Vic Parker is a funny man… very funny.

The one-time stand-up comedian, now 80, no longer gets paid to make people laugh but as you’d expect, time spent in his company is never dull.

Whatever the topic, whether it be warm beer (he doesn’t like it!), the absence of Sky Sports TV in his home (it went as part of a cost-cutting measure!) or anything to do with sport, he always has plenty to say.

Vic’s passion is sport – always has been and always will be.

He played a lot of cricket – and did a lot of umpiring – for Cheltenham-based clubs High Society and Naunton Park before retiring 10 years ago, can swing a golf club and still plays a lot of skittles.

When Vic spoke to The Local Answer the new skittles season was just about to start and he was as excited about the 2017/18 campaign as he was the previous 44.

A one-club man, he has played for The Jets for all those years and these days is a true unsung hero as he is captain, president, secretary and organiser of the Cheltenham League Division Four club.

“Well, someone’s got to do it,” he said. “If it wasn’t for me the club would fold. We need 12 players to field a team and we’ve got 15 signed on but two of those are ‘if you need me’. My big worry every week is whether everyone will turn up because playing one short is horrible.”

Skittles, of course, like so many other sports, is struggling for numbers as it tries to survive in today’s 24/7 society.

A big part of what keeps Vic turning up week after week – The Jets play their home game at St Mark’s Community Centre – is the camaraderie that a night out on the alley provides.

A Burton-on-Trent man, he was introduced to the sport when he moved to Cheltenham in the early 1970s by his father-in-law Fred Hopkins and his brother-in-law Roger Williams.

These days there is still a strong family connection at The Jets. Vic’s brother-in-law Dougie Sexton plays alongside Dougie’s son-in-law Andy Miles, while Vic’s sister-in-law’s sons Rowan and Jason Rushworth and Rowan’s son Arrun also play.

Vic’s oldest son James will also play if needed although his younger son Will declines any invitations to have a roll on the alley. “He just laughs at us old folks,” chuckled Vic.

Skittles isn’t just for old people of course and Vic, while concerned by the declining number of alleys in the town, insists: “The great thing about skittles is that you can play it at any age – 18 to 80 or even older.”

So how does Vic rate himself as a skittles player?

“When I first started I could get 50 but these days I usually get about 35,” he said. “I take two steps and then I bowl. If you get 40 that is considered a good score. The Jets used to play in the Premier Division but we’ve dropped down a bit in recent years.”

The Jets may not be flying as high as they were in yesteryear but that doesn’t stop Vic wanting to do his very best once he is on the alley runway.

“I get very tense, nervous, excited,” he said. “The camaraderie is wonderful but it’s a really exciting game. There’s nothing better than when the match comes down to the last ball and you need one pin to win.”

It gets even better, of course, if it’s your side that needs the pin and gets it, so what’s it like if you lose by one pin?

“Oh, that’s horrible,” laughed Vic. “That’s the worst. You want to burn the chalk board, burn the alley.”

Laughing is what Vic does best and it was how he met his wife Jane.

“We met at the Royal William at Cranham after I’d been doing stand-up at Witcombe Lodge which is now The Chase Hotel at Brockworth,” said Vic, who also worked as a hairdresser. “I used to go all over performing. I’d say my style was a bit like Bruce Forsyth’s, I was big on crowd participation and liked to get people on stage.”

Jane wasn’t one of those people who put themselves forward to share a microphone with Vic but 44 years of marriage later – and two boys in their 30s – she and Vic remain a very strong double act.

While Vic cut back on his comedy nights – “I got fed up travelling the country after I’d met Jane,” he said – the Parkers’ love of sport continued to burn brightly.

These days Jane, a good netball player in her earlier years, can often be seen out on the fairways at Brickhampton Court, a hobby which prompts Vic to describe himself as a “golf widow”.

Their two sons also like a round of golf and at 6ft 2in or 6ft 3in – they clear 6ft by as much as Vic is under it! – they are also both good basketball players.

Will also played football and cricket. In fact, he is one of those who can turn his hand to most sports… but he won’t play skittles!