Rhod Gilbert
Hailed as one of the UK's leading stand up talents, Welsh funnyman Rhod Gilbert answered his comedy calling in 2002, deciding to give up his job as a market researcher and take a stand-up comedy course. That same year he made the finals at the Edinburgh Fringe's So You Think You're Funny competition and a whirlwind of newcomer awards followed. In 2005 he won the Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act and released his first-ever show 1984 - a riotous depiction of growing up in the fictional Welsh town of Llanbobl.