Gilbert may refer to:

People[link]

• Gilbert (given name), a masculine given name
• Gilbert (surname), a surname

Places[link]

Australia[link]

• Gilbert-Einasleigh River, a river system in northern Queensland, Australia
• Gilbert River (South Australia)

Kiribati[link]

• Gilbert Islands, a chain of atolls and islands in the Pacific Ocean

United States[link]

• Gilbert, Arizona, a town
• Gilbert, Arkansas, a town
• Gilbert, Iowa, a city
• Gilbert, Louisiana, a village
• Gilbert, Minnesota, a city
• Gilbert, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
• Gilbert, South Carolina, a town
• Gilbert, West Virginia, a town
• Gilbert, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community
• Mount Gilbert (disambiguation), various mountains
• Gilbert River (Oregon)

Outer space[link]

• Gilbert (lunar crater)
• Gilbert (Martian crater)

Other uses[link]

• Hurricane Gilbert, a 1988 Caribbean hurricane
• Gilbert Collection, an art collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Gilbert (band), a name used by English composer and musician Matthew Gilbert Linley
• Gilbert (sports equipment), an English sporting-goods manufacturer
• Gilbert, a CGS unit of magnetomotive force
• Gilbert Hill, a monolith column of black basalt rock in Andheri, India
• Gilbert Street, Adelaide, Australia
• USC&GS Gilbert, a survey ship of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
• Gilbert Building (disambiguation), several buildings on the American National Register of Historic Places
• Gilbert House (disambiguation), various buildings
• Gilbert School, a quasi-public secondary school in Connecticut
• Gilbert Cell, a transistor circuit used in communication electronics
• Gilbert Model, a social class model
• Gilbert's syndrome, a benign medical condition that may cause mild jaundice

See also[link]

• Gilberts (disambiguation)
• Gilberto, a similar name

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Paul Gilbert
Paul Gilbert with Mr.Big at Festivalna Hall, Sofia
Background information
Born	(1966-11-06) November 6, 1966 (age 45) Carbondale, Illinois United States
Genres	Instrumental rock, heavy metal, hard rock, neo-classical metal, speed metal, progressive metal
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards, Percussion, Harmonica
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Universal Japan, Shrapnel
Associated acts	Mr. Big, Racer X, G3, Yellow Matter Custard, John Paul Jones, The Evil Stepsisters
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Ibanez PGM signature series, Ibanez Fireman

Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois, USA) is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr. Big, as well as many solo albums and numerous collaborations and guest appearances with other musicians.

He has been voted number 4 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time",^[1] as well as a spot in Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time list.^[2]

Shrapnel Records[link]

Gilbert was raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.^[3] Around 1981-82, he first contacted Mike Varney, founder of Shrapnel Records, asking for a gig with Ozzy Osbourne. At the time, Varney couldn't think why Osbourne would want a 15 year old guitarist, but after listening to his demo he changed his mind. Gilbert was featured in Guitar Player magazine at the age of fifteen.^[3] They talked for the next 3 years, until Paul went to L.A. for the GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology), and then was ready to record Racer X's debut album Street Lethal.

Racer X[link]

Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, Racer X originally comprised Paul Gilbert (guitar), Juan Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (later known for being the drummer for Judas Priest) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. Paul Gilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Technical Difficulties" "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Y.R.O." and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988. Racer X carried on for a short time with guitarist (and fellow GIT alum) Chris Arvin and vocalist Oni Logan (later of George Lynch's Lynch Mob) when singer Jeff Martin departed to play drums in Jake E. Lee's Badlands, in which he replaced Eric Singer who left to join Alice Cooper. Shortly thereafter, the members of the re-invented Racer X went their separate ways. The original band would eventually reform (although without Bruce Bouillet, who in-turn did produce the first reunion record).

