That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Rhod Gilbert

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Comedian and Welsh wonder, Rhod Gilbert, is bringing the joy today! Rhod chats about how he was dragged into comedy and never imagined in his wildest dreams that this would be his day job. He also shares what it was like coming to terms with his cancer diagnosis, and how he appreciates life now more than ever before. He also shares what he loves most about his tour this time around, and why it's good to have a laugh.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rod Gilbert, welcome to the podcast. Every time I see you, I have to say this. And you know what I'm going to say? I don't. Apart from I love you. But you are the person that people tell me to shush, because when I've seen you live, I have never laughed as much in my life at anybody.

Can I just ask you this question? You can ask me anything, Ronald Gilbert. Do you say that to everybody? No, Rob Gilbert. And also, I have to call you Rod Gilbert. I have this weird thing. I does call you Rod. When I came on The Apprentice, you're fired and you were on.

And afterwards, somebody said, you kept saying Rod Gilbert. It's really weird. I just said Rod Gilbert. What, on the panel? So I would say, oh, Gabby, what do you think of candidate number three? You say, well, Rod Gilbert. Rod Gilbert. Let me tell you.

It's very weird. I always do it. But you, honestly, and my husband, so we came to see you do the Apollo, live at the Apollo, and then we came to see you do a live gig. just paid up member of the audience that time. And my husband was going, you just have to stop. Because all these people are going,

when you do your tog routine with the duvays, it makes me go uncontrollable. That's what you want. What's your husband telling you to shush for us? No, because people are going uncontrollable. You know, he laughs as well. We're both super fans.

We're time to laugh more. No, but it's so loud. I become, like, I mean, it is. I do. No, this is what I do. But I do that. I go, ah!

I mean, it's like... Oh, yeah, that is too much. It was... But your husband's quite right. Uncontrollable. Yeah, I don't want that. Uncontrolled. You don't want three and a half thousand people like that in the Apollo.

You are just... You do get people who laugh too much in gigs, you know? Is that really? It can become a real problem. Yeah. See, I was one of those then. Yeah. Yeah, you could be the problem.

Am I a problem? Well, sometimes... Sometimes in a gig, you do notice that somebody is laughing more than ever... And then you start to see people kind of looking round at that. And then people are... sort of take umbrage with it and they kind of they kind of say well it's not that and then you sort of spoils it.

You ruined. I'm spoiling it for them. I remember that gig being ruined now by certain. It was me. But you are just my favourite person to make me laugh because you are, I love your honesty, I love the speed at which you do things

but also obviously we're going to talk about all the other journey that you've been on and all that, I hate that word. But you are just, you have proper proper funny. It's like you just are funny. You're very kind. No, I'm. I'm not. I'm being honest.

You're very kind. No, I'm not. I don't know what to do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's very kind. Were you always funny? Did you always make people laugh? I wasn't the class clown at all.

Not the class clowns. I wasn't like not at all. Not at all. I was in the back, in the corner, maybe muttering to one or two people around me. So I think my close friends would say that yes, I was one of the funny ones. but people, once you got out, five metres away from me, all those people are five metres away, ten metres away, in the playground, in the yard, in the school classroom, no, they must be looking at this and going, in fact, people have said this to me before, they've gone,

you weren't even the funny one in the class. So, yeah, I think probably people will be surprised. So, okay. But those people are really close to me, we'll get it, I think. So the ones in the playground, right, when they watch you on telly, they would be, How did that happen? Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, exactly.

How did that... How did it happen? Well, it's all down to one lady. Really? Yeah. Who is the lady? It was now a baroness. In my mid-20s,

I started going out with a young woman who wasn't afraid of life. And I always was. I was terrified of life. That's what I got... In my family, don't stick your head above the parapet. You know, just keep your head down. and my job really

I was going to just go and work in the council or whatever just keep it just don't make a scene never been to a comedy club never thought about comedy never been on stage the school made me to a school play once because I was so shy they thought

we got to get him to do so they made me be in a play I hated it couldn't be on stage couldn't be in front of the audience looking at my feet the whole time awful so it's the last thing I ever would have considered doing I never wanted no ambition no interest no thought in my head to do it And she just, from the age of 25 to 33, she just went,

hey, you know, you're funny, you should, you should do it. And I would like, I'd be like, will you leave me alone? I don't want to do it. Eight years have been told that. Yeah, yeah. And she would just say, you can do something. I know, or if we'd see, you know, we'd watch something on TV. She'd go, you could write something out.

