Dave Gorman

01/04/2010

Wheels in motion @ King's Theatre, Glasgow

Dave Gorman
King's Theatre, Glasgow
3/5

His original 2009 tour saw Dave Gorman cycle between the four cardinal points of the British mainland while performing his stand up show around the country at night. Gorman is not undertaking the 1600 mile journey he made across the UK this time round, but as it’s the same show he enters the stage on a pushbike to make sure we don’t feel left out. It’s the thought that counts eh?<!--StartFragment-->

Gorman is hilarious in the first half and produces hysterics from the audience. He jumps from one funny anecdote to the next, usually involving his parents (who sound just like our own) or playing pranks on a rather gullible Swedish friend. The stories are believable and he loses himself at points in fits of giggles at the thought of what he is telling us. His boyish charm is endearing and the giddy way he moves around the stage is reminiscent of a loveable rogue.

One trait of Gorman is to start telling a joke, building it up to a huge crescendo, but rounding it off without a punch line. The joke is that there is no punch line, and that we’ve just allowed him to ramble on for two minutes about nothing in particular – the joke’s on us. Annoying, yes, but it’s just another element of Gorman’s wicked sense of humour. It’s easy to forgive him.

He rounds off the first half by telling the audience with sincerity that “you’re fun to tell stories to”, which ensures we’re all hooked.

The second half of the show unfortunately doesn’t pack the same punch as the first. He requests that the audience don’t spoil what happens in the show for others so my lips are sealed, but during a couple of long winded stories it’s easy to get lost in his ramblings and odd angry outbursts. He’s not the same chap we enjoyed in the first half and miss the warm way he shared stories with us. He’s out to make a point and will take as long as he wants to get there.

There’s no theme to this show and it shows. The two halves couldn’t be more different and I can’t help but feel he loses the interest of some of the audience who laughed along with him in the beginning. The odd moments of over the top self indulgence are a little hard to understand, but bearing in mind his charm in the first half there is no doubt Gorman is a very funny guy. 

Ashleigh Barbour