Paul contacted the members of Racer X, and all agreed to return, with the exception of Bruce Bouillet. In mid-1999 the band recorded the album Technical Difficulties. Technical Difficulties went gold in Japan, and Racer X's new record label requested a follow-up. In late 2000, the band released another album, Superheroes. The record was mixed by former Racer X guitarist, Bruce Bouillet.

In order to further capitalize on their new-found success in Japan, Universal Japan requested that the band record a live show for another live CD and DVD. On May 25, 2001, the band played their first live performance in thirteen years to a sold-out crowd at the famed Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The show was recorded for both audio and video, and in 2002, both the CD and DVD were released under the name Snowball of Doom.

In January 2002, in support of Superheroes and Snowball of Doom, Racer X toured Japan and Taiwan. The band performed these shows in their Superheroes costumes, and the final show, in Yokohama, was hastily recorded in two tracks on the sound board and was to be later released as Snowball of Doom 2. Later that year, Universal Japan pushed for another Racer X release. In October 2002, all four members of Racer X gathered at Gilbert's house in Las Vegas to record Getting Heavier, which was sold alongside Snowball of Doom 2 in a package deal. Although the album was a successful release in Japan, some fans were disappointed with the lighter tracks, which resembled a Paul Gilbert solo album more so than a traditional Racer X album.

Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Paul Gilbert, and finally Racer X. The Racer X lineup consists of Paul Gilbert, Scott Travis, Jeff Martin and John Alderete.^[4]

Mr. Big[link]

When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big, with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin. The band was initially a huge success in Japan, and became famous internationally in 1991, with the release of their second album, Lean Into It. This album featured the ballad "To Be With You", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 1990s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen. Mr. Big disbanded in 2002.

In June 2009, Paul Gilbert reunited with original Mr. Big members; Eric Martin (vocals), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Pat Torpey, for a world wide reunion tour. They recorded a new album with producer Kevin Shirley.^[5] titled What If.... The album was released in Japan on Dec. 15th, 2010, in Europe on Jan. 21st, 2011 and in the USA in Feb. 2011. A tour to support the album kicked off at The House of Blues, in Hollywood, CA on April 2, 2011, followed by several dates in Japan in the same month. In May and June 2011, the tour continues in China, Korea, The Philippines and Europe.

Projects[link]

Gilbert performing on March 2, 2007

In May 2003 he played in an only twice-performing project called Yellow Matter Custard, a Beatles cover band consisting also of Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Neal Morse (ex-Spock's Beard), and Matt Bissonette. In February 2011 Yellow Matter Custard re-formed for 3 Nights Across America. Kasim Sulton replaced Matt Bissonette in the 2011 shows due to other commitments. They took their name from a Beatles lyric in "I Am the Walrus": "Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye".

He rejoined Portnoy along with Dave LaRue and Daniel Gildenlöw for a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Hammer of the Gods in November 2003. The same year, he toured Japan with Linus Of Hollywood, TJ Helmerich, and Scot Coogan in support of his solo albums Burning Organ, Paul the Young Dude/The Best of Paul Gilbert, and Gilbert Hotel. In September 2005, he joined Portnoy, Sean Malone, and Jason McMaster in the Rush tribute band Cygnus and the Sea Monsters. In May 2006, he joined Portnoy, Gary Cherone, and Billy Sheehan to form Amazing Journey: A Tribute to The Who, playing three shows. The band (excluding Sheehan) destroyed their equipment after the show in homage.

He was also revealed to be the guest guitarist on the Neal Morse solo album, Sola Scriptura. In 2007, Paul Gilbert toured with Bruce Bouillet for promotion of his first instrumental album, Get Out of My Yard, which was released in 2006. Also joining him was his wife, Emi Gilbert, on keyboards. Paul Gilbert also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci in the 2007 G3 tour. This was the 5th North American G3 run and the 12th tour worldwide since its inception.

