Comma, article & new sentence

[bmo]

"Hey, John, do you think people will like a referendum?"
"Well, I don't know, this will be a first time; the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let's wait and see."

(1). Do you need a comma after Hey?
(2). There are two "a"s, should the second one be changed to "the?"
(3). Last sentence beginniong with "Let," should this even be a new sentence, or just be part of last sentence, with a comma preceding it?
(4). Anything else wrong I did not see?

Thanks.

BMO

[RonBee]

Re:

"Hey, John, do you think people will like a referendum?"

<<(1). Do you need a comma after Hey?>>

There should be a comma after "Hey". The comma indicates the pause that would be there in speech.

Re:

"Hey, John, do you think people will like a referendum?"
"Well, I don't know, this will be a first time; the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let's wait and see."

<<(2). There are two "a"s, should the second one be changed to "the?">>

Yes. "This will be a first time" is not natural.

"Let's wait and see" is fine as is.

<<(4). Anything else wrong I did not see?>>

Try: "Do you think people would like a referendum?" (Or: would like to have a referendum)

[Tdol]

Try 'this will be a first' instead.

[bmo]

Try 'this will be a first' instead.

Thanks to RonBee and Tdol. BMO

[Tdol]

You're welcome.