And I'd be like, will you, no, I couldn't. People like me don't do that. I thought there was something amazing about the people on TV who were doing things or on radio or on stage. And what she taught me over a period of eight years, was that there isn't. It's just people like us who've done stuff. I'm giving it a go and that's all it is, really.

I love that. But it took eight years to convince me. Eight years, yeah. So when I was 27, she took me to a comedy gig. Eddie, now Susie, Isard, which blew my mind. I mean, I was roaring. You say about you laughing too much. I was laughing like that.

But the whole audience was, the Shaftsby Theatre. It was electric. I've never been to a comedy club. I was 27. And then she started taking me on Monday night. to a little club in Soho called the Amused Moose where people like Alex Horn

and Mark Watson and where were open spots and Nina Conti were doing their stuff open spots five minutes and she took me there every Monday because it was near my work in Soho and then...

What were you doing then in San Juan? I was doing market research I'm perfectly happy doing it thank you very much leave me alone and then this little club they started saying isn't you come every week

you two do you want to help out volunteer at the club just put the chairs out do the lights do the sound welcome the comedians, make a cup of tea, get him the drink, whatever. And I went, and my girlfriend went, yes, he does. And I was, will you, will you shut up, leave me a lot? So I did that.

And then the same club went, we're going to do a comedy course. Now, would you be interested, seeing you're one of the volunteers here, would you be interested, we're going to set up this little comedy course with this guy called Logan Murray, who's a comedian and he was going to teach it? It was the first thing they'd ever done like that. And I went, no. And my girlfriend went, yes, he would. Sign me up for that.

And then the rest is history. and then I started doing stand-up. A year later, I had given up my job in market research, best thing I ever did. And I don't feel like I've worked for 20 years. It's all down to her. That is incredible. Everything.

It's down to her. And she's the Baroness. Yeah, she is one of those people who just goes, don't be afraid of life. Go and do what you want. Go and do what you want. You can do whatever you want. She sailed around the world at 22 or something like four.

She sounds an amazing person. Yeah, oh, amazing. And then she was the first woman to breastfeeding in the House of Lords. So I think she's in there for her climate change expertise. I mean, amazing. But then left me. and we're still friends. I gather from the way you're talking.

But yeah, yeah, yeah, we're still fine. But then I just went, whoa, whoa, I've got this comedy bug. Suddenly I've been invited to Australia, New Zealand, and it grew for months. And I was, I found my thing. And she just went, I'm ready to settle down now. And I don't want this anymore. And I was like, well, you created this monster, Mary Shelley.

You did this. So, but what I'm intrigued about, okay, so you did that gig and then you thought, okay, Baroness to be. Yes, I get this now. But then suddenly you... No, I never expected it to be anything. But when did that moment happen

that all of us knew you? I think it's quite gradual. In the old days, I'm old school. I did it the old way. I did it by, you know, I didn't... I haven't gone viral on TikTok and then... You did it by hard work.

You did it by hard work. Yeah. And go in and play into five people. We weren't even looking the right way. and for no money and then six months later you're doing it for five pounds with ten people who are looking the right way.

How did you keep doing the people that were looking the wrong way? I just had the, I just, I don't know. There's something in me despite being this totally shy, socially anxious. We've talked about shyness.

You and I have talked about shyness because they're both deep down the most unbelievably shy people and people go, what? Comedian, TV presenter, what? Yeah, you can be very shy and do it. You can. I'm not as shy as I was.

I still struggle with. You get moments. I get moments. I get moments. But comedy has helped me. I was standing outside the back of Liverpool Empire this weekend. And I walked out on my own to a bunch of people who'd been in the gig who wanted to chat and stuff. And I thought, my God.

I didn't think this, when I walked on stage in front of 2,500 people, or whatever it is, in the Liverpool Empire. Not once did it occur to me that this was a crazy thing for that little kid, me, to be doing. It didn't occur to me. But when I walked out and there was about 15 people at the stage door, I thought, my God, I could never have done this. I could never have walked out here. With 15 people facing the door looking to talk at me.

And that's when it occurred. That's when it hit me. The shyness thing. Do you know, we were at, I think it was a BBC event. And I was walking in taking sort of those deep breaths. Because I like, oh, I don't like walking into parties. I get really shy. And you were just behind me.

And I looked at you and you said, oh, you're having a shy moment. You won't remember this. It's a long time ago. And I said, yes, is it? Can you tell? You went, no, because I have the same. And you said, come on, we'll do this together. And we walked in.

