Shelf are excited for their debut Edinburgh Fringe hour

Musical comedy duo Shelf (Rachel WD and Ruby Clyde) have been on BCG's radar for a while, so we're pleased to see they're now ready to present their debut hour at the Edinburgh Festival.

Hair is their highly anticipated show about one bizarrely life-changing haircut, a story told through a unique blend of two-person stand-up and musical comedy songs (however, as they point out, one of them is tone deaf, so it's not really accurate to describe them as a musical comedy double act - they're more like "a musical single act, plus guest").

How would you describe your show?

Hair is a very fun, energetic stand-up show / concept album about two very different experiences of looking like handsome young boys. It's all singing (Ruby sings), all dancing (Rachel dances), and really just quite a nice way to spend an hour - for you and for us!

Are you looking forward to your Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut?

We are very, very excited for this show. It's not our first time at the Fringe, but this is a completely new style of comedy for us. We think this year is going to be especially fun and we can't wait for people to see it.

How did you first get into music?

At the age of 6, Ruby started playing guitar. She discovered she was actually very naturally talented and ended up at The BRIT School (where Adele went!) to study music, and played in a few bands.

At the age of 6, Rachel decided she was going to be the first girl in a boyband. She discovered she was actually tone deaf.

After 5 years of doing sketches, Rachel eventually convinced Ruby to start doing musical comedy - and now they're the boyband she'd always dreamed of! Anything is possible when we just work together.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Music wise, we love Daft Punk, Biig Piig, Willow Smith, Lizzo.

Musical comedy wise, we love Flo & Joan, Flight Of the Conchords, Spencer Jones, Lizzo (we think Phone is one of the greatest comedy songs ever recorded; it's funny and it slaps).

What song would you say best sums you up?

Living Room, by Tegan and Sara. We grew up across the street from each other and the first line of the song is "my windows look into your living room". Just like us! It took us a while to notice that the song is about a romantic relationship. Which is not like us.