FIONA ALLEN FUNNY GIRL

After a lifetime in comedy, the Smack the Pony star is turning her hand to stand-up for the first time - and she's taking it very seriously

- EMILY HORAN

It may be customary for someone’s family and friends to come along to a gig they’re doing, but when actress Fiona Allen makes her debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, she’d quite like her husband and kids to, well, stay away.

“I’ve got two out of three kids still living at home, I’m married and I’ve got a mad dog – basically I just want to get out of the house,” says Fiona, 58, who is mum to three teenage children with husband Michael Parkinson Jr, the son of chat-show legend Sir Michael. “Put it this way: I’m not encouraging them to come and see me.

“If they come and stay with me in Edinburgh, I’d be tidying up after everybody, picking up socks. So if I can have three weeks with a clear mind, I’m going to savour every minute,” she adds. “It might sound harsh, but I think every parent will get it.”

The Bury-born star is taking her first ever stand-up show, On the Run, to the Fringe before a UK tour of destinations including Bath, Huddersfield and Southampton.