Pity the lot of the working stand-up comics. Out in the trenches killing people with laughter from town to town, working their way up to theatres and national television exposure. Do they get stopped on the street? Does anyone remember their name? Not so much.

Todd Allen knows this all too well. The 29-year-old comedian has played the prestigious Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, had his own Comedy Now! TV special, and earlier this year became the first Vancouver-based comic to appear on a U.S. late night talk show when he guested on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

"I'm no different than any other comedian in Canada trying to carve out a career," he says. "Some of my credits are pretty fancy-dancy but nobody knows who the hell I am."

And that's the premise of his new one-man show, premiering at Studio 16 during the Fringe Fest. Who the Hell is Todd Allen? allows the Victoria native to tell stories about his life without the rat-a-tat delivery that is often expected in stand-up shows.

"It's still very funny but I don't feel the pressure right away to have to give a really quick dumb joke so that they know I'm funny. You have a little bit more leeway with a show like this. It's not so much, 'What have you done for me in the last four seconds?'"

Allen says that much of the show will be based on his stand-up act and characters he's developed over the years, admitting that the difference between his club act and the one-man show is maybe imperceptible.

"It may be more for the performer than the audience what the difference is. It's kind of self-indulgent doing a one-man show. Even stand-up itself is quite self-indulgent, I think. 'Who the hell is this guy to be doing this?'"

He got the idea when he started experimenting with using no microphone doing his act. As subtle as that may seem, he felt he was able to better communicate with the crowd. And the idea cemented when he saw Henry Rollins perform.

"I was blown away," he recalls. "His stories are very engaging and very funny. And he's obviously trying to communicate his thoughts and feelings to an audience as opposed to just trying to get a reaction out of them like stereotypical stand-up comedy does. I still like stand-up, obviously, but I find that there's some meaning in trying to communicate with people."

It's all part of his love-hate relationship with his chosen profession. In his eight years of stand-up, he says he's quit probably 17 times. What keeps him coming back?

"It's just better than everything else, you know?"

ON STAGE

Who the Hell is Todd Allen?

Where: Studio 16, 1565 W. 7th Ave.

When: Sept. 6-14