A former company director in Soho, Gilbert left it late before deciding to become a professional comic but the meteorlike speed of his subsequent rise has more than made up for lost time.

Within two years of becoming a standup, he had won five national comedy awards and been nominated as Perrier Best Newcomer.

The current show, markedly different in style from last year's whimsical surrealism, sees him having returned from a near-death experience during which he stole the application form for entry into heaven.

The show includes lengthy discussion of whether he, and anyone else for that matter, has any chance of making it through the red tape, especially if any of us have ever visited Ann Summers or eaten a prawn cracker.

As well as this subject, which he tackles with his usual eloquently expressed frustration and anger, the show benefits from his energetic charisma and, in particular, his direct engagement with the audience, with whom he interacts repeatedly throughout the show.

That means we all get a chance to swot up for the entry test before the Almighty gets wind of the scam.