On January 23, 2008, Paul released an instrumental CD titled Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar. It was released in Europe on March 31, 2008, and in America on April 8, 2008. This is Paul's second instrumental album.^[6]

On October 22, 2008, Paul released an album with vocalist Freddie Nelson entitled United States.^[7] The collaboration has been described as a cross of Queen and Mr. Big.^[8]

Paul with Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Andy Timmons and his band opened the show, followed by a solo set from Gilbert, and finally Racer X. This Racer X lineup consisted of Gilbert, Scott Travis, Jeff Martin and John Alderete.^[4]

Gilbert also joined George Lynch and Richie Kotzen on the Guitar Generation tour.

On June 30, 2010, Gilbert's new album Fuzz Universe was released in Japan, with a release in America and Europe soon after.^[9] It is Paul's 3rd solo album being entirely instrumental.^[9] A cover of Johnny Cash's "Leave That Junk Alone" is featured as a Japanese bonus track.^[9][10]

Influences and Style[link]

Talking about his influences, Paul mentions many different artists, including: Randy Rhoads, Kim Mitchell, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, John J Kirby, Tony Iommi, Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Robin Trower, Ritchie Blackmore, Pat Travers, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, Judas Priest, Akira Takasaki, Steve Clark, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, and The Ramones. Paul has stated many times that he was heavily influenced by his uncle Jimi Kidd who was instrumental in getting Paul interested in playing the guitar. He is also a great fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He states on the Space Ship Live DVD that George Harrison is one of his favorite guitar players. Guitar World magazine declared him one of 50 of the world's fastest guitarists of all time, along with Buckethead, Eddie Van Halen, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including pop, rock, metal, blues, funk and european classical music, but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed. He is noted in particular for his efficient picking and his tendency to pick many notes rather than relying on legato for fast passages.

Instructor[link]

Paul Gilbert wrote his own section of the British guitar magazine, Total Guitar, where he normally demonstrated guitar techniques in the magazine and accompanying CD. Even before that, he contributed instructional articles to Guitar Player Magazine in a late 1980s/early 1990s series entitled "Terrifying Guitar 101". His period of working with Total Guitar spanned thirty-one issues until the November 2006 issue. Paul also teaches at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) regularly, and is also an "honorary dean" of the GIT division in Japan. Paul visits Japan, enjoying the lifestyle like his Shrapnel labelmate Marty Friedman, who still lives in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently. Gilbert is known for his instructional videos, which are often comical in nature. One of his instructional videos includes him pulling a rabbit out of his guitar, putting his guitar in a straightjacket and having presents thrown at him by members of the film crew. Paul also was, for a short time, the guitar teacher of Buckethead, Russ Parrish (A.K.A. Satchell from Steel Panther), Michelle Meldrum (The late wife of Europe guitarist John Norum) and Nicole Couch of Phantom Blue. Gilbert now writes a column for Premier Guitar entitled "Shred Your Enthusiasm".

Gear[link]

Gilbert playing his signature guitar 2007

Paul Gilbert primarily uses his Ibanez PGM signature series guitars,^[11] identified by the unique painted on "F-holes". Although earlier PGM models featured the Ibanez Lo-Pro/Edge double locking tremolo system, many of his guitars (such as his main PGM300) were modified to accommodate a fixed bridge after he stopped using whammy bars in the early 90s, hence the Ibanez PGM301 guitar. Along with his signature guitars, Gilbert often uses his sticker-covered "Dino" Ibanez RG550, in addition to a wide variety of Ibanez solidbody and semi-hollow electric guitars. Recently, Gilbert has been using Ibanez "Fireman" (a reversed-body Ibanez Iceman with single-coil pickups and an extra cutaway) guitars, which he designed himself.^[12] A red version The Ibanez Fireman is to be mass-produced for consumers at a more affordable price than the Ibanez PGMFRM1 (current Paul Gilbert signature Fireman) in Fall 2011.

