Nicholas Parsons

Nicholas Parsons has enjoyed a long and varied career encompassing theatre, television, film and radio. He is perhaps best known as the straight man to Arthur Haynes in the '60s, as the presenter of Sale of the Century in the '70s and today as the chairman of the long-running Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute. Along the way, he has performed impersonations in the lavatories of a Clydebank engineering yard during the war, been the voice of a Gerry Anderson Texan sheriff, roller-skated in Charlie Girl at the Victoria Palace and appeared in a series of Doctor Who. His comedy chat show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now in its tenth consecutive year. Here he recalls an extraordinary career that has led him to star on the West End stage, work with some of Britain's finest comedians, including Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock, Benny Hill and Paul Merton, and appear in stockings and suspenders in The Rocky Horror Show. Funny, thoughtful and at times moving, Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation celebrates a fascinating life in comedy.