"I think after a certain age, women are really meant to hang their vaginas up, or at least not really talk about the fact that they're still sexual."

Judith Lucy is considering giving up on relationships, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to ditch men.

The comedian is currently single and 50 and last year sat down to take a good, hard look at how she got to this point and if it was where she really wanted to be.

"I had a bad break-up last year — although honestly is there such a thing as a good break-up? There isn't," she said.

"I generally dealt with it very well … then one night I did go out and have a couple of drinks.

"I woke up the next morning with the hangover. I spent hours lying in bed just staring at the ceiling and that's what I did, I reviewed my entire history with men."

And when she says entire history, she means it.

Lucy thought about her relationship with her dad. Her friendships in primary school. How well she got on with male colleagues. And, of course, about her crushes and one-night stands.

"And spoiler alert, it's not very good. It's terrible. It's really bad. So I thought maybe it's just time to shut up shop," she concluded.

Her piercing introspection and self-appraisal form the basis of her new stand-up show, Judith Lucy vs Men, which Lucy is about to tour nationally.

She is publicly inviting the country to assess her dating life and cast judgement on whether she should continue to seek a relationship.

Lucy is not a fan of dating apps — "I'm old fashioned" — and is sick of reading articles with tips for being sexy after 50, with pearlers like "eat a bowl of organic fruit".

The show is pitched as part satire, part personal exposé, but for Lucy there is also a slightly more serious message to be shared.

"I may be trying to question some of the male behaviour as well," she said.

"I am also trying to look at gender stereotypes and I'm also trying to look at why I have made the decisions I've made."

The escort experience

Among those decisions is the time Lucy sought the services of a male escort.

It was a bit over two decades ago when she was 27 and found herself in what was described as a "female sensuality shop".

"I saw a bunch of cards for a male escort service for women called Heaven on Earth … it should have been called 'What on Earth' after my experience," she recalls.

Lucy was upfront with the escort that she was a comedian and the experience would likely provide some on-stage material.

The escort agreed and the date was on. Lucy describes the experience like this:

So he came over and the deal was it was for two hours. And so by the time two hours had rolled around we've drank a bottle of wine, I had asked him a whole bunch of questions and of course I'm thinking, well I paid the money, I may as well. And so we did. We did have sex and it was just kind of like a really average one-night stand. The only thing he did that was a bit different was he actually carried me to the bed, which just made me feel like I was in that film An Affair to Remember after she had been hit by the car. And then the thing that I remember being really upset about was when he went to leave he had this silver briefcase and he opened it and he had all these kinds of gadgets in there, handcuffs and all sorts of things. The only thing that ever came out that he used for me was his credit card swipe. The whole thing cost me $648, and that's 20-odd years ago, so I think we can say I was certainly screwed.

Fast forward some years and Lucy gives no hint of bashfulness about the story.

Nor is she going to shy away from the experiences that have helped shape who she is.

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"You know, I want to talk about the fact that I'm single and 50 and I still want to have sex," she said.

"I don't know that I want to be in a relationship, but I'm pretty determined to feel good about my life as it is."

As for her new show and what people should take from hearing these stories?

"All I can do is what I've always done, which is to tell my story and be honest," she said.

"I guess I hope people walk out of there feeling good about the choices that they've made, or maybe questioning some of the choices they might have made as well."