Denise Scott: Fringe 2012
Live Review
Assembly Hall

Denise Scott – aka Scotty – is an Australian comedy veteran with a high level of success down under. This makes her Fringe debut, at the tender age of 57, all the more unusual.

The show is about her life's regrets, told as a series of intimate and sometimes hilarious stories. Scotty is like an inappropriate aunty; liberally applying self-deprecatory humour to her tales of reckless abandon, of which there are many.

It's clear she's lived a full life and the regrets range from not having sex with a boy at age 16 to forgetting she's no longer young while on the road in her 50s. Each story gets progressively more outrageous, with vomit being a recurring theme.

A natural wit, her banter is unrivalled especially when given an audience of ardent Australian fans. Scotty has no problem taking an empty seat and chatting to her audience, and she has the experience to pull it off seamlessly. Unusually for stand-up, it was disappointing not to see more interaction.

There are few categorisable jokes in the hour, with laughter stemming mainly from the banter and stories which are delivered in a chatty and engaging way. Scotty knows how to spin a yarn and paces each one well, but some are definitely embellished for comic effect.

Scotty's personality is warm and inviting which works perfectly with the embarrassing nature of most of the regrets. You feel for her missteps and sympathise with her occasional rants on issues such as the minimiser bra and gluten intolerance, which break up the stories.

It's a good-natured set, but it's more an enjoyable experience than continuous hilarity. The jokes themselves are usually predictable and naff, but it's clear they're more an afterthought and the focus is on entertainment not straight comedy. Still, if you had to make a list of your life's regrets, seeing Denise Scott would definitely not feature.