Regarding amplifiers, Gilbert used A/DA preamps (A/DA MP-1) and rack effects units early in his career prior to switching to Laney amplifiers. He praised the Laney amps as having "the best natural distorted sound of any tube amp ever heard" Since the G3 2007 tour however, Gilbert stated that playing with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci inspired him to take a closer look at his own guitar sound. As a result of his search he found the Marshall Vintage Modern series. He currently uses the Marshall Vintage Modern 2266c combo amps. Paul now uses the Marshall JMD:1 (specifically JMD501) amplifier along with his Vintage Modern amplifier. Paul uses Jim Dunlop Tortex picks, of which he prefers the orange (.60mm) picks. As far as cables Paul uses^[13] Bullet Cable 30' Coiled Cables, Bullet Cable SLUG DIY solderless patch cables for his pedalboard and effects.

Paul has been known to use the following effects:

Paul also used a modified vintage A/DA Flanger from the 1980s (source: Berlin VIP session interview). You can hear it on tracks like 'Bucket of Rocks', and he also uses it on the 'Snowball of Doom' DVD. Paul stated the flanger had been modified. He would set the flanger to self oscillate, which would make the pitch of the resulting signal alternate up and down to create a sound similar to a dive bomb or a pull up on a whammy bar. Unfortunately, during Paul's 2008 European tour, his trusty A/DA Flanger broke. Thankfully, before the pedal broke, he and Ibanez collaborated to make a similar pedal, with both a regular flanger mode and a mode which can be set to create a close approximation of the A/DA pedal's sound, and the pedal has been released as the Ibanez Paul Gilbert AF-2 Airplane Flanger. He also uses the Psilocybe phaser and THC chorus pedals from Home Brew Electronics.

In the intro to "Get Out Of My Yard" Paul uses a Boss DD-3 Delay pedal to achieve the altered pitch looped effect at the beginning of the track. This was also demonstrated by Paul on the instructional DVD of the same name.

He is also famous for using a Makita cordless drill with three picks mounted on the end of it, which he used most famously on the Mr. Big track "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy".

In 2009, Ibanez released a new PGM model, the Ibanez PGM401, which is rather different from most of Paul's previous models, with an ash body (most of his previous models were made of basswood, although his PGM800 guitar was made of lightweight ash, a similar but different wood than that used in the PGM401), Trifade Burst finish, Cosmo Black hardware and a regular headstock replacing the reversed one of the previous models. Also, rather than the DiMarzio PAF Pro, Tone Zone and Super Distortion pickups used in his previous models, the PGM401 comes with Paul's favorite humbucker model for the past five years, the DiMarzio Air Classic, arranged in a dual humbucker arrangement. Paul has stated that he had the bridge pickup moved 1mm closer to the neck, which he said results in a warmer and thicker sound, particularly for the high notes he often uses in soloing. The F-holes are 3% smaller, to make the look more balanced with the pickup mounting rings. But perhaps the biggest difference from other current Ibanez guitar models, is that the PGM401 uses the old late-1980s neckjoint, which is thicker than the current neckjoints on other Ibanez guitars.^[14]

In 2011, Ibanez released a new model for Gilbert the FRM100. The design of the FRM100 was inspired by many hours of playing and performance by Paul Gilbert with the original Ibanez Fireman model featuring a distinctive reverse Iceman body outline ^[15]

Discography[link]

Racer X[link]

• Street Lethal (1986)
• Second Heat (1987)
• Extreme Volume Live (1988)
• Extreme Volume II Live (1992)
• Technical Difficulties (1999)
• Superheroes (2000)
• Snowball of Doom (2002)
• Getting Heavier (2002)
• Snowball of Doom 2 (2002)

Mr. Big[link]

• Mr. Big (1989)
• Raw Like Sushi (1990)
• Lean Into It (1991)
• Raw Like Sushi II (1992)
• Bump Ahead (1993)
• Japandemonium: Raw Like Sushi 3 (1994)
• Channel V at the Hard Rock Live (1996)
• Hey Man (1996)
• Big Bigger Biggest: Greatest Hits (1996)
• Next Time Around Best Of (2009)
• Back To Budokan Live (2009)
• What If... (2011)

