"Well, did we go to LC, or did we go the Gorge?" Gay said slyly.

"We went to Duck Reach almost every day. And Nick's Bar. It was the best bar ever in the eighties."

"It was next to the Saloon in Charles Street, it was a tiny, tiny little bar with the coolest guys and lots of music," Adkins said, reminiscing at a different bar in Launceston, decades later.

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Adkins is a comedian, television actress and radio host who most recently played Neighbourhood Watch tyrant Olive in Rosehaven, while Gay is a theatre actress and stand-up comedian who recently had a role in TV show The Gloaming.

A series of misunderstandings led to an estrangement between the pair and they drifted apart about ten years ago - until Gay contacted Adkins out of the blue with an idea for a live comedy show.

"Kerry got a job on The Gloaming, and one of my best mates who lives in Sydney is in it," Adkins said.

"They got talking and they were talking about writing and he said, 'Gabe loves writing', and all of a sudden I got a text from Kerri out of the blue saying, 'Would you consider doing the Hobart fringe festival with me?' And I said, 'Without a doubt'. From the first moment I said, 'Yeah, absolutely I would'."

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The result, Man v Dog, involves a lovesick Adkins being counselled by Gay while they are sitting in the front row in a theatre, necking from a bottle they've snuck in to their seats.

The through line of the show is the pair weighing the benefits and disadvantages of getting a man, or getting a dog.

But it covers all sorts of things, that Adkins and Gay work-shopped over (at least one) bottle of wine, or emailed to each other when a funny bit struck them.

"We talk about things that women talk about in private," Gay said.

"It's really unusual for two women to do a show together. If you look it up, it's really rare. Comedy is changing, and we want to be a part of that.

"And we're not talking about our bodies, or menopause, or any of that - it's comedy theatre, more than stand-up. There's a narrative."

"There's a lot of truth to it," Adkins said. "The biggest laughs we got [at a trial run] were when people recognised themselves."

Man v Dog will play as part of festival Fringe at the Edge of the World in Hobart, at Grinners Bar on Saturday, January 11, at 9pm, and Sunday, January 12, at 6pm, tickets $20 through Trybooking.

It will then go to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, at the Burrow from March 25 to 29, tickets $30 through Trybooking.

There will be a Launceston show at the Royal Oak at 8pm on February 22, $20.