JOHN BURNS is sworn to secrecy, but reckons comedian Dave Gorman is a bit special anyway

Dave Gorman

I DON’T KNOW what has got into stand up comedians recently. You knew where you were with the likes of Bernard Manning, Phil Jupitus or Johnny Vegas. Back then comedians were the antithesis of everything good for you, they were the antidote for the Atkins diet and sensible drinking. In those days comedians didn’t diet and frequently drank insensibly.

But now something has changed. Eddie Izzard has just run the equivalent of twenty marathons, quite an achievement in stilettos. Not to be outdone, Dave Gorman actually cycled on to the stage at the Ironworks on Monday night having completed over fourteen hundred miles of his cycle ride from the Southernmost tip of Britain to the Northernmost point. On the way he has performed in village halls, theatres and even a railway carriage. If he’s not careful he’ll give comedy a good name.

Seated in the balcony of the Ironworks, I had mentally completed this review when, with his parting words, Gorman entreated the audience to keep the events of the night a secret. He asked us not to spoil it for subsequent audiences by revealing the inventive twists and turns he’d included in the second half of the show. My heart sank and I screwed up the review I’d written in my head and threw it off my own metaphorical balcony.

Well, here goes, I’ll try and review Gorman’s show without telling you anything about it… well not too much anyway. Had Gorman not stumbled out of University and into stand up he would undoubtedly have wound up as a maths teacher. Every now and then I expected him to turn to the audience, “Now then 4B, quadratic equations.”

Instead he produced over one and a half hours of sophisticated and inventive stand up. True, I can now tell you what a perfect number is, but it is a tribute to Gorman’s skill that he had the audience roaring with laughter as he explored the complications of maths.

His act was as toned and taut as this cycling comedian’s legs must be after so many miles in the saddle. Everything was well rehearsed and slickly performed. He kept just the right amount of tension in the audience and only let them off the hook when he had extracted the maximum amount of humour from his rambling anecdotes.

It’s certainly true that Gorman visited the usual sources of humour most modern comedian’s use for their comedy, such as his family life and childhood. Despite this, Gorman was always original, bringing to his material a ferocious comic intelligence that he hides behind a gentle amiable style. With many TV and writing credits to his name, Gorman is far more than a stand up, and the breadth of his talents brought a depth to his comedy that was refreshing when many comedians resort to tired risqué material to get a cheap laugh to sustain them to the interval.

The Ironworks is rapidly establishing itself as an important venue on the comedy circuit, and Gorman’s outstanding performance on Monday night can only help to consolidate that reputation. Designed as a music venue, the Ironworks is at its best as a comedy venue when its audience it is at or near capacity. Lesser comedians with smaller crowds find their voices lost in its cavernous space.

Monday night showed the Ironworks at its best as a venue for stand up. The capacity crowd and Gorman’s larger than life personality came together to provide a great night’s entertainment. Few in the audience can have left the auditorium feeling that the price of their ticket had more than been repaid in full with laughter.

Many comedians fade after the interval but Gorman picked up the remainder of the night with some of the best and most innovative stand up I have seen. Unfortunately here I am sworn to secrecy. I can only say that his highly original set on The Evolution of the Hunny Monster will remain with me for a long time as a great piece of imaginative stand up that had many of the audience convulsed with laughter.

Gorman provided a tremendous night of entertainment, always wrong-footing the audience and coming at his topics from new and challenging angles. As he cycled off into the darkness he left me remembering just how exciting stand up comedy can be.

I didn’t give away too much, did I, Dave? Did I …

© John Burns, 2009

Links

• Dave Gorman
• John Burns at Purple Comedy