Solo Albums[link]

• Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (EP) (1991) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #59)
• King of Clubs (1998) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #28)
• Flying Dog (1998) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #23)
• Beehive Live (1999) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #72)
• Alligator Farm (2000) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #24)
• Raw Blues Power With Jimi Kidd (2002) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #94)
• Burning Organ (2002) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #27)
• Paul the Young Dude/The Best of Paul Gilbert (2003) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #31)
• Gilbert Hotel (2003)
• Acoustic Samurai (2003) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #94)
• Space Ship One (2005) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #53)
• Get Out of My Yard (2006) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #52)
• Tough Eskimo (limited edition EP) (2007)
• Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar (2008) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #39)
• United States With Freddie Nelson (2009)
• Fuzz Universe (2010) (Japan Oricon Album Chart #57)

Other appearances[link]

• Trouble In The Streets- Black Sheep(1985)
• Atomic Basement Tapes - Missing Lynx (1985)
• Revelation - Darrell Mansfield Band (1985)
• Pump It!' - Jeff Berlin (1986)
• Out of the Sun - Joey Tafolla (1990)
• Humanary Stew - A Tribute to Alice Cooper
• Guitars That Rule the World (1992)
• Smoke On The Water: A Tribute (1994)
• Samad: Samad Lead Guitar on "Joget" and "Animo" (1994)
• Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle (1996)
• Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus (track "Dislocated") (1996)
• Akira Takasaki - Wa (1996)
• Merry Axemas - A Guitar Christmas (1997)
• Mikazuki^{[disambiguation needed ]} "In Rock" Sound Track, Guitar on tracks "Crescent Moon" & "Theme for Kazeo" (2000)
• Becker 2001, Warmth in the Wilderness -A Tribute to Jason Becker(Guitar and vocals for Hawkin)
• Hughes Turner Project - HTP (2002)
• Battle Gear III: The Edge (played on "Charge and Discharge," "Morning View," and "The Machine of Rage" bonus tracks) (2003)
• Kim Fox Return to Planet Earth (2003) Guitar on track 4
• Guitar Wars (2003)
• Return to the Planet Earth - Kim Fox (2003)
• One Night in New York City - Yellow Matter Custard (2003) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
• Mieze - Marco Minnemann (2004)
• Five Feet...No Inches - Pintsize (2005)
• Contraire de la chanson - Marco Minnemann (2006)
• Parador (track "Joke") - Wisely (2006)
• Light at the End of the Tunnel - War and Peace (2006) (with Richie Kotzen, John Norum, Jeff Pilson)
• Two Nights In North America - Hammer of the Gods (2006) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
• One Night in Chicago - Cygnus and the Sea Monsters (2006) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
• Live with Sex Machineguns - Tokyo (2005)
• One Night in New York City - Amazing Journey (2007) Available @ MikePortnoy.com
• Spin The Bottle - An All Star Tribute To Kiss (guitars on "I Want You") (2004)
• Numbers from the Beast - An All Star Tribute to Iron Maiden (guitars on "The Evil That Men Do") (2005)
• Evil Lives: A True Metal Tribute to Black Sabbath (with Racer X on Track 4: "Children of the Grave") (2006)
• The Fool - Jeff Martin solo album (2006)
• Sola Scriptura - Neal Morse (2007)
• G3 Tour (2007)
• Lifeline - Neal Morse (2008)
• Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You Slash) - MC Lars (2008)
• Bowling for Soup - Merry Flippin' Christmas Volume 1 (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause) (2009)

Videography[link]

