Five minutes into Denise Scott’s latest show, the whole audience is relaxed.  Ah, the familiar comfort of knowing you are in safe hands.  No wondering if the show will go off the rails, no worry you might have to force a laugh or two out to offer a performer some reassurance, no fear you are going to be bored twenty minutes down the track. Consumate performer from beginning to end, Scott starts an audience laughing strong, and keeps them happy the whole way through, as only a seasoned professional can.  And no, that’s not just a polite way of saying she’s old.  Or old-hat.  She’s still packing in audiences because she’s been funny for all these years.

Sharing the stories of her time in the family home at Number 26, Scott is completely at ease in her dressing gown and slippers as she sits at the kitchen table. We might not all fit around it, but its hard not to feel as though you really are just sitting opposite her without the hundred or so other audience members for most of this show. As we all sit holding our aching sides, Scott plays hostess in the best possible way, serving up family history that is funny in the way that only real experiences can be. From their early days in the house with a young family to the current situation; trying to kick the overgrown baby-birds out in order to become pleasantly free empty-nesters, Scott shares (and sometimes overshares) the family life which has taken place inside the walls of Number 26, knocking a few skeletons out of the closet along the way.

More than just a collection of family tales, Scott manages to tie together the mundane everyday of a house in suburbia with the sometimes sharp reality that exists behind all our front doors. Raising two children, keeping together a marriage, taking care of aging parents, building a career for herself and supporting her husband’s career has provided plenty of fodder for Scott’s cheeky and insightful comedy. While most of us probably haven’t had to share our significant other with a children’s circus (or the parents of circus kids), we relate to the all-to-human emotions and reactions of Scott. Our laughter comes from the recognition of our own jealousies, or ambitions, or struggles in the face of the reality of our sometimes complicated lives.

Peering inside Number 26 we can see a house and a life not so different from our own. What we also find is a storyteller able to cut through those day-to-day experiences and see the lighter side. Or perhaps just as enjoyably, the darker side we can all find funny. Whether you, like Denise Scott, are trying to clear the family house out a little to finally enjoy it on your own, or you’re one of the children taking advantage of the comforts of home a little longer than your parents might have expected, you’re sure to find a lot to enjoy about this slice of suburban storytelling.