JB Entertainment stands for Josh Benson Entertainment.

“No, it’s Josh & Barry Entertainment,” insists father Barry, who has hung up the dame’s frocks in the Rowntree Players to focus on his variety double act with son Josh.

“No, it’s Josh Benson Entertainment,” retorts York schoolboy Josh, quick to point out that he is building up his solo magic act too.

The sparring banter will continue throughout the What’s On encounter with Josh and Barry, Barry and Josh, entertainers both, as they promote their Another Evening Of Cabaret & Comedy: A Christmas Cracker shows at Stockton-on-the-Forest Village Hall, near York, on Saturday. Make that afternoon and evening because there will be two performances.

“This is the fourth one we’ve done now but only the second one under the JB Entertainment banner; the other two were charity fund-raisers,” says Barry.

JB Entertainment is of a flexible feast, covering both actor, magician and variety double act Josh’s solo pursuits and the comedy and cabaret work with father Barry. “I started JB Entertainment for my magic work, in which I do kids’ magic parties and workshops, stage magic for corporate events and close-up magic at weddings and parties,” says Josh.

“And then when we started our comedy and cabaret nights, we said we could say it stood for Josh and Barry Entertainment, but really it’s Josh Benson Entertainment! If it was only Barry then it could be Just Barry Entertainment, but I’m not letting him do that.”

The comedy and cabaret nights started in 2011 when Josh needed to raise £1,500 to fund a 2012 trip to South Africa in his Year Ten work experience week at Archbishop Holgate’s School in York.

A variety show duly ensued at Stockton-on-the-Forest Village Hall and the ball was set in motion.

Josh and Barry have now established a regular line-up of their double act, complemented by song-and-dance performers Lauren Sheriston, Katie Melia, Alexa Chaplin and Iain Harvey, joined on Saturday by Florence Poskitt.

“We kind of stumbled on the concert-and-variety show format with me hosting and cracking a few old gags to go with the cabaret songs, sketches, comedy songs and comedy dancing,” says Barry.

“And at some point in the future, there’ll be magic in the shows too,” says 17-year-old Josh, who played the young Ernie Wise in the BBC’s 2011 biographical film Eric & Ernie.

This weekend’s show will have a Christmas flavour, ranging from The Twelve Days After Christmas to Cinderella: The Five Minute Pantomime. “We’ve spent time looking into Christmas songs and Christmas sketches to go with other cabaret and comedy material, and we’ve written some new sketches ourselves,” says Josh.

Josh and Barry’s retro variety act has caught the attention of the Good Old Days at the Leeds City Varieties Music Hall. “We first did it in March when we did a sketch and a song, Me And My Shadow, and from that we got invited back to the autumn season to do three of the shows,” says Barry.

“One of the things we did was a sketch that Barry wrote based on an Abbott and Costello’s Who’s On First, which we made into a Yorkshire routine about cricketers – Who’s In First – which we’ll be doing in this weekend’s show,” says Josh.

Now billed as The Bensons, Josh and Barry will be returning to The Good Old Days in Leeds next March. “People have said there just isn’t this type of act any more,” says Josh. Well, there is now.

• Another Evening Of Comedy & Cabaret: A Christmas Cracker, Stockton-on-the-Forest Village Hall, near York, Saturday at 3pm and 8pm. Plenty of tickets remain for the afternoon, very few for the evening; £15, at jb-entertainment.co.uk, on 01904 416751