• Intense Rock Jams - Sequences & Techniques VHS version
• Intense Rock II featuring Paul Gilbert VHS version
• Guitars from Mars Japanese DVD release
• Guitars from Mars II Japanese DVD release
• Terrifying Guitar Trip VHS version
• Eleven Thousand Notes DVD
• Guitar Wars DVD
• Space Ship Live DVD (2005)
• Complete Intense Rock DVD (2006)
• Terrifying Guitar Trip DVD (2006)
• Get Out Of My Yard Guitar Instructional (string skipping) DVD (2007)
• Get Out Of My City Guitar Instructional DVD/VCD (2007)
• One Night In New York City - Yellow Matter Custard (2003)
• Two Nights In North America - Hammer Of The Gods (2006)
• One Night In Chicago - Cygnus And The Sea Monsters (2006)
• One Night In New York City - Amazing Journey (2007)
• Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar Guitar Instructional DVD And Shred Annex (2008)
• The Last Note of Freedom

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Gilbert

• The official Paul Gilbert site
• The official Racer X site
• Paul Gilbert - Rock Squad Interview
• Gilbert's solo on Mr Big site
• Paul Gilbert on Last.fm
• Paul Gilbert artist page at Guitar Video Channel

Not to be confused with Canadian ice-hockey player Rod Gilbert.

Rhodri "Rhod" Gilbert, (born 18 October 1968) is a Welsh comedian who was nominated in 2005 for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. In 2008, he was nominated for the main if.comedy (as the Edinburgh Comedy Awards were then branded).^[1]

He appears on television and radio panel shows, has performed stand-up on the Royal Variety Performance, and hosts a weekly show on BBC Radio Wales.^[2]

Early life[link]

Gilbert was born in Carmarthen, Wales, one of three siblings to two teacher parents and studied languages at Exeter University.^[2][3] For the first three weeks, such was his painful shyness that Gilbert was unable to eat with other students in the canteen or even make friends with the student in the next room.^[4]

After graduating, Gilbert travelled for a year and a half around Australia and Asia before returning to Carmarthen and working as an admin assistant for the Welsh Office.^[4] After this he worked as a qualitative researcher for a number of different market research agencies in London.^[2]

Career[link]

Stand-up comedy[link]

Gilbert got into professional comedy in 2002, after taking a comedy workshop course, but only "thanks to a girlfriend’s constant nagging".^[4] Within 18 months, Gilbert had already won several different talent competitions^[3][5] and was nominated for the Perrier Newcomer award for his first solo show in 2005 at Edinburgh Fringe entitled 1984.^[3] He has since performed worldwide.^[6]

Many of Gilbert's stories are based around real life events, and his life in the wholly fictionalised village of Llanbobl. Originally invented to ensure an English heckler had nothing real to grasp on to,^[7] it has since been geographically defined as being situated between "Wrexham and Holyhead, just north of Newtown, Powys," and a sort of "grown-up Thomas the Tank Engine" location.^[1] Gilbert has described the number of audience members that come up to him at the end of shows, and say they have been to Llanbobl for holidays, and even that an English rugby union team "hammered" the Llanbobl team. Gilbert also admitted that he "may have 'accidentally' sent the rugby player that told him on a 7 hour goose-chase" to come back to Llanbobl and meet him. In 2008, Gilbert wrote a sitcom around life in Llanbobl, which featured on BBC Radio 2.^[7][8]

In his 2006 Edinburgh Fringe show Knocking on Heaven's Door, Gilbert told stories from his life, weighing up whether he would be admitted to heaven. His 2007 show, Who's Eaten Gilbert's Grape? saw Gilbert return to Llanbobl and pick up the story following the 1984 show narrative. His 2008 show, Rhod Gilbert and the Award-Winning Mince Pie, saw Gilbert question his sanity, his career and his life after suffering a mental breakdown brought on by the award-winning mince pie at a motorway services.