And it was at this. I know exactly where it was on. I'm amazed that either one who took control. No, but you went, come on. And I went, okay. And then later on the evening, you were like, and I was in one. And we looked at each other and there was this nod. And you went, you're okay.

And you're okay. And that's how I remember about the shyness thing. And it's, you help me go into, I, that's the thing. Exactly like you're going, I'm fine with 15 people. I'm fine with. with 10 million people, whatever. But if I have to walk into a party, I would know for funny. Shyness is a weird thing, though.

Shinness is a weird thing. Mine was often about eating, I think, I realised. About eating? Yeah, not just to be it, but it was often about food. I thought one of the hardest things I find, and I still struggle with this is going into a cafe and just sitting down having a coffee on your own. On your own. You caught me eating a salad on my own, and I was looking down.

I could never have done that. Eating a Greek salad on your own in a restaurant by the window. I got really, I was properly, even though I work here, and I know this place and I know all the people who work here I was head down, woo, woo, woo, woo, it's funny, isn't it? Yeah, I know, because the staff said she's over there, I said, was that her in the corner? Shrinking away in the corner.

So when you're going on tour though, you eat, so what do you do? Do you buy stuff and take it to your room? My tour manager brings it in, we just get sandwiches or microwave meals. We carry a microwave with us everywhere. And we, we, we nuke up a spack ball and a thing. A quick party for one. Do you, a meal for one, not. party for one. That's a different thing. A meal for one.

But do you... There's none of that on my thoughts. That people don't get it. People don't understand it with a comedian. I think a lot of us have talked about it now. I think it's probably more out there now, isn't it? But back in the day, yeah, people would say, well, you're obviously not shy if you can get up on stage in front of it.

Because that's what most people's worst nightmare is, public speaking. And it was mine. My God, I didn't want anything, any part of this. So that child that was just doing in that very small radius of people in the school. Yeah. My stage was one or two people in right next to me. That was my stage. And I did like that. I like making people laugh.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could actually like Doctor Who and transport ourselves back? Oh, I don't think I'd want to go back. I think I was too anxious. Really? Are you still anxious? Yeah. Yes and yes and no. I get anxious about work stuff, I guess. I guess anxious. I tell you what, I don't, I'm not particularly anxious about it, but then I think, what if I don't sleep?

And you didn't sleep last night? One hour was sleep last night because I was thinking, I'm fine, I'm not anxious about this today but then what if I don't sleep? Then I, now all of a sudden I kind of am anxious about it and then I don't sleep, I'm anxious about it.

And then you get anxious about not sleeping and then you keep looking at the clock. I've done, I've hosted if I got news for you on no sleep. I've stood in on Graham Norton, sat in one show in the old days on Radio 2 with no sleep, opening that fade at the 5 million people or whatever it was. I've done TV programmes.

I've lost, kind of how many I've done on half and I was sleep, 10 minutes sleep, one hour's sleep. That's it? Yeah, and it's hard. Then do you catch up the next night? Sometimes, yeah. I don't generally have a problem. It's just before stuff.

Before stuff, that's interesting. So that's not a knock-on effect from all the cancer and everything. No. Were you able to sleep through that? The anxiety. I slept a lot through that. I don't think sleep was a problem. I think there's a lot of other stuff.

Staying awake was more the problem, probably. I think, yeah, I don't remember sleep being a problem for that. Do you know what? So your documentary was incredible. And I, okay, here's something I'm going to say to your face, and I really mean it. You have got to present more TV. Oh, I knew you didn't mean the other stuff. I meant the other, no, but about this, because you're not going to like this.

Oh. I want you to present more TV shows. And I've said that very publicly. That's not my decision. I have a word with the bosses. You've got to. You are the most wonderful TV presenter. I thought your documentary was fantastic.

Thank you very much. That was. You need to get back to base. I have like, no. No. Seriously. I've said it. I've said it to people.

I've said it to all the right people, probably the wrong people as well. I keep saying it. I think that means you're on your own. You're a lone voice. No, not at all, because everyone says, I don't think he's interested in presenting. And I said, yes, he is. Who said that? I will tell you off air. Tell me off air.

No, I will. But that, I mean, the documentary you made, was that your decision? Did you decide to do it? That was mine. Excuse me, I'm a little drink there. Yeah, that was my, totally my decision, 100%. So I'd been diagnosed with head and neck cancer. and, you know, I'd been ill for a few months and then the first bit of my treatment was surgery

so they cut bits out and then I had about three weeks in bed to recover from that because they'd also put a feeding tube into my stomach and things like that so it was it a secret then? Did people know? It wasn't. I hadn't decided what to do about it at that point. No, actually. No, I had. No, on the date, July the 14th, 2022 was the day I went in, I hadn't decided whether, what to do.

