Edinburgh Fringe review: Silky, The Shrieking In My Mind

Already in credit as the man behind Kill for a Seat Comedy, Silky deserves further kudos for coming up with one of the Fringe’s more intriguing show titles.

So what if the title bears no relation to anything in the show? That Silky simply liked the sound of it is fine and dandy, and speaks to his quirky on stage character. Which one suspects is the same as his off stage character.

Silky’s show is a charmingly relaxed weave of audience interaction, stories and songs. What shouldn’t get lost in that mix is that he can pick a mean guitar.

Laid-back, funny, folksy, storytelling troubadours of his ilk aren’t much given to vocal pyrotechnics. Just as well, as he claimed his vocal cords were letting him know it’s show 17 of the Fringe. Aided by a beverage list of medicinal port, water and tea with honey, his voice held up fine.

Immediately creating an intimate atmosphere in the half-filled room, it had the feel of a group of friends meeting up with another friend they’d not seen for a while. One who just happened to have brought his guitar along and wanted us to join in the chorus of songs about sheep, ugly babies, mums on the net and PCSOs. No problem given his talent for a memorable chorus.

From a spontaneous ditty welcoming a pair of latecomers to Silky intimating the mid-point of his set seemed mere minutes. The second half of his fifty plus minutes set flew by equally and unbelievably quickly. Maybe nothing startlingly original happened in between, but we’d enjoyed it and so had he. I’ll settle for that.

Silky personally saw each member of the audience out at the end. It was a nice touch, one that felt in keeping with the man. The sort of gesture one remembers when memories of funnier, starrier and more outrageous names have faded.

Date of live review: 23 August 2015 @ The Stand Comedy Club 4

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