By Darren Gilbert

However, Allen isn’t your usual, run-of-the-mill comedian.

From doctor to comedian

A medically-trained doctor and having worked around the world and in different environments, Allen hasn’t followed a conventional route into comedy. Having said that, what is conventional when you speak about comedy. As Allen points out, the appeal of stand-up comedy was the fact that there is a low barrier of entry – you don’t need any qualifications. It’s what had him interested as well as the fact that growing up, Allen tended to look at things from a comedic point of view. You could say that he was born for it.

However, to say that getting in and setting himself up was easy is far from the truth. “I dived into the Cape Town comedy scene, which is very competitive. The initial reaction when I came in was people didn’t believe I could do it. I’m in my 60s so a lot people thought it was a bit strange and that I would drop out.” A year later, Allen is still going strong and while it was a lot of emailing and asking comedy clubs to give him slots in the beginning, nowadays, he’s getting the much sought-after invites.

Today, if you ask him what he does, he’ll tell you he’s a comedian but he’s humble about it: “It sounds arrogant to call myself a comedian because I haven’t proven myself. But that is what I do. I go and do gigs. I do stand-up. I am doing comedy almost full-time.” However, to say this is where he plans to settle, you’d be mistaken.

Not just a comedian

“I am a comedy writer,” says Allen. “I like the writing, I enjoy the writing.” That means that while he plans to work the Cape Town comedy scene for as long as he can, he hopes to capitalise on his current momentum. He also has specific goals in mind and he’s not afraid to go for it. “My business model is Defending the Caveman. I would like to see my work out there. Beside I am a writer, primarily. I don’t have to be the big star – if I do well that’s great. But if I can do something like that, that would be first prize for me.”

Allen is of course referring to his one-man show, Free the Fetus, which is different to his usual stand-up routine. “A lot of stand-up comedians, when they do their shows, its bits and pieces of their stand-up gigs whereas I wanted something a little more focused.” Whether Allen can begin dreaming about his next step depends largely on his next stop, a small town in the Eastern Cape known for supporting the arts.

Next stop the National Arts Festival

Grahamstown is where Allen is hoping his show will find a receptive audience as he plans to perform at the 2014 National Arts Festival. “I am really looking forward to [performing there]. In terms of going to a place like that, it’s a huge opportunity.”

“I have two goals. The first is to make it a success so that people will invite me to other venues. I would really like to tour with Free the Fetus. The other thing is to get people to notice that maybe I can write because I’d like to do some writing for other things like sitcoms.”

A one-hour show that consists of around 8000 words – Allen’s Free the Fetus is fairly self-explanatory; it’s doctor humour. “It’s based on how the fetus has such a terrible time. It takes you from conception and does involve a little bit of dirty stuff (obviously) but it’s not gratuitous. And then it goes right through pregnancy and then obviously labour and then why we as humans have evolved with such a barbaric practice. And then I have a solution at the end which is a bit ‘science-fictiony’.”

It’s an interesting premise and considering the fact that there are not that many medical comedians on the scene, Allen is poised to carve out a niche for himself and set himself apart from everyone else.

*Scott Allen is set to perform seven slots during the 2014 National Arts Festival. To find out more about him, visit www.scottallencomedy.com. To find out where he will be performing at the festival, visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za. The 2014 National Arts Festival takes place from Thursday, 3 to Sunday, 13 July.