ways she used to cope with difficult feelings, like drinking, smoking, using drugs, or losing herself in television.

I never really thought about why I was doing those things, but it turned out to be a way of dealing with the stress from work. It let me escape for a little while, and then I could face it all again.

Even after saying she was retiring, Judith returned to performing in 2023, appearing in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days. She followed that up with a role in the comedy show Menopausal Night Out in 2024.

Judith rose to fame as a cast member on ABC comedy series The Late Show in 1993.

Her comedy album King of the Road was nominated for an ARIA Award in 1998.

She first became well-known in the early 2000s as a frequent guest on the Rove show, and more recently gained a large following as a regular on The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, starting in 2019.

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2026-03-24 14:35