After confronting her own mortality, Denise Scott has emerged with a new appreciation for life – and for comedy.

The much-loved comedian was diagnosed with triple-positive breast cancer in 2023, beginning a gruelling period of treatment.

Now recovered, the 71-year-old says her approach to stand-up has “changed remarkably” after more than 40 years making Australians laugh with her razor-sharp wit and unflinching honesty.

“I always didn’t have a lot of time for bullshit, but now I’ve got no time. And unfortunately, I might tell someone that to their face,” she said with laughter.

The experience has made Scott less tolerant of things that don’t matter, a shift that has helped inspire her show, Tickety Boo.

Previously, Scott treated putting together a comedy show like preparing for an exam, spending “hours each day” at her desk, painstakingly crafting material until it was perfect.

“Then I would spend days, if not weeks, absolutely terrified in the fetal position, that it was going to be a failure, that I’d failed, that it wasn’t funny,” she said.

“But since cancer – it could even be laziness, maybe I just can’t be f***ed – but I work completely differently.”

These days, Scott knows the stories she wants to tell, but is happy to leave some of the details to unfold on stage.

“I look forward to doing my shows. I used to live in fear of it and have nothing but bad anxiety about it,” she said.

“And now, post cancer, because work does take a lot out of me now, I think, ‘If I’m not going to enjoy this, then there is absolutely no point in doing it’.”

The comedian’s brush with mortality also gave her an unexpected sense of calm about death. While she “wasn’t scared”, it did come with some financial concerns.

At one point, Scott became so convinced she might not survive that she began thinking about her partner of 46 years, John, moving on with someone else.

She was happy for him to find love again, but wasn’t quite so comfortable with the prospect of his new partner inheriting her hard-earned cash.

“So we gave all our money to our kids. And then I lived. And I really regretted it. It’s like, hang on a minute, I want to use that to go around the world,” she said.

While Scott briefly found peace with the idea of dying, surviving cancer has seen her return to being “absolutely terrified” of death.

The emotional rollercoaster has provided the inspiration for Tickety Boo, her first solo show in a decade, which marks her return to the stage after performing alongside Judith Lucy.

Blending observational comedy with personal reflections on cancer, resilience and life, the show finds Scott mining even the most difficult experiences for humour.

After performing sold-out shows in 2025, Scott will take Tickety Boo to Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Geelong, Wyong, Caloundra, Warragul and Bendigo in 2027.

She will also perform at the Sydney Comedy Festival on April 30 and May 1.

“I honestly love my hour and a quarter with the audience. And that’s pretty amazing,” she said.

“Being in a room and laughing with people all together is really uplifting. I highly recommend it.”

Also check out ‘Strap in’: Judith Lucy reveals cancer diagnosis