The call was delayed slightly, because Gorman was stuck at a garage trying to sort out his MOT.
It will be, but its not at the moment.
Yeah, thats what caused the delay.
Ad content continues below
No worries!
That kind of leads me on to something I was gonna ask, actually.
Um, no, not really.
Turn the tape recorder on in your head, because theres something in this.
I think the minute you start doing that, you start doing things differently.
If that makes any sense at all?
So, er, no is the one word answer.
And everything I said before no is the slightly clumsy longhand one.
Where did you think people, myself included, get that misconception from?
And theres probably some… thats probably statistically about right, as well.
You know, its always a safe assumption.
I think I was actually really questioning whether or not…
I dont like sci-fi… but what is geeky about liking sci-fi?
WhenStar Warsis like one of the biggest movie franchises in the world, youre not an outsider.
Its the most mainstream thing you could possibly like.
In which case, why are we defining it as a thing thats separate?
You might as well say youre a geek for watchingThe X-Factor.
Its just mainstream culture.
Its not different and weird.
It doesnt set you apart from the rest of us in anyway.
Thats what I dont get.
These things have now taken over.
The idea thatStar WarsandStar Trekare these fringe things doesnt really add up at all.
No, but people want them to be.
And Im really into and like getting into the nuance of things.
I think thats really interesting.
Um, so, in a previous episode we talked about the way Marmite is marketed.
The way the phrase is used: either you love it or you hate it.
And, you know, actually, its also completely allowable to just quite like Marmite.
You dont have to be on these extremes.
We know whose side youre on.
We know everything you think.
Thats the way it is.
And, actually, its just all much more nuanced and interesting and detailed than that.
Because theyve decided its their side.
Thats the team theyre on.
And I find that really really really peculiar.
When theyre unfussy about it.
It could be utter shit.
But this idea that…
It just seems a peculiarly… they give into that binary definition.
I find that a really odd way round.
It is weird, although Ive definitely been guilty of that.
[Laughs] Oh god, I feel so awful.
[Laughs] No, no, its fine.
Was it [Gormans 1998 tour]Reasons To Be Cheerful?
It wasGooglewhack Adventure[in 2003].
Um, so it moved into PowerPoint at that point.
And how did the series,Goodish, come together?
Did Dave come to you looking for something, or did you pitch to them?
I toured a one-man show.
Well, afterGooglewhack Adventure, I stopped doing live stuff for years.
Because I toured that show for about three years.
I was in America with it for six months.
I did two tours of Australia.
Two or three trips to America.
Two tours of the UK.
It was just like…
I was on the road for eight or nine months of the year, for three years.
And I just got worn down by all the travel.
And I just thought, I dont wanna do it anymore.
And theyd go, Oh, maybeGooglewhack Adventurewas made up.
And I didnt want to shit on my own doorstep.
So I kind of felt a bit paralysed, and didnt know how to create something new for ages.
So I sort of gave up doing live stuff.
And I thought I was never gonna go back.
And then I started getting bored.
And started craving stand-up again.
So I just started going to clubs in London.
So I just started going round clubs in London, and saying, Oh can I do five minutes?
Can I do a bit?
It was like starting out again.
It was really fun.
When youre doing it not to make a living, youre just doing it for shits and giggles.
So, I started doing that again.
And then, one night I was doing that and my manager was in the audience.
He was like, Why the fuck didnt you tell me you were doing this?
And he started, yeah, booking up a tour.
Like, just one man and a microphone stand-up, back to the sort of pureness of that.
We like him when he does this!
Rather than a 90-minute story, it was stand-up.
It was things that were bits, with a half hour section at the end.
And I knew when I was doing that tour… it was sort of like discovering a new tour.
So, I know thats a very long answer to your very simple question.
And thats when we started talking about it.
And when did you come up with the Found Poem idea?
Because I always look forward to those.
That, initially, was a thing I used to do on the radio.
