Quick questions:  Where will you find Glasgow’s ‘killer jukebox’? Which silent movie star made his debut at the Panopticon? Why was ‘Wanton Lizzie’ exiled from Edinburgh – and where was she exiled to?

Quick answer: listen to stories on Edinburgh Comedy Tour and Glasgow Music Tour. But be warned: if our experience is anything to go by, the result can be addictive. The more we find out the more we realise we are only scratching the surface.  The closer we look the more we discover that buildings conceal layers of different stories about people and the lives they lived. Behind doors and beneath paving stones there are secrets to be uncovered.

Researching stories for our audio tours has proved to be an eye-opener for members of the Walking Heads team.  Some of us have lived for many years in either Edinburgh or Glasgow.  We knew both cities fairly well.

Or so we thought, until we started digging deeper.  Edinburgh Comedy Tour turns up fascinating inside stories about comedians and comedy venues as Jamie MacDonald and Harry Gooch weave historical facts through a slapstick adventure round town.  But it’s the unexpected revelations on the journey between venues that produce some of the biggest surprises.

Susan Morrison, a pioneer of The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh, is a great source of steamy history. Recent history like the stripper whose ‘flags of all nations’ act strains the imagination.  And older tales like Lizzie, the ‘drunken, fornicating wanton’ who was finally exiled to Glasgow…both good stories which cast a new light on the supposedly refined capital city.

And what did we find out about Glasgow?

“So much,” says Andy McColgan, one of the Glasgow production team, mentally flicking through his interviews with club managers, DJs and musicians. All of them have produced personal memories of Glasgow’s music scene providing stories to open eyes and ears on walks between destinations.

“Really so much …  about the different incarnations of venues and bands that have played there.   Rub a Dub Records is on the site of the former Mars Bar where Simple Minds had a residency playing ever Sunday and Bluebells every Saturday”.  Mars Bar, he adds, were forced to change their name to Countdown to avoid any confusion with the chocolate variety (deep fried or otherwise).

As for places like the Panopticon ( the movie star was Stan Laurel by the way) the layers go back more than 100 years and each layer produces new stories.

Yet, like we said, we know we are just beginning to scratch the surface. People and places come and go, changing, growing, fading away and reinventing themselves. It’s all part of the dynamic life of the city and we know we can never get to grips with it all by ourselves.  That’s why we will be depending on you to join in the adventure, exploring, discovering and sharing what you know.

And the killer juke box?  Well, there are at least three contenders that we know of. Let us know what you think. Help us to unearth the secrets of the city.

Photographs by Andrea McCarthy: top left, Cowgate, Edinburgh;  right, Susan Morrison; bottom left, New Wynd leading to the Panopticon entrance.