So how are you, so can I just take you back to the diagnosis? Yeah. So what, I mean, I know in the documentary, everybody would, if they haven't seen the documentary, they must, it's on eye player. But what was the most, how did you know, what happened? So I've been ill for a few months. I've had having spasms through my face and neck,

like sort of like muscle spasms through my face and neck. I was struggling to swallow and breathe and speak. I was postponing shows. Couldn't get to the bottom of it. I was having an E&T and things of that. Couldn't get to the bottom of any of it. I was trying honey and lemon and throat sweet. You'd had all the checks and everything.

I'd had lots of checks. But then I was on a fundraising walk for my cancer hospital. I'm a patron of, and I have been for 10, 11 years. I lead these fundraising walks every couple of years. I've done Patagonia, Nepal, Peru, Kilimanjaro. I was in Cuba on this particular occasion when this lymph node came up. in my neck. And I was like, what's that?

Have a look at that. Can you feel that? And the doctor on the walk said, look, I don't think you need to rush home, but you need, when you get home, rush and get that checked. Don't need to rush home from here, but get it.

And I went home and they biopsyed it and things and then just absolute shock. I mean, it's a blindsided, you know, somebody telling you you've got cancer. Because you don't, we all think of cancer as other people, I think. Especially if there's none in your family, soever, you know, you kind of, you kind of think, I still think cancer's other people, weirdly.

So which means I guess I haven't processed it very well. I've dealt with it yet. But it's still very recent. It's fairly recent. I'm still eight weeks. Eight weeks I go in for checks every eight weeks to see if it's still not there at the moment. So I got diagnosed. And then they said, right, so first thing is surgery, first step surgery. And then I was, they put a feeding tube in my stomach. They have to pull teeth out with radiotherapy because it's going to damage your jaw bones and they won't be able to do anything after. So they've got to do it all now. took tonsils out. A few other bits, I can't remember.

And then I was lying in bed, sort of coming around and recovering, and everyone was coming past my room. I did have that little separate room. It was a little separate room off the wall, just I guess while you're recovering from there. And I had so many whispers. You could hear them.

And I thought, I've got no chance to keep it this secret. There's no way I'm keeping a lid on this. I haven't decided that I wanted to, especially. I didn't know what to do. But that day I sent a thing saying, I'm in hospital, I got cancer, I'll be disappearing for a while. Tala.

And so a word was out kind of thing. And that was it. I didn't say anything again for months and months, months, months. But then three weeks at home, and then I started chemo and radiotherapy. I was going to start three weeks later, basically, on the same day. But on the Friday night, I was lying there. I'd be lying there for three weeks. I just thought, I'm going to, I don't know.

I just thought, everything they were telling me, I was going, what? Hey, HPV? What's HPV? What do you mean? It's in my tons? What do you mean it's a virus? It's not from smoking or drinking or something. What do you mean it's a virus? What do you mean they vaccinate against this these days, but they didn't know. What do you talk? So all of this stuff, I was thinking, well, if I don't know this and everyone I'm talking to don't know it, I need to, there's something I can do here to get the word out on these things. And it'll also give me maybe something to do. That was a naive thought, I think, that I would be looking for anything to do while I was having my cancer. No, because you're somebody who does. you do do. I'm busy, busy, busy, busy. Yeah, exactly. But equally, it was naivety. You know, so I don't regret doing it for a second. But my word, it, you know, the last thing I wanted to do most days was do a video diary. You know, when you're lying there and you haven't held down any food for a fortnight, you're throwing up every 90 minutes for two weeks. For the last thing you want to be doing is in the gaps, trying to film. trying to film and get and you know and yeah so um i don't regret doing it at all but it was hard going but on the friday night i rang some friends of mine who had done previous documentaries on shyness and infertility in cardiff and i said i'm in bed i'm monday i start chemo monday morning and radiotherapy do you want to do you fancy filming it with me i've got no broadcaster interest i've got no not it's not commissioned i haven't spoke to anybody else do you want to do it and they

went yeah and so we started on the monday morning i went in and started like chemotherapy and they filmed it and... That's incredible. Radiotherapy, then they filmed that, you know, and we went from there. But, yeah,

so it was completely my decision and very glad I did it. So now that it's all out there and everybody knows, do you feel differently about your stand-up? Has that... Well, this stand-up tour,

I'm just pouring tea now. You can do a thing in the background. Keep pouring. That's a good sound. That was a good sound. That milk going in. That was a good sound. And you know, the other thing,

not just a good sound, but looking at that now. So I've got in front of me a water and a cup of tea and those two things were off the table for six months. Oh, that's incredible. I couldn't drink water. I couldn't look at it.

