There can’t be many 68 year old comedians making their Festival debut at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, but this Irish comedian gives many younger stand-ups a run for the money. It should come as no surprise because Walker is a comedy veteran, performing in such television shows as, ‘New Faces’ and ‘The Comedians’ from as far back as the early seventies. Of course Roy Walker could discover the cure for cancer and he would still be more famous as the permanently grinning ‘say what you see’ game show host of ITV’s sixteen year run ‘Catchphrase’.
Walker is refreshingly ‘old school’ in his style of stand-up, softly spoken and with sporadic pauses mid sentence he hits the audience with some surprisingly rude jokes but they are delivered with such charm that he never crosses the line into filth. A highlight is his musings on the difference between erotic and kinky, ‘To rub your partners leg with a feather is erotic, kinky would be to rub her with the whole chicken.’ His humour is simple but judging from the roaring crowd, effective.
Using a slide show, Walker openly discusses his life, from going to a correctional school, right through to his current infamy with the students in the United Kingdom. Walker tinges his routine with some tender and emotional accounts, but before it becomes all far too serious, the finale comes with an audience participation game of Catchphrase.
Funny, insightful and brilliant fun, lets hope Roy Walker comes back next year.
4/5 
Martin Miller
