In 2009 DAVE GORMAN did two things at the same time. He set out to cycle between the four corners of the British mainland, from south to east to west to north - and, five years after he last toured the UK, do a gig each night. 1500 miles. 33 days. 32 gigs. 4 lighthouses.
DAVE survived the cycling, ticking off Lizard Point, Lowestoft Ness, Ardnamurchan Point and Dunnet Head along the way and the gigs sold out (in venues ranging from the 2000 seats in Bristol’s Colston Halls to the 32 folk who could fit into the Glenfinnan Railway Station Dining Car). However, some people were upset. They were upset because the tour didn’t come to their local theatre. Angry e-mails were written. Explanations were demanded. People are strange like that. The fact that the tour followed a particular route for a particular reason - that it was planned as a bike ride before it ever became a tour - didn't seem to placate them. So... to meet the extraordinary demand, DAVE decided to extend the tour into 2010. But this time without cycling from venue to venue. Because cycling from Dorking to Belfast would be silly. There's a sea in the way. He’s obviously getting lazy.
Of course that means that now only the last bit of the title makes sense. But look at it from his point of view. Same show, fewer blisters. What would you do?
Mind you from the audience's point of view it doesn’t matter because it’s not a show about the journey anyway: the two were connected purely in matters geographical. DAVE - whose hit Radio 4 series, Genius, started its BBC TWO incarnation on our TV screens in spring 2009 - may be widely acclaimed as the pioneer of documentary comedy but with this show he’s gone back to his roots as a straight up, one-man-and-a-mic stand-up.
ends
“Gorman has seen his stock rise to such an extent that he’s poised, as never before, to make the leap from cult figure to mainstream phenomenon.”
Daily Telegraph
“The man is a true genius.”
The Mirror
For more information please contact: Jenny Stewart or Dan Lloyd at Avalon on 020 7598 7222 / jenny.stewart@avalonuk.com or danl@avalonuk.com
TOUR EXTENSION DATES
February
Thursday 11th Preston Guildhall 0845 344 2012
Friday 12th Sheffield City Hall - Oval Hall 0114 278 9789
Saturday 13th Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 0115 989 5555
Sunday 14th Reading Hexagon 0118 960 6060
Monday 15th Edinburgh Festival Theatre 0131 529 6000
Tuesday 16th Bradford St George's Hall 0127 443 2000
Wednesday 17th Oxford New Theatre 0844 847 1585
Thursday 18th Derby Assembly Rooms 0133 225 5800
Friday 19th York Grand Opera House 0844 847 2322
Saturday 20th Hammersmith Apollo 0844 844 4748
Wednesday 24th Leas Cliff Hall 0844 847 1776
Thursday 25th Southend Cliffs Pavilion 0170 235 1135
Friday 26th Bournemouth Pavilion 0844 576 3000
Saturday 27th Cambridge Corn Exchange 0122 335 7851
Sunday 28th Tunbridge Wells Assembly Theatre 0189 253 0613
March
Wednesday 3rd Portsmouth Guildhall 0239 282 4355
Thursday 4th Plymouth Pavilions 0845 146 1460
Friday 5th Bedford Corn Exchange 0123 426 9519
Saturday 6th Wycombe Swan 0149 451 2000
Sunday 7th Newcastle Theatre Royal 0844 811 2121
Wednesday 10th Cheltenham Town Hall 0844 576 2210
Thursday 11th Cardiff St David's Hall 0292 087 8444
Friday 12th Birmingham Alexandra 0844 847 2302
Sunday 14th Brighton Theatre Royal 0871 297 5454
Wednesday 17th Bolton Albert Halls 01204 334 400
Thursday 18th Stoke Victoria Hall 0871 297 5454
Friday 19th Warwick Arts Centre 0247 652 4524
Saturday 20th Liverpool Empire 0844 847 2525
Sunday 21st Blackburn King George's Hall 0844 847 1664
Wednesday 24th Aberdeen Music Hall 0122 464 1122
Thursday 25th Glasgow Kings Theatre 0871 297 5454
Friday 26th Dorking Halls 0130 688 1717
Saturday 27th Belfast Waterfront Hall 0289 033 4455
Sunday 28th Basingstoke Anvil Arts 0125 6844 244
Tuesday 30th Leicester De Montfort Hall 0116 2333 111
Wednesday 31st Llandudno Venue Cymru 0149 2872 000
WHAT THE PRESS HAVE SAID SO FAR ABOUT SIT DOWN, PEDAL, PEDAL, STOP AND STAND UP:
“It’s an escapade that underlines some of Gorman’s biggest strengths as a comedian - that mixture of down-to-earth cheerfulness and deeply English eccentricity that lies behind all of his best work.”
James Kettle, The Guardian
“Gorman’s smooth delivery has an inherent gravitas, honed over the years of those storytelling shows, making him effortlessly able to draw an audience in until they hang on his every word. But then, just as the room is rapt, he’ll puncture the mood with a mischievously funny payoff to reflect his natural sense of humour… Most of all he plays jokes on the audience - patiently reeling us in, then, hilariously, pulling the rug from under us. That, combined with a couple of beautifully planted callbacks, makes for a very satisfying couple of hours”
Steve Bennet, Chortle
“This show heralds a return to the pure stand-up which marked Gorman out in the late 1990s as a name to watch… A superb section about dropping his keys into a postbox exposes the form's anti-truth foundations while he messes around with audience fears and preconceptions to glorious effect. While Dave Gorman may have become bored with the rituals of stand-up comedy, his instinct for innovation makes him more adept than most at ripping apart its limitations.”