I couldn't look at water. It was disgusting. But was it, but you also had to be, you weren't allowed to drink. No, I was allowed to drink. I was allowed to drink. I mean, I couldn't eat and drink a lot of the time, so I was being fed to a machine in a tube. Yeah. Just allows you to bypass your head and neck, you know.

But no, no, it was just disgusting. So it fiddles with your, you know, like COVID fiddles, people's taste, and stuff. It just destroys everything, basically, the radiotherapy. And then the good stuff grows back. That's the theory. So can you taste again now? Now I can taste again. But not only could I not taste, but it was worse than that.

It was everything's disgusting. So water was foul. What did it taste like? I can't even remember. I couldn't tell you what it's like. You just know it tasted foul. It's disgusting. I'd spit it back out.

Tea was disgusting. Like gone off milk or something. So now do you need very flavourful things? No, I'm almost back to normal. In fact, weirdly, because my show is now about cancer. And I was saying about Liverpool Empire and being out the back. And I've got all these cancer patients curing up outside to tell me their stories and talk about it.

And there was two guys in the gig that night that I'd spoken to in the gig in Liverpool on Saturday. And they both met me at stage door. One of them's three months out of treatment. And the other one was four years at a treatment. So this guy, three months out of treatment, was saying to me, have you got any saliva yet? And I said to... So the same treatment? The same thing?

Same treatment, yeah. Oh, my word! Yeah. Because another thing that happens is it destroys your saliva glands. You've got no saliva. So do you have to put fake saliva? You have to put synthetic saliva in them? Or just drink water. Still now? So, well, yes, but weirdly, he asked me on Saturday night, he said, have you got any saliva now? And I said, you're not going to believe this.

Yesterday morning was the first time I woke up and there was some saliva in my mouth two years, two years on. And I sort of turned to the guy who was four years down the road. And I said, have you got saliva? And he went, hell, yeah? Oh, my word. And we were like this little group thing about, so, I mean, that's what's lovely about doing a show about cancer, doing documentary about cancer, getting people talking about it. They talk about it. How much we can share the thing and you can talk to somebody.

a few weeks ahead of you, what to expect, that kind of stuff. And that's where doing this stand-up show is awesome. I love it. So the interesting thing is that, so I've just been with some young people have all had cancer. And they're through the other side with the Teenage Cancer Trust. And they were 20, from 21 to 26. And most of them had had a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. And they were talking about the after and the importance of talking about.

And it's interesting because I said to them in my grandparents' day, in our grandparents' day, they didn't even say the word cancer. No. It was the sea. The big sea or something. I had somebody in my gig a couple of weeks ago. Basically, I mean, this is not a show just for cancer patients and their families, right? But it is meant to be an uplifting, happy and funny show. Proper. You are funny?

The funny as much as man. As funny as funny. It's got to be as funny. If you like the duvets toog routine, it's this show, I think, is as funny as that. I don't know if anything can be as funny as the duve. I think it is. It's about cancer. But I know there's nothing funny about cancer, right? I have to say this at the top,

in almost a trigger warning at the top of the show. I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings. I know there'll be people in pain in this room now who've lost people yesterday, today, last week, whatever. I lost my father-in-law a few weeks ago to bladder cancer. I'm one of them. I'm one of you. We're in this together. There's nothing funny about cancer,

but I want to talk about it, share it, try and give hope to people who might be going through something similar. And really importantly, try and find out. find laughs where we can at it to try and take some power back from this awful thing. This shitty disease. So, lots of cancer patients are coming

and I'm shouting out. Any cancer patients in? People are cheering out. I'm going, over there, prostate, breast, testicular. No, no. On the skin, it's shouting, people shouting from everywhere

in the room. And, you know, the other day, I said we had the two head and neck cancer patients and guys, breast cancer patients, you know, people have had it years ago. There was one guy who died

12 years ago, same as I had. So I was talking him about what to expect it down that. Anyway, it's amazing. It's like an incredible thing. But it's like spiritual. It's amazing. But it's really important to talk about it. Well, that's what I was coming to.

