Nicholas Parsons’ Happy Hour

As Nicholas Parsons saunters onstage in grey slacks, a scarlet blazer and a pair of impeccably shined loafers, he resembles nothing so much as an ageing Butlins redcoat. Very little happens over the ensuing hour to dispel this air of wholesome family fun.

This is, to all intents and purposes, a kind of Fringe chat-show: it's Parkinson at the Pleasance. Parsons begins by charming the proverbial pants off the ladies in the front row with a few minutes of questions, before further sweetening the audience by handing out tubes of Smarties. Then he welcomes the first of his two guests to the stage.

Glasgow’s Craig Hill emerges in a tasteful tight T-shirt and leather kilt combo to talk about this year’s show—his tenth consecutive year at the Fringe—and toss off a few light-hearted double-entendres (“Oh yes, I’m a big fan of diction…”) which the slightly older than average audience absolutely eats up. Impressively, Parsons actually manages to out-innuendo his guest by asking Hill exactly how he has managed to keep “packing them in for ten years.” Cue giggles all round.

It’s all getting a bit end-of-the-pier saucy, until Parsons brings out his second guest, the marvellous Tim Minchin. The piano-playing Aussie, whose stock in trade is witty ditties with titles like 'Inflatable You', wows the audience with a love song called 'If I Didn’t Have You (Someone Else Would Surely Do)', gaining dozens of new fans in the process.

Parsons’ show will, of course, be different every day, but it has to rank among the best family fun at the Fringe. Plus, you might get some Smarties.