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Dave Gorman Dave Gorman has gradually forged his way into the UK consciousness over the last few years with his unique brand of stand up. Or rather, with his unique brand of storytelling, which happens to also be extremely funny. His popular book and TV Show, Are You Dave Gorman?, where our protagonist travelled all over the world meeting other people sharing his name, really made him stand out from the flat-pack stand ups. His latest, the Googlewhack Adventure, takes the distinctive Gorman brand just that little bit further. It's a genuinely emotional show, and not just a hilarious one. A week after the release of the show on DVD in the UK, and in the middle of a run of shows in New York, we got the chance to chat to Dave about this incredible true story, which he's been recounting to people all over the world since literally a week after it all came to a natural conclusion in Spring 2003. A story which proves hands down that the internet is amazing, and that lots of people who build their own specialist websites are really lovely, even if they're also a little scarey.
 PIXELSURGEON: Hi there Dave. Many thanks for taking time out to talk to us. We’ve been enjoying your shows for some time now, and the Googlewhack Adventure in particular. It’s been two years since it actually happened to you, well, depending when you start the story from. So does it feel strange still recounting that period of your life to hundreds of people every night?
Not particularly strange. The thing is, the events included in the story are, in many ways, the worst thing that's ever happened to me. The fact that the show and the book telling that story have been ridiculously successful turns the worst thing that ever happened to me into the best thing. There are comedians telling jokes that are 10 years old all over the place. I'm not telling jokes; I'm telling the audience a true story... it's a story that means something to me and that I'm emotionally involved in and it's not yet two years old. I'm always tinkering with the show, just making tiny tweaks and so on and whenever I bring it to a new country and a new audience it forces me to re-examine how I tell it, make a few more changes, solve some different problems and so on and it gives it a new lease of life. If I was still doing it in the UK - yes I'd be bored.
How have the shows in New York been going for you?
They've been going really well. The reviews have been fantastic, the audiences have been growing and it feels like it's got some momentum.
The last few shows have been sold-out and we're going to extend the run. I was meant to be here until December 4th but now I'm going to stay in New York through Christmas and into January.
Will the New York shows mark the last time you’ll ever perform it?
I don't know. I don't know how long the NY run is going to be now and
I don't really know what's going to happen after. The show's getting a lot of attention right now, there's a lot of venues across America who look to New York to see what's going on, and that means that they're showing an interest. I don't know what the chances are but a US tour is certainly a possibility.
Does it still feel like that same deeply personal story whenever you tell it, or do you feel slightly more removed from it each time?
If it were a collection of jokes I'd written it would be impossible to care by now. But it's a story about me having a breakdown and I will always know how that felt. I'll never be able to talk about it and not feel at least a shred of the emotion so I'll never be able to tell it without caring. I'm completely okay about what happened to me and maybe doing the show is part of the reason I've come to such happy terms with it.
 Roughly how many times do you think you’ve performed the Googlewhack Adventure now? Or perhaps you know the exact figure and have it notched on your bedroom wall?
It's getting on for 240 times. Something like that. I had a review last week that said: "Though he has already toured this story around the world, he relates it to the audience as if he just got back, and they are the friends in the pub who he just couldn't wait to tell it to first." which makes me very proud because that's exactly what I'm trying to do, and pretty much how I feel about it every night.
Googlewhack is also your first DVD of course. You’re not planning to release the older shows, or at least the BBC owns them, and therefore it’s not down to you. But can you see yourself doing something specifically for the DVD format in the future?
It's absolutely possible. It just involves someone wanting to let me. But they normally want to know what I'm going to do and the answer to that is always; "I don't know". Any idea you can successfully pitch to someone is the kind of idea I don't have any interest in.
Do you feel that the Googlewhack show is your best work to date?
Yes.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it was your favourite adventure though, and as you’ve already mentioned, it’s not exactly an entirely positive tale from start to finish. Indeed, it’s the negative points that make the show all the more captivating for the audience. On balance, which of your projects did you have the most fun doing?
I don't honestly know. People look back on each one as a distinct time in my life whereas to me they're a part of the continuum. They're all connected to each other. Without one happening the next one wouldn't have happened and so on. They're all part of one big adventure which I'm enjoying very much indeed.
Obviously you can’t be working on something of this scale the whole time, so how will you be amusing yourself after you’ve finished?
I don't really know... and I'm not especially concerned. When this roller coaster finally comes to a stop I intend to take a long chunk of time off and take stock. I think some sitting-in-my-living-room-and-doing-the-crossword will be a good idea. At some point I'm going to be writing another book. I don't know when or what it will be about yet. So I guess I'll try to think of something safe I can do without losing control of my life. I think I'll tell a story if I have a story to tell, but if there isn't a story to tell I'll do something else instead.
After success on the stand-up circuit, your first foray into
‘Documentary Comedy’ was a show you did called Reasons To Be Cheerful, and the whole thing was based on the lyrics of the Ian Dury song. Was it the first time you wielded a pointy stick and a graph?
Yes. Although I'm confused when people assume that I have graphs in everything. I've only ever used graphs in a show when there is information I want to convey that is best conveyed by a graph. If I've ever used a graph and the audience has thought "ha ha ha, he's using a graph" but not understood what the graph is telling them, then something hasn't worked.
Was this the moment you decided to move away from conventional stand-up, or was the change more gradual?
I decided that I was never going to do a stand-up show in Edinburgh again. The way I put it to my manager was, "I won't do another Edinburgh show unless there's a chance it might be shit." His face was a picture. I didn't know what I wanted to do, I just knew that if you're doing something that you can guarantee won't be shit it can only be satisfactory at best. If it might be shit then it might also be brilliant. It's always a risk worth taking.
Is there anyone else doing Documentary comedy, or is it a genre all your own?
 I don't know. In the last two or three years I've seen my name in several other people's reviews in Edinburgh but I have no idea how connected most of them are to me in reality. I didn't invent the phrase ‘Documentary Comedy’ - a journalist did. (I think it might have been Stephen Armstrong of the Sunday Times but I might be wrong).
What albums have you been listening to the most this year?
Lucky Jim. The Streets. Franz Ferdinand. The Futureheads. Helen Love.
What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year, and what made it so good?
I don't think I've seen a particularly good movie this year. But then
I've hardly been to the cinema. Most of the films I've seen this year have been on planes.
If you could instantly take up another profession, what would it be and why?
Novelist. I could stay at home more.
If you could be any musician, or even a whole band, living or dead, who would you be?
Ian Dury.
A lot of pretty amazing coincidences have happened to you through your work. Is there anything that stands out in particular?
An amazing coincidence is happening to someone, somewhere right now. And again now. Life's great isn't it?
What keeps you motivated to do what you day every day?
The boredom of not doing it.
Do you have any advice for aspiring comedians?
Be yourself. If you can make an audience share your sense of humour you're being a comedian. If you're giving an audience what you think they want then you're just taking up everyone's time.
What do you hope to have achieved in five years time?
I have no plans. I hope that there'll be happy times and sad times and that on balance it will all have seemed worthwhile.
Well, thanks for your time Dave. Here at Pixelsurgeon we wish you the best of luck with your future adventures.
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