Welshman Rhod Gilbert is quickly becoming a top name on the stand-up comedy circuit with his mix of real life experiences and audience interaction proving a winner with crowds all over the UK. His latest two hour live show, intriguingly titled Rhod Gilbert and The Cat That Looks Like Nicholas Lyndhurst (don’t worry it’s explained throughout the show), sees him treat audiences to a run through of the last twelve months of his life. It’s a year which culminated in an anger management course for the Welshman and one that Gilbert describes as “a shit one”.


Following on from his experiences with a mince-pie in Knutsford Services, The Cat That Looks Like Nicholas Lyndhurst sees Gilbert vent his frustration and annoyance at everything that has irritated him over the last twelve months. From washing machines to vacuum cleaners to washing powder to being dumped, Gilbert’s subject matters are those that have driven the Welshman to the edge of his sanity. Before launching into two hours of steam-releasing routines, with the crowd on his side, the Welshman starts by turning his frustration on the press who, along with his mother, doctor and girlfriend have labelled him as “needing help”. He dissects every issue to the point of exploding as trains, panic-buying, smoothies and Daily Telegraph readers all come under attack from Gilbert as he wades through his set. Further into the set he recalls his experience with hypnosis and regressing back to his childhood in a way that has you hanging off every word right to its hilarious conclusion. This set ending finale is the work of either a madman or a genius – we’re going with the latter. The show culminates with a video of an interview Gilbert recorded 3 weeks after his anger management course. Filmed at a radio studio, the clip shows Gilbert descending into a ball of tensed-up fury before exploding as the presenter reads out a barrage of letters from listeners who have sent in photos of cats bearing some similarity to Nicholas Lyndhurst. By now the explanation of the show title will be clear making the end finale to the show all that more brilliant.

For two hours, Gilbert will have your sides hurting and, considering the price of tickets to see some of the biggest names on the stand-up circuit, this two hours represents total value for money . Like Jack Dee, Gilbert is undeniably a master of the modern day anecdote but, whereas Dee finds even the tiniest thing ruins his day, Gilberts experiences seem to leave the unfortunate bloke in a confused state of tense rage. The tour runs well into 2010 so do yourself a favour and get along to one of the shows. Just don’t ask him about his childhood.);