Not an animated cartoon.
So we did that.
And shed written this really tightly funny packed thing.
I need to do something.
And I never thought it would work live.
And then I started doing a run of gigs.
And because my stuff, the screen stuff, doesnt fit…
I can no longer go to a club and say, Oh, can I do five minutes?
And if Im just doing five minutes and everyone else is working around it, its just fucking weird.
Across the night I probably do forty minutes, maybe an hour, of material.
Its a bit avant-garde and weird, but Ill give it a go.
And it fucking tore the roof off the place.
It was a complete desperate move of, Ive run out of material.
What could I possibly do to fill five minutes between this act and that act?
Heres what Ive got in my locker.
Ill give it a go.
And it just immediately had this huge effect on an audience.
Um, so that felt like such a weird leap in the dark.
As things do, in hindsight, you go, Obviously that was right.
And in fairness, Ive gotta say, some people fucking hate them.
[Laughs] Some people get so angry about them, its incredible.
Theres some pretty dark stuff down there sometimes.
That would be the end of Found Poetry!
And I was thinking, I would fucking love that.
I would love to end Found Poetry.
I would love for those people not to be commenting anymore.
And for me to not to have to wallow in that shit.
And thats amusing you, even though you cant see it.
And thats a really weird thing for a comedy show.
And that weirdly tickles you.
Well, I dont know, it does me anyway.
Like, cryptic clues of London underground stations.
You know that sort of thing.
And we were trying to get it in front of one man, basically.
And we had successfully got it in front of him he was a friend of mine.
He didnt know it was us that created it.
It was a thing that was driving him mad.
And it just went over so well on the night.
I was on stage breaking up, because I knew he was in the green room.
And I knew he was watching this whole thing unravel.
So I had this really funny picture in my head.
The elaborateness of that set up, I found hugely rewarding.
No one really uses them.
You dont see them as often now as you even did like four years ago, or whatever.
Who put it there?
All those sort of things are in your head.
And I want you to believe me, so Im now gonna prove it.
So, hands up if you have.
Hands up if youve got your phone.
And there was this amazing tension in the room.
There was fear as well as comedy about it.
And then we went to a break.
It wasnt just on a sticker on a bus stop.
We put it on a sticker, we put it on a bus stop.
It doesnt actually show you a picture of your house.
Thats all made up.
And they went to a website that said Congratulations, youve just purchased a lawnmower.
342 has been debited from your credit card.
But theyre laughing at the girl.
Its like, everyones laughing.
Two different audiences, laughing for different reasons, at different times.
And half of them are laughing at things that havent happened yet.
Its all sort of odd, and layered.
Um, theres… Ill do that without spoilering it for people.
Theres a thing, and Id forgotten how fucking mental it was.
And youre suddenly aware that the audience are actually on the edge of their seats, properly.
And then youre doing it, going, Shit, look at these people.
Theyre worried Im gonna die, and Im not gonna die Im here telling them the story.
They dont know whats gonna happen.
And I dont draw a distinction.
Oooh, yeah, look.
As if thats kind of exciting and different.
And I sort of think, Dont we all use one every day now?
Dont most of us live on the internet, to some extent?
To me, theyre just completely the same thing.
And, suddenly, the jeopardy can be more real to people.
Because theres an inherent safety to anything thats experienced behind a computer screen.
And yeah, Ill give you one sentence from that bit.
That got quite brothel-y.
And Ill leave it at that, and leave your imagination to go wherever it goes.
Um, oh, he was inSpywasnt he?
Yeah, um, which is probably… is that the least Jason Statham Jason Statham movie?
Er, people like it a lot.
So, I will saySpy.
But thats all Ive got to go on, Im afraid.
Dave Gorman, thank you very much!
Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodishstarts Tuesday 31st October, 10pm on Dave.
His nationwide tourWith Great Powerpoint Comes Great Responsibilitypointbegins in September 2018.
