Dave Gorman
A pedant with a clicker proving that the world is absurd.
1 special · 2001
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He walks out with a clicker in his hand and a giant screen behind him. Dave Gorman does not just tell a story about something strange that happened to him; he presents the evidence. He points to screenshots of local news comments, unspools the bizarre terms of service for a mundane product, and dissects the logical failures of advertising slogans. His cadence is exasperated but delighted. He is a man drowning in the pedantic details of modern communication, dragging the audience down the rabbit hole with him. The rhythm relies on a snowball effect: a minor annoyance escalates into a multi-slide investigation until the entire room is laughing at a zoomed-in photograph of a pound-shop label.
Specials
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Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala 2001 with Jimeoin, Chris Addison & 10 more
A rapid-fire 2001 charity showcase of Australian and international stand-up.
Network Ten
On stage
He essentially created the British template for documentary standup. Before every comic at the Edinburgh Fringe had a projector, Gorman was traveling the world tracking down his namesakes and playing the results out on stage. He spent years building shows for the UK television network Dave. While other comics eventually adopted the PowerPoint crutch, Gorman treats his laptop as a co-star rather than a prop.
His strongest bits revolve around semantic traps and internet garbage. He turns unhinged user comments from the bottom half of the web into rhythmic found poems. Sometimes the reliance on screens makes the show feel closer to an amusing lecture than a traditional club set, and pointing out the stupidity of social media can feel like shooting fish in a barrel. But he stacks his visual evidence with such obsessive care that the audience is entirely locked in.
He does not just notice things. He documents them.
Turning points
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2000–2001
The Are You Dave Gorman? Quest
A drunken bet with Danny Wallace to find 54 namesakes evolved into an Edinburgh Perrier Award nomination, an off-Broadway run, a BBC series, and a bestselling book.
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2011–2022
Pioneering Standup with PowerPoint Presentations
Gorman transformed traditional standup by building full tours around projected slides, screen evidence, and charts, later adapting the format into Modern Life Is Goodish.
At a glance
Also on screen
- The Dave Gorman Collection
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- 2009–2010
- Genius
- 2013–2025
- Dave Gorman: Modern Life Is Goodish
- Taskmaster
A clip to start with
Maths - Dave Gorman Stand Up