'It’s wonderful to be alive and going back on the road'

Rhod Gilbert has announced his first tour after undergoing cancer treatment.

He will play more than 100 dates  of his new show – called Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit –  starting in January and runing to November 2025.

The 54-year-old was diagnosed with stage four head and neck cancer last year, and has since undergone surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. 

He said: ‘After the year I’ve had,  it’s wonderful to be alive and going back on the road. I can’t wait to get back on stage and I’m ready to get way too personal about life’s recent ups and downs. When life gives you lemons, you have to squeeze them 'til the  comedy juice flows, so prepare for some dark but funny shit.’

In an interview with Sky News this month he said: ‘It's going to be pretty dark, but from what I've done so far - I've done a few little works in progress in Edinburgh and things - I'm really happy with the way it's coming along.

‘While it's the darkest stuff I've ever done, clearly, after what I've been through, I think for me it's up there with the funniest. It's certainly making me laugh. And it seems so far to be working.’

But he added that his health has given him a meaty topic to talk about - ‘a really tricky thing to navigate, you know, And that's a real challenge and really exciting. It has the potential to move people more, it has as a potential to have a bigger impact on people, I think, than toothbrushes, duvets and stuff.’

Gilbert performed at the Swansea Arena in May  with a delayed date of his last show, The Book of John, when he said: ‘Lovely to be here, lovely to be back in Swansea, lovely to be alive and lovely to be back on tour.’ 

He is due to travel to Morocco next week to trek up Mount Toubka - the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains -  to raise  money for Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. He was a prominent supporter of  the charity long before he ended up being a patient there.

However,  earthquakes in the country, which are estimated to have claimed nearly 3,000 lives, have put that in doubt.

Gilbert told Sky News: ‘We've got people on the ground assessing the situation. And I guess if we can go, we probably should because we'll be employing local people and putting money into our local economy and we may be able to help.’

Tickets for Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit go on general sale at 10am on Friday

» Rhod ​Gilbert tour dates and ticket links

Published: 25 Sep 2023