FOR someone who has revelled in the bizarre, the quirky, and the musically eccentric side of life, Mark Shillaker turns out to be a very normal kind of guy.

In keeping with his recent retro-esque Mr Shillaker persona, for our meet-up I choose a suitable Colchester town centre venue in Tymperleys' wooden beamed tea rooms with its tapestry adorned walls and leaded windows.

And of course to accompany our little chat, a slice of Victoria sponge and a nice pot of tea.

We're here to talk about his latest show An Evening with Mr Shillaker, which is due to take place at the Headgate Theatre in Colchester at the end of the month.

After more than a decade of plying his musical trade in and around the town, Mark appears to found his niche with the character he describes as 'the once renowned man of the hour, who has now fallen on hard times and is reduced to play provincial theatres'.

"There's definitely a nod to Count Arthur Strong," Mark admits, "but he's a little bit irascible with a back story that's hints at him once having a glittering career but then falling from grace. He's pretty well defined but I like to point him into whatever direction I'm going.

"I first tried him out at the Bull and that was going to be it really until enough people persuaded me to carrying on with him."

Raconteur, diarist, sherry connoisseur and disgraced former man of the age, Mr Shillaker really will provide an evening of entertainment unlike any other.

Dramatic excerpts read aloud from Mr Shillaker's thrilling memoir, piquant poetry and marvellous monologues as well as a baffling illusion or two.

"I read the extracts from a lectern," he adds, "behind which I manage the sound effects to go alongside the story, which occasionally goes wrong, which of course is comedy gold whenever it happens.

"One of the tricks I do is the perhaps one of the oldest ones ever performed, the Zombie Ball, the one with the floating ball over a piece of cloth, except instead of a ball I use a shrunken head.

"The whole thing has quite a huge cumbersome set up but I love the showmanship of it all, creating this world of Mr Shillaker and the places that he inhabits has been a lot of fun."

Born and raised in Chelmsford, Mark has been based in Colchester since 1996.

"I've always thought Colchester was a pretty interesting place musically," he says. "My sister, Mary, and her husband Evan had just got back from Germany and said lets get a band together so we did."

Along with another local musician Adam Scott, the four-piece known as Dog Friendly very quickly became the darlings of the Colchester music scene around the turn of the Millennium.

"We had an amazing three years," Mark smiles. "It was a bit shambolic at times, and more than a little crazy, but I was just happy to make music."

From the ashes of Dog Friendly, Mark began his foray into the world of the bizarre with fellow bandmate Adam Scott in the duo format that became known as the Curious World of the Grymoire.

"I borrowed a harmonium from a friend and started playing around with it for a while," he adds. "That's were the Grymoire started. I recorded a few bits on a tape cassette and sent it to Adam, which began a really intensive burst of creativity.

"The Grymoire is easily the most unusual thing I've ever done. We didn't really know what we wanted to do with it. At first it was a trio with hurdy gurdy, cello and accordion with Christine Truman but in the end we kept it going as a duo. I suppose if you wanted to describe it as anything you could say it was a cross between Carry on Screaming and Morecambe and Wise."

His most recent musical outing, before Mr Shillaker, was a real blast from the past when his very first band, A Mouthful of Ashtrays, reformed.

Alongside Tony Butler, David Ware and Rik Daniels, the Chelmsford band had made a real name for themselves on the Eighties Essex rock scene, the highlight of which was a support slot with childhood heroes, Dr Feelgood.

"While Tony and Rik were still local, Dave had moved to the Forest of Dean," he explains. "It was only when Dave moved back to up here to Suffolk that the idea of reforming to mark our 30 years came about.

"We played a few gigs and festivals and even released an EP but then meeting-up became more and more of a problem and the band kind of fizzled out again.

"It was after that time with the Ashtrays I looked at some of the material I had left over from Grymoire and thought perhaps I should do something with this.

"That's where Mr Shillaker came from really, that leftover stuff, and then I would just head off to the shed and see if I could find bits and pieces to put into the show.

"When we first started Grymoire we tried it in a pub setting but it just didn't work and that's when we found the Headgate and began putting on shows there. I've done a couple there already and people seem to like it. I'll carry on until I get bored with him and then find something else. That's kind of what I've always done."

An Evening with Mr Shillaker

Headgate Theatre,

Chapel Street North, Colchester.

October 29. Doors 730pm for 8pm start.

£5. 01206 366000.

www.headgatetheatre.co.uk