Rhod Gilbert is one of those breakout comedians who seemed to come from nowhere and for the last couple of years has suddenly all over the TV. And like any good stand-up, he knows it coming up to Christmas and so time to release a DVD of his stand-up show.
This time around its the bizarrely titled show & The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst, a name he apparently came up with to annoy a guy in Canterbury who he doesnt like because he always interrupts Rhods shows by presenting little gifts. However other than that, its much the same Rhod weve come to expect, whose stock in trade is to rant about the little annoyances of life, from Hoovers and washing machines (which he seems to include purely because it was his initial riff on these that helped propel him to stardom), to dating and whether he has an anger management problem.
Its all very funny, although while his earlier work had a feel of unvarnished truth about it, there does seem more of an edge now of playing things up. He knows what the audience likes and what hes famous for, and he plays to it, perhaps a little too much. But then hes at the stage which all comedians face as they become better known, which is that initially people like them because theyre funny about normal life and that the comedian obviously lives a life most people can relate to, but as you become more famous, suddenly your existence become very different to most peoples, making it harder to remain down-to-earth without seeming like youre making things up, Of course many comedians observations are either fictional or taken to the extreme, but youve gotta sell it as real to the audience, and some comedians have difficulty with that once they become better known and start being treated different.
Rhod does a pretty good job of keeping things fresh, even if his rants about how shit his life has been for the last 18 months completely glosses over the fantastic success hes had but as he keeps it funny, it doesnt matter too much. At least he hasnt gone the Russell Brand route, where as he got more famous Brands routines became purely about how famous he is, which quickly got annoying.
Its also impressive how much energy Rhod has. The ability to keep up his ranting style, and keep it funny, for 90 minutes is actually pretty impressive, not least that he hasnt lost his voice at the end of it. He complains during the show that critics have taken him to task for obsessing over the most trivial things, but thats his greatest gift, to take the things that are a minor annoyance and blow it into something massive and all-consuming. You have to hope Rhod doesnt spend his time being as angry as he gets during his shows, and presumably he didnt really have to go on an anger management course, but it certainly works here for a fun 84 minutes.
It really is a case where if youve liked what youve seen of him on TV, youll like this, as he is very good (although to be honest, last years The Award-Winning Mince Pie just pips it in the funny stakes). And itd certainly make a good present, as long as the person receiving it doesnt have a thing against ranting Welshmen.
The only special feature is a spoof documentary, Return To Llanbobl(Again), where Rhod revisits his childhood village, tries to come to terms with his previous anger about everything there which hes supposedly sorted out thanks to his anger management course while dealing with the bizarre locals. Again its fairly funny, although perhaps not the laugh riot they were going for.
Overall Verdict: Rhod is definitely a funny man, and here his ranting style is bound to make you laugh, whether your cat looks like Nicholas Lyndhurst or not.
Special Features:
Return To Llanbobl(Again) Featurette
Reviewer: Tim Isaac