Yeah. Waffling on. There was one guy I had a few weeks ago who I said, right, so, you know, who was there for you? Who helped you and stuff like. He said, nobody. I said, oh, that's interesting. You know, how did that come to be? And he said, I didn't tell anyone.

I didn't tell anyone the red cancer. Nobody. He said he just retired from work. He got cancer. same as I had and he said I didn't tell anyone I didn't get into

where they had his family situation stuff like that but I just thought that was remarkable that you don't mention it to go through that on your own

I mean and but nowadays it's well he just told 2,000 people in a room but it's so surprising in that moment

there's obviously something about that and he's I hope he's got somebody around well he just announced it in front of 2,000 people

I'm guessing yeah I don't think I don't think I didn't get into it too much we moved on and was talking to other people. I didn't want to, you know.

But I've got friends of mine who are younger than you who have recently had cancer, got through cancer, and they didn't tell anybody that they had it. And people would just go, how come you got short hair? And she tells them, well, I've just decided to cut my hair. That's her decision. She just doesn't want it because she says she doesn't want head tilts. Because people just, they do that.

You know, they tilt the head. Both my parents had cancer at the same time in different hospitals with different cancers. and my parents were very open about the fact that they had cancer as many years ago, 27 years ago. And I told people that my parents, and then I got to the stage where I didn't, because people all did, they went, oh.

And I get the feeling that you wouldn't like people doing a head tilt. No, and I don't think, I think that's maybe happening less. I don't know. And that's maybe because more people are talking about it. I don't know. I haven't especially noticed. You didn't ever get a head tilt. No.

Anyone tilt? Oh, maybe. I'll look out for it from now on. No, you will. You'll see it. If anyone goes, Rod Gilbert. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you'll know.

You'll think, oh, God, that's Gabby. Yeah, I don't know. I haven't especially noticed that. I just think it's great. It is tricky. They're talking about it, not talking about it is tricky. And I know when I'm walking on stage every night that I am talking about something.

And this show is going to be about something that people in the audience are living right now today, visceral pain, this, you know. Yeah, yeah. But at the moment, the response I'm getting. It's not like anything I've ever done, and it's wonderful. You know, it's like, I don't know, it's just an amazing feeling. Can I just ask you about saliva?

Back to saliva? Yeah, only because of what is it like when you wake up in the morning? Is your tongue, does your tongue really dry? So I've got no moisture in my mouth whatsoever. So the first thing I do is I run, try and run my tongue along my teeth, just to try and get a bit of moisture off my tongue onto my teeth. It's like running your tongue along lined up bits of chalk. complete and utter dryness.

But was your tongue wet then? My tongue's a little bit damp, but certainly it feels like I'm doing that. Wow. But two days ago, three days ago, I woke up on my teeth. Were chalk? Well, no, they were damp bits of chalk. I mean, there was saliva in my mouth,

and I was like, I wonder if this is a turning point. Because that is what happens. You know, things come back over time. So it has it? Was there saliva again today? So the last two days, yeah, it is a bit better. It's a bit better. It's a bit better.

It's a bit more than a bit. It's 30% better. 30% saliva. When I'm got anything, go to 30% Happy Day, he's 30% saliva. That's the goal, in it? That's my life goal. Now that you're here

and you've done all these shows and everything, you won't stop doing your comedy, will you? You'll keep doing your comedy. I'm still doing my comedy. I know you're in the middle of the tall. It just happens to be about cancer. No, but I just mean that, because you'll be presenting so many shows.

For you, that is, I feel like the comedy is your sort of lifeblood, or is that a big, is that quite a deep thing to say? It's sort of, it's, yeah, no, I mean, I love it. I do, I do, I do love it. It's the, I love the, on this tour, I'm loving all of it, I think, because it's, I guess, did you not love all of it before? I think I had a slightly love-hate relationship with it.

Like, I gave it up for six, seven years, and I did not miss it at all. Yeah. Not one day did I think, really? Really? You say that, I mean, I've heard you say that. I couldn't feel less, no. Why did you not? miss it and what made you know I don't know I get I still get and I always got quite anxious

about performing that's partly why I'm the way I am on stage there's so much energy in it and so much thing it's partly nerves and performance anxiety and I do know if I I I when I didn't do stand up for a good few years I just didn't miss it I can't explain why I didn't miss it I don't think I'm on there maybe I'm I think I've always enjoyed the thing I've enjoyed most is writing something and then taking it out and trying it and that works that's the bit I enjoy most

the sort of creative part of it perhaps less than the actual being on stage and you know that part maybe that's the shyness or performance anxiety I don't know

I don't get anxious about writing bits I get anxious about performing them that's the bit I get anxious about When you did your shyness program that that's very funny

we'll explain why I just did that on Friday. On Friday show. People will wonder what on earth I just did. Something to do with my toe. That's all I'm going to say. But when you did the shyness program for BBC Wales, and I'm so pleased that everybody showed it, you talked about all of that and you talked about the shyness thing.

