Comedian Rhod became ‘bored’ with act

COMEDIAN Rhod Gilbert said he gave up stand-up comedy for six years after becoming “bored” of his act.

The Welshman won acclaim for his documentary Stand Up To Shyness, which he said has inspired his return to performing.

He was speaking outside the Bafta Cymru awards show in Cardiff on Sunday night, where he was nominated in the best presenter category.

Gilbert said before making the one-hour BBC documentary he had lost his enthusiasm for being a stand-up comedian, which he has now returned to with a series of small-venue gigs.

He said: “The responses I’m getting from audiences is totally different. It’s exciting because I was bored.

“I did stand-up for 10 years, then I didn’t do a gig for six years because I was bored. I didn’t feel inspired to do stand-up any more.

“Suddenly I’ve got stuff to talk about again and I’m really excited to be going out and talking about it.”

Gilbert will embark on a UK tour next year, which he said will be his most “personal” yet after realising the impact of opening up about his anxiety problems in the documentary.

He said: “It’s going to be very, very different to anything I’ve ever done because it’s much more personal, and that’s all come out of this shyness documentary.”