On 17 December 2008 he appeared at the 80th Royal Variety Performance.^[9]

Gilbert's 2009/10 show, entitled Rhod Gilbert And The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst, was announced on 5 April. The show previewed around the UK in small venues, before being performed at the Edinburgh Festival. The show toured UK theatres from September 2009.^[10]

On 18–19 June 2009, Gilbert made the last performances of Rhod Gilbert And The Award-Winning Mince Pie show at the Bloomsbury Theatre, which was recorded and released as a DVD on 16 November 2009.^[11] The DVD also contains several special features, including his infamous rant about lost luggage, outtakes from the performance and a mockumentary called Back To Llanbobl in which Gilbert shows the viewer around his fictional home town.

From September 2009 to April 2010 he toured the UK with a new show titled Rhod Gilbert and the Cat that Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst; the tour included dates at many prestigious theatres such as London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo. A DVD of the tour was released on 15 November 2010.^[12]

On 14 October 2010, Gilbert cancelled a stand up show in Swindon after coming down with pneumonia.^[13] In 2011 he is beginning a series of warm-up/new material gigs across the country. One of the first is happening in Machynlleth, as part of the Machynlleth Comedy Festival. After his 150 date 2009/2010 tour, Rhod is taking a break from stand-up but has revealed he plans to tour again in 2012.^[14]

Tours[link]

1984 (2005)[link]

Knocking on Heaven’s Door (2006)[link]

Who’s eaten Gilbert’s Grape (2007)[link]

The Award Winning Mince Pie (2008-9)[link]

The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst (2009-10)[link]

Stand-Up DVDs[link]

Television[link]

Gilbert has appeared three times on the BBC2 show Mock The Week, and has presented an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks in October 2009 and an episode of Have I Got News for You in April 2011. He has also appeared as a guest on Channel 4's 8 Out of Ten Cats, and has used his comedy talents to write and narrate BBC Three's 2007 Goals Galore, Pranks Galore, Football Gaffes Galore and TV Gaffes Galore programmes.^[2] He has also presented BBC 2W's, Rhod Gilbert's Teen Tribes, providing an insight into the teen tribal worlds of "Emos", "Chavs" and "Goths".

Gilbert was Paramount Comedy's continuity writer and announcer between September 2004 and October 2005, providing end-credit voice-overs for their peaktime programme schedule.

In December 2008 Gilbert was signed for an advertising campaign to further promote tourism in Wales^[3] and became the official Voice Of Wales for the country's tourist-board, fronting the 2009 Visit Wales television advertising.^[15]

Gilbert has done reports for the BBC One current affairs/ human interest show The One Show.

In November 2008, Gilbert appeared on the BBC's Live at the Apollo as a guest. In December 2009, he hosted the show, introducing fellow comedian John Bishop. On 6 June 2009 Gilbert appeared as the headline act on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow on BBC One, and he guested on 8 out of 10 Cats on 17 July 2009. He also provided voiceover material for the sketch show Walk on the Wild Side.

On 19 January 2010, Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience aired on BBC One Wales. Zipline Creative Limited worked freelance as producer/directors, editors and also camera and sound on the series for Presentable RDF.^[16] The four part series saw Gilbert attempt a number of jobs including hairdresser, refuse collector, soldier and parent.^[17] Following the show's success on BBC One Wales, the series will air nationally on BBC2 from 10 March. Rhod will be producing a documentary on Welsh comedy for BBC Wales in the new year.^[18]

In August 2010, the BBC commissioned eight episodes of Ask Rhod Gilbert following a successful pilot earlier in 2010. The show features Gilbert, Greg Davies and Lloyd Langford answering random trivia questions, such as ‘Who would win in a race, Usain Bolt or a grizzly bear?', posed by the public and celebrities.^[19]

On 7th March 2011 series 2 of Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience aired on BBC One Wales. In this series Rhod tried out jobs as a Farmer, Butler, Tattoo Artist and Firefighter. ^[20]

In January 2012, Rhod began filming for Series 3 of Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience. The series aired on BBC One Wales from 7th May 2012 and saw him take on jobs such as Primary School Teacher, Zoo Keeper, Drag Artist and Police Officer. ^[21]

Radio[link]

In 2006, he hosted the BBC Radio Wales comedy panel show Jest a Minute, live from The Comedy Store in London.

