Denise Scott’s terrifying hitchhiking incident
Denise Scott is unquestionably one of the funniest comics working in Australia today, and is set for another bumper run at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018. But it all might have been very different according to a new interview in Now to Love, where the 62-year-old share details of a terrifying hitchhiking incident.
As a younger woman Scott was hitchhiking around France, with one rule in place – never get into a car with two men in it. But one day she broke the rule.
"They drove off the main road and down this bush road," Denise remembers.
"They were trying to tell me they were going to do some electrical work or something. And I kept saying, 'But I don't want to go with you. Please let me out.' And they didn't."
At the end of the long road, the men reportedly stopped the vehicle.
"They drove off the main road and down this bush road," Denise remembers.
"They were trying to tell me they were going to do some electrical work or something. And I kept saying, 'But I don't want to go with you. Please let me out.' And they didn't."
"I got out of the car," she says. "There was no-one around. It was so scary. I screamed and screamed, but they just stood there, looking at me.
"Then, they got out their electrical tools and started fixing the overhead wire. But they knew! They must have known they were terrifying me."
It was moments like this that led to Scott giving up hitchhiking.
But the travel world’s loss is the world of comedy’s gain, and Scott has turned her nerve and quick wit into a comedy career spanning the course of 30 years.
"It doesn't get easier," the 62-year-old said.
"You do get better, hopefully. But it's still very stressful."