But see, it just fascinates me that you stopped and you didn't miss it. I don't know why that fascinate. I know that runs counter to a lot of what you hear, which is that comedy is a bit of a drug and you get the bug and you need to keep feeding it and it's about, I don't know, replacing substitute affection, I don't know, love, you get it with that adoration from the crowd,

you need that. And you're like I said, all I can say is I did not miss it at all for those seven years. I'm very glad they've gone back to it, but it's the writing and then getting a kick out of the creative part that I really love. On this tour, that's very different because I guess stand-up is always about connection

and I feel that with this show, with this material and in the old days I did things about tall ratings and stuff. That was fun. Oh, it's very funny. It was fun and creatively fun and stuff like it. But in terms of connecting with people on a human level, this is something else for me. Of course it is.

And I guess in my work experience series, I don't know if you've seen, I do a little series of work experience. Yes, yes. It's finished now, but it is something. I did night. Very, very lucky to get nine series and I loved it. Again, available on IPlayer. Available on I player? Yeah, yeah.

The whole of Iplay is Rod Gilbert's life. Well, I think in lockdown, they chucked it all on. You have that. And in that, the things I enjoyed most were teacher, carer, stuff like that. Those are the things I really love doing. And I think what I've realised is that it's part of me that just doing stand-up about tall great-ins and stuff like that, it wasn't scratching that itch.

It wasn't, I don't know, it wasn't quite doing it for now. I guess what I think I've managed to do for me is find the perfect thing, which is writing comedy and stand-up, but about something that has that same feel as being a carer or a teacher. Well, it is. It's that connection, that human connection. Completely. You're helping so many people.

But I get that, that you want to help. You're a helper. I think so. That's what you want to do. I think so. I mean, certainly of all of those 33 episodes, Kira was the one I would, or teacher. But what you do as a comedian is something really vital.

And I know that sounds like I'm sort of trying to build it and everything. Because friends of mine, we've got mutual friends who are comedians. And I say to them, especially at the moment, every time you turn on the news, we need you guys. So it's vital at the moment because I can't listen to the news or watch the news after long of time then I'm going to worry about it all evening

and it is and that's why we need laughter and laughter somebody I know is very ill at the moment very very very ill and I always say they say why am I always so tired I say sleep's the best medicine and then I'll do say something and they'll laugh and I'll say yeah but laughter's the best medicine

I think laughter beats sleep in a way although I'm sure doctors won't agree with me but laughter is vitally important And so you bringing out your cancer story and talking about that and making people laugh. On Saturday night in Liverpool, this gig in Liverpool. I mean, this happens in most of the gigs I'm at,

if in one form or another, these kinds of things. There was a lady who wrote to me, a lady called Alex Walsh, who wrote to me and she said, my dad's had what you've got, but the treatment hasn't worked. And this is, you know, that's not the first person I've known like that.

You know, there's every chance mine can come back and who knows, you know. But it had gone to his brain and he's now in a wheelchair and she said, I'm bringing him along on Saturday night, I wanted to be one of our last memories together kind of thing. And I wrote back to him, I said, great, stay behind after the show, I'll come and meet you, you know, and we'll meet in the auditorium kind of thing. And we did that, and it was just that, and yeah, it's moments left

where you kind of go, God, she wanted to come along and she want, that's what she wanted to create this memory with her dad of laughing together at something. So it's that, yeah, that's where the power of. of laughter I said, I guess, can be the space that allows real happiness, even though their lives must be so tough at the moment. They're so full of, I don't know, must be gloomy at times. But we need it.

And you kind of, there's moments like that. You know, most of the time, I just think, oh, my silly little job, we need nothing, we don't offer anything to the world as comedians, but there's times like that. Oh, you do. There's times like that. Or the occasional email that goes, oh, I lost my father of companies. And one of my happiest memories is seeing him laugh. you when he was that. I mean, those moments kind of go,

maybe it is quite important. You are, yeah. It is important. But also that you, that you're still here. I mean, what I can't bet, it's very interesting. One of the young people I was just with, she was told when she was 16, she's now in mid-20s. She was told when she was 16, she was going to palliative care and she was going to die.