The second series of Jest a Minute was recorded in late 2008 in Cardiff's Glee Club, hosted by Gilbert and featuring regular team captains Chris Corcoran and Lloyd Langford, and guests from the comedy circuit such as Greg Davies, Lucy Porter and Jon Richardson.

Gilbert was also the host of BBC Radio 4's 4 Stands Up comedy series which aired in the Autumn of 2008, and has also appeared twice on Radio Four's Just a Minute, Radio 2's Does the Team Think?, and BBC Radio 4s Act your Age.

In December 2008, a pilot of his sitcom, Rhod Gilbert's Leaving Llanbobl was broadcast on BBC Radio Two; the sitcom was written and starred Rhod Gilbert and Greg Davies, with additional writing by Sian Harries. Lloyd Langford played Gilbert's amiable younger brother Emrys, Di Botcher played Brenda, a gossipy hairdresser, and Mike Hayward played Gilbert's father Gurnos. The show was produced by Ed Morrish. He has hinted in interviews that the sitcom is likely to move to TV when it is completed as he found that he was "seeing it" as he wrote it.^[22]

Rhod has also made several appearances on the BBC Radio 4 comedy program The Unbelievable Truth.^[23][24]

Gilbert currently fronts his own radio show "The Rhod Gilbert Radio Show", broadcast by BBC Radio Wales on Saturdays between 11am and 1pm,^[25] alongside fellow Welsh stand-up comedian Chris Corcoran.

Rhod has finished recording a new radio show for BBC Radio 2 called Rhod Gilbert's Bulging Barrel of Laughs with comedians Lloyd Langford, Greg Davies and Sarah Millican. Each show also features live music from bands such as Athlete, Scouting for Girls, Kid British and The Hoosiers. This will be broadcast in late August.^[26]

Awards[link]

2002

• Finalist in So You Think You're Funny.

2003

• Winner of the Leicester Mercury comedian of the year as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival
• Winner of the Paramount Gift Of The Gag competition
• Chortle Award nominee for best new act
• Winner of the BBC New Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
• Runner-up in the Hackney Empire New Act of The Year competition
• Winner of the Metro and Jongleurs Spike Award for New Talent, South East
• Winner of the National Talent Hunt at the York Festival^[27]

2005

• Chortle award for Best Breakthrough Act
• Nominated for The List and Writers Guild Comedy Award for "Rhod Gilbert's 1984"
• Perrier nominated for Best Newcomer for "Rhod Gilbert's 1984."

2006

• Placed in The Times Top 50 comedians
• Named one of The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy's top 50 icons.^[28]

2008

• Nominated for the main IF.COM Eddies (formerly Perrier award) at the Edinburgh fringe for "Rhod Gilbert and the Award-winning Mince Pie"
• Winner of the Time Out 'Comic of the Year'
• Winner of the Time Out 'Best Show of the Year' for "Rhod Gilbert and the Award-winning Mince Pie"
• Winner of the Time Out 'Breakthrough Act'
• Nominated for the Celtic Media awards 'Best Radio Personality' for the "Rhod Gilbert Radio Show" on BBC Radio Wales

2009

• Nominated for the Times/South Bank Show Awards, 'Breakthrough Act'
• Winner of Chortle award for 'Best Headliner'
• Winner of "Comics Comic" Chortle award
• Nominated for the Chortle award for Best Show for "Rhod Gilbert and the Award-winning Mince Pie"

2010

• Winner of 'Wales' Sexiest male'

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rhod Gilbert BBC radio show
• Rhod Gilbert at the Internet Movie Database
• Review and details of awards
• Funny Money film shorts with Rhod Gilbert for BBC raw money
• Llanbobl on Facebook
• Rhod Gilbert Show on Twitter