Maureen Lipman

I only have time to see one show in Edinburgh. Why should I go to yours?

Pity?

Now I think of it, I’ve got time to see two. What else should I definitely go to?

Simon Evans in The Vanishing Man (Pleasance Courtyard until 27 August, at 2:10pm) because I have actually SEEN it and he and his partner Dave are astonishing magicians and I speak as one who has been known to nod off in magic shows. Brilliant. And NINA CONTI NINA CONTI NINA CONTI (Nina Conti Is Monkey, Underbelly Bristo Square until 27 August, 7pm).

What made you decide to come back to the Fringe after 50 years?

I wanted to frighten myself. At my time of life it is easy to settle back into dying regularly in Holby City. I have a lot to say and it doesn’t always come out right in interviews.

Your show is described as a rave, a rollick and a rant – what most makes you want to rave and what most makes you want to rant?

Well I’m tackling age, TV, sanitation, hashtags, being unfashionable and tango. With cool music from Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood and a surprise guest for contrast.

What are your memories of your first time at the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe?

It was 1965 and I was at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) and the festival was one street long. The play was The Burn by Kerry Crabbe and the actors were from Oxford University Dramatic Society. Paul Collins, later a high court judge, was a plant in the audience and we got to humiliate him. Also, Tammy Ustinov and I sat on Harold (infamously severe Sunday Times critic) Hobson’s knee and we got raves!

Who do you most like spending time with (in Edinburgh or elsewhere)?

In the absence of Jeff Bridges, Radio 4.

Where would I find you at 9am, 9pm and 2am? In bed. In bed. In the kitchen boiling milk and nutmeg to get back to bed.

Tell us something about you that would surprise people. I’ve never shaved my legs, had a hamburger or visited Ikea.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Ask my partner if he slept through. I am very jealous by nature.

What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed?

Floss. (The dance obviously)

Thanks for the interview! I’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking? Dude, this is your city – surprise me! I AM Up For It. Mine’s an Irn Bru and Sanatogen on the rocks. With gherkin, natch.