I had the joy of reading Denise Scott’s stunning, honest, hilarious and deeply moving autobiography All that Happened at Number 26 over Christmas and recommend it to all comedy fans. It lays bare the struggles of a talented couple trying to make a living as artists while raising children and holding down a mortgage in a hideous run down house in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. I’m not surprised that Denise developed it into a comedy festival show, but I was curious to find out how she was going to squeeze all that gold into one hour.
Denise has been gathering fans of her work for decades and was welcomed on stage to rapturous applause. In a big fluffy dressing gown and warm slippers, she sat at a formica kitchen table on a decoupaged wooden chair (which will be familiar to her readers) and chatted comfortably with us as if we were friends popping round for a cuppa. The dressing gown featured heavily in the book, she wore it a lot and occasionally shared it with her husband John, in it’s pocket she often hid her sneaky cigarettes and also a secret note that nearly destroyed her marriage. Denise has definitely put a lot of thought and work into this fabulous show.
She had clearly decided to leave out the fascinating insights into her career and I can’t help but think that they might make a nice show on their own one day. Instead Denise sagely concentrated on her family life, from early motherhood with eczema covered babies, to trying to give up smoking, surviving the rocky bit in her marriage, coping with adult kids at home and putting her dementia afflicted mum (a retired nurse) into a nursing home. It was a joy for me to see her act out many of the episodes and gleefully ham it up playing the part of the hard smoking nurse friends of her mum and the flirty young mums doting on her charismatic husband. She also performed some dazzling musical numbers, including one that had been written with her son, a surprise guest voice from the ABC and a hilarious grand finale that beautifully encapsulated her big, crazy, showbiz driven, mundane, suburban life.
If you’ve been meaning to see Denise Scott do a festival show, this is definitely the one to see. If you don’t know her work, this is a great way to get to know her. She’s apparently had four nominations for The Barry Award in the past, I have my fingers crossed that this show might just win it for her. Go and see Number 26 and while you’re at it pop out and buy her book. After this show you will surely want to.
Visit the Comedy Festival Website for booking details.