She had a 3% chance of survival. And amazing young woman. And she said that she decided to live for her mum. and because her mum had lost two other children and I said to her so we were talking an amazing girl and I said that decision was a very brave decision

she's now she doesn't have an eye all sorts of that's her story so it wouldn't be fair to me to share too much but she said everybody asks me now do I feel differently about life I said well I won't ask you she said no I really want you to ask me sorry okay I'll ask you do you feel differently about life

She said, yeah, every single day I wake up. And I look out and I think, I'm alive. And I said, it's really powerful hearing it from somebody who's 24, you know. And I said, I've got lots of friends who very sadly haven't been well or now we're all fine. And they don't have that attitude. And that young girl, what an amazing attitude. And she wants to do something with her life. I actually said to where I was coming and meeting you and interviewing you.

And she said, no, they see, he makes me laugh. And I just thought, wow, I've got to share that with you because you help her. She now wants to help people. That's the thing that she wants to do. It teaches a lot, yeah. Yeah. But life is pretty powerful thing. Well, I mean, listen, you know, you, on this podcast, I know you like people to bring.

I know it's not this part of it. Can I talk about it now a little bit? You can talk about whatever you want. You said, bring an object that brings you joy. Yeah. Because I was trying to think, what shall I bring in? And there was at so many. I was going to bring in a bottle of water.

and I thought, I wouldn't bother taking one. You'll have one there. You'll provide water, surely. Yeah, we've given you water. And that was because for so many months, water was disgusted to me. Now the simplest thing like water, which is just my life force. Yeah, I love that. Or the other thing is, which I've hated all my life, is the alarm clock,

which is now a phone alarm clock. The old days it was the big thing. Do you? Do you? I have no, it's a digital one and it's neon and it flashes. It's my own. Whatever you've got. It was horrible.

Yeah. That has always been. Really? Didn't like with them? Well, no, because it always meant get up for school, get up for this. It's never a good reason why you put your alarm on, was it in the past? Now, my alarm comes on in the morning, and it is the greatest... I'm here, and I'm here potentially to enjoy another day and to live another day and literally get out there and look at the sky and smell the grass.

Oh, you see! So the alarm clock for me now is a thing of absolute heralds, the joy of another day. the day. For 50 years, it's been awful. It's been something I dreaded. It's the same as that young girl. There is a thing she looks out of the window. It says, yeah, I'm here. That's exactly what I think.

What's really... Isn't it sad? But we might have to explain it. We will explain in a minute. There's something in the room. There's something in the room that might be something to do with my big toe. Because I've always... I'm very lucky.

I'm, you know, touching wood and all the rest of it. Very, very lucky that I've... I've been one of those people that has always sort of lived in the moment and loved life. And I used to go to bed and I couldn't go to sleep because I wanted the next day to happen. Because that's the day I might become a TV presenter when I was a child. So for me it was always. But I find it unbelievably sad. How do you cope now?

You've fulfilled your dream. I still want another. I just want to do more things. I just want to do other things. And I'm like, you know, daily this, this, me. I'm like that. Ideas, always. I've always been like that.

I just didn't like the alarm part. It's the same thing We are Every time you speak It's like oh my God It's the same But isn't it a shame That for many people

They have to go through something So horrific To think Wow I'm lucky Yeah and I think it's so I've always gorged on a lot Like I've

Despite being shy and a loner And all these weird things I'm not weird things You know what I mean Yeah I've always Always said I mean my wife

Howls at this Because she thinks I'm such a misery. I've always said to her, I'm the happiest person I know. I gorge on her. I absolutely consume it. Nom, gnom, gnom, gna, gna, can't get enough of life. And then that's why the cancer thing was a bit of a, that was a bit of a curveball at the time.

But now I'm back on the trajectory I was on, but even more so, times ten. And how are the to dogs in your duvet? I still don't understand them. Still don't understand them. You get me gopouring far too loudly. Rod Gilbert, I properly, I think you are just completely and utterly wonderful. I love you so much.

You are the funniest, kindest, most beautiful soul, thank you. Thank you. Anything I say back at you now is just going to sound like... Yeah, no, you can't get back. It's about you. It's not bad. I really like you, too. No, it's about you.

Big fan. It's about you, about you. Big fan.