Silverman is a classically trained double bass player who attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and developed a career in the progressive jazz scene in the 1990s, performing live and as a studio musician.

[3] His musical influences include Drums and Tuba, Rush, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and Dr. Seuss, both in terms of his lyrics and his quirky homemade instruments.

He has received little mainstream recognition, but did garner attention after the use of his song "Buttmachine" (from his second album, The Moon is Disgusting) on Showtime's original comedy series Weeds, season 3, episode 9.

The creation of the Magic Pipe was based on Silverman's double bass experience, as well as borrowing from the concepts of the gutbucket and the diddley bow.

It is then played as a percussive instrument by tapping on the sole while pinching the boot's opening to achieve different sounds, similar to an African talking drum.