Brian Donaldson, The Scotsman
“The pranks he plays on the postman and his blind neighbour are devious and very funny…The standout riff, though, sees Gorman pretend to lose his keys in a post box, just so he can joke about it. A masterpiece of meta-comedy about his compulsion to source his standup in real life.”
Brian Logan, The Guradian
WHAT THE PRESS HAVE PREVIOUSLY SAID ABOUT DAVE GORMAN:
GENIUS
‘Dave Gorman is back on the telly, too, with another great show, called Genius. I loved everything about this programme, the idea, the presenter, the contributors…Like a daft Dragon’s Den with gags.’
David Stephenson, Sunday Express
‘Plays to Gorman’s strength, namely the determined application of deadpan logic in the face of any absurdity, however moronic. The result’s in the best tradition of English eccentricity.’
Ben Felsenburg, London Lite
“Impressing the dragons on Dragon’s Den is so passé - now it’s all about winning over funnyman and author Dave Gorman.”
Helen Fear, Reveal
“Brilliant Stuff”
TV Easy
“It’s mad, but that’s the whole point of this series in which Dave Gorman explores barmy but brilliant ideas to improve our lives.”
TV Times
DAVE GORMAN IN AMERICA UNCHAINED
“For all its playfulness, this turned out to be an important programme with a serious point to make. Avoiding chain hotels, gas stations and diners, he met our real American cousins, who were eccentric, free-range, yeoman individualists living life on their own happy terms.”
Stephen Pile, The Daily Telegraph
“His route follows its own peculiar logic, free of the carefully choreographed quirkiness that would be present in a more thoroughly researched travelogue, and this produces some real moments of magic.”
Robin Wiggs, The Daily Mail
“What Gorman found as he stopped off at towns called Independence from Oregon to Missouri, was a rich fabric of humanity, from car repair guys to moteliers, who are still bucking the system and still willing to help out a stranger in trouble. Independence turned out not to be a place at all " it was a state of mind.”
Keith Watson, The Metro
“Congratulations to Dave Gorman for coming up with a fresh rationale for a road trip, and, what’s more, wrapping it up as an act of resistance against corporate America…anyone who’s traveled the back roads of America will recognise the distinctive flavour of goodwill that Gorman found away from the chains, and that is often overlooked in reflexive anti-Americanism ”
Thomas Sutcliffe, The Independent
DAVE GORMAN’S GOOGLEWHACK ADVENTURE
“This is an oddly brilliant creation; at once slick and raw, dark and life affirming, celebrating the value of human contact in a virtual world.”
The Observer
“Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure is utterly joyful and wholeheartedly rewarding. His storytelling technique is a masterpiece of structured chaos. He is a genius and his show will lift your heart.”
The Scotsman
“It’s not just the highly clever concepts that elevate Gorman’s theatre pieces above the usual level of self-indulgent one-person shows. It’s also his superb comic timing, his seemingly endless enthusiasm, and his adroit use of visual aids.”
The New York Post **
“Mr Gorman delivers his half-embarrassed tales with the precision of Mussolini’s trains, and his magnetic performance displays some of the oddball intensity of the earlier routines of Steve Martin.”
**Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
ARE YOU DAVE GORMAN?
"Like his previous shows, Dave Gorman's latest vehicle is a brilliant example of what can happen when you take an idea and run with it. It's one of the funniest shows in years - an hour long rollercoaster of comedy. The tale is fascinating and Gorman's immaculate timing and deadpan delivery mean there is scarcely a second's break in the hilarity. 5 Stars."
The Guardian
“It's hard to think of a more likeable lark than Dave Gorman's inane odyssey. Gorman is an affable host and spins several good yarns, but the programme is also cleverly put together, taking all the architecture of a standard documentary - graphs, statistics, video clips - and then applying it to a delectably nonsensical purpose.”
The Daily Telegraph
"Our favourite show of 2001. He heightens an elegantly simple concept to the peak of absurdity, as a drunken boast leads to obsession, betrayal, exhilarating victories, devastating setbacks and maxed-out credit cards…. The smart and genial star keeps his audiences in stitches (and at rapt attention) with a true story that's as simple and accessible as it is maddeningly addictive. Go now!"
Time Out, New York
“As the cliché puts it: what's in a name? If the name happens to be Dave Gorman, the answer is: one very funny show. Mr. Gorman is the sort of comedian who can - & does - mine laughter from reading a phone book."
The New York Times
DAVE GORMAN
DAVE currently presents his own Sunday morning show on Absolute Radio and saw his podcast reach number one in the iTunes podcast chart - a first for a commercial radio station. The podcast has subsequently also been named by iTunes as one of their Best Podcasts of 2009. He recently brought his hit BBC Radio 4 show Genius the BBC TWO, while his Channel 4 documentary, America Unchained, won the audience award for Best Documentary Feature at the Austin Film Festival and was nominated for a Broadcast Award. Previously - as well as making numerous other television appearances - DAVE starred in, co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed The Dave Gorman Collection for BBC TWO in 2001, which was closely followed by his second project for the channel, Dave Gorman’s Important Astrology Experiment.
As well as sell out tours in the UK, he has had two six-week runs off Broadway in New York extended to three months, has completed a successful four-month tour of the USA and is responsible for the fastest selling show in the history of the Studio Theatre at The Sydney Opera House. Live performances have also earned him the title of Best One Person Show at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival (twice), as well as nominations for the Perrier Award, the Barry Award (the main prize at the renowned Melbourne Comedy Festival), a nomination for a South Bank Award (alongside EDDIE IZZARD and Little Britain) and two nominations for the prestigious American Drama Desk Award, which he was up against - among others - legend, BILLY CRYSTAL.
As an author, America Unchained, first published last year, was DAVE’S third Sunday Times bestselling book, following Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure, and Are You Dave Gorman?
