As the presenter of Radio 4’s Just A Minute since its inception in December 1967, Nicholas Parsons has a few stories to tell.

The straight man of the panel game genre kicks off Folkestone Book Festival with a night of anecdotes about his career in broadcasting.

The raconteur concedes his new show A Laugh A Minute comes with a touch of hestitation, repetition and deviation as it is a revamped and revised version of his previous talk A Life in Comedy.

That will be no matter to fans of the man who overcame a stutter as a child by the age of 15, and was slow to learn owing to dyslexia and migraines.

Catch him on Friday, November 4. Tickets £15, concessions £13.

Nicholas’s show is the first of the main programme of talks including Sir Max Hastings, Andy Kershaw, Barry Cryer, Francine Stock, Francis Pryor and Johnny Ball.

The festival, which runs from Friday, November 4 until Saturday, November 12, will also stage film screenings, theatre performances, live music, quiz nights, walks, workshops and comedy nights.

Taking place mainly at the Quarterhouse, there will also be free things to do at the Brewery Tap on Tontine Street and the University Centre Folkestone.

Upcoming family events include the Very Hungry Caterpillar story-telling and workshop sessions and a charming theatre show based on the book The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers and the swashbuckling theatre adaptation of Vampirates! based on the popular novels by Justin Somper.

Box office 01303 858500. Full details in next week’s What’s On and at www.folkestonebookfest.com.