Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit

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I know his tour has been discussed, but has anybody been to see him?  Tickets are rarer than hen's teeth.

We went on Friday to Bath to see him.  Firstly he was crudely hilarious.  Expect to be offended Joy  Of an audience of 1600 4 people including Rhod and myself admitted to having H&N cancer.  I don't think that is a representative statistic, but it is interesting.

His show is based on his journey through cancer.  Not only does it describe and make fun of the of his story, but it also contains important messages to the audience about the true causes and prevention of this horrible disease.

I cried with laughter throughout, probably much because I really understood and had experienced the journey.  The last 5 minutes of the show he shows a short film of his "real" journey and my wife and I sobbed our hearts out as it brought back the true horrors of this treatment; many of which my mind had blanked out until that point.  I have only broken down and cried 3 times in my 4 1/2 year journey - once the first Christmas Day before my first treatment when I thought I would not see another with my family, once just recently when I was told "complete metabolic response, and last Thursday at the end of the show.  That was very therapeutic for me.

If you can get tickets I would recommend the show.  It did me good allowing me to reconcile my journey and I hope it may do the same for others.

  • I see the Guardian gave it a +ve review.. 

    Loz (61)

    Oropharyngeal right tongue base T2N2bM0 squamous cell carcinoma p16 positive.. 

  • Hi Peter.   Thankyou so much for posting this.   I have just managed to get 2 tickets for this sat in Portsmouth!!   Very much looking forward.  I know I will cry snd laugh.  Thankyou.  Lizzie x

  • Thanks for sharing this Peter - I hadn't actually heard of it but I think it is a very positive way to raise more awareness of this type of cancer, so I will be booking tickets, although looks like the next one I can get to is June 2025!!

  • Tried to get tickets but have struggled.

    SCC Right mandible T4 N1 M0 diagnosed Dec 2022. Surgery Jan 2023. Radio and Chemo.

  • I had not heard of this show. I think it is great if it can raise awareness but personally , even though I very often used humour during my treatment to distance myself from what was happening and to make the situation "lighter" for the people close to me, I do not think I could watch this show as I would not wish to revisit that journey and find it funny. The only time I "revisit"  that journey is with my partner, very close friends and people on this forum to help them and give them hope. But of course everybody is different.  Everybody deals with the "after" in a different way and it it helps people also come to terms with what they went through, then why not. 

    Fab1

  • Hi Peter.  Can I just ask what time it finished.  Just thinking about getting home.   Thankyou

  • He was on for just a little over 2 hours including an interval.  We started at 8pm, but I guess other venues may have differing starting times.

    Peter
    See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey
  • Hi Peter. I have tickets for October. I'm really looking forward to it although I know it will be cathartic.  I found him hilarious before he became one of our gang and think it's wonderful that he's talking about this to raise awareness.  I suppose he must go into the STD side of HPV which could be a bit awkward. I wasn't impressed with Michael Douglas reportedly saying his cancer was caused by him being a sex addict!! Should I be prepared to cringe? 

  • He most certainly does go into the oral sex side.  And he slates Michael Douglas for spreading false information and half truths.  But out of a incredibly hilarious part of the show comes 2 important messages 1) it is not only oral sex that gives you HPV and the fact that most of us have it, just a very few of us are unlucky and 2) vaccinate your children, both boys and girls.

    Peter
    See my profile for more details of my convoluted journey