Tuesday, October 28, 2014

And So We Face The Final* Curtain...

*When I say "final" curtain... I mean for series two. Series three will be along around the same time next year. So it's not final-final. Just final-for-now.

But the final-for-now, last episode of series two - episode 8 - gets its first airing tonight. Thanks to everyone who's tuned in throughout the series... it means a lot to me.

Nobody really knows how ratings work, but the first series was the channel's most watched original programme of the year and this series seems to have done even better. Across the various broadcasts in a given week, we regularly get over a million people tuning in.

I've only just been made aware of this article from Broadcast...

... and that was written after week 4 or 5 and I know our numbers have been rising since then.
I hope you can catch the final episode of the series tonight. At 10pm. On Dave. (Unless you're in the audience in Tunbridge Wells - in which case, you have a very good excuse.)

I'm having a ball on tour and there's certainly enough demand to justify extending it... but that's looking tricky because we start work on series three early next year.

That's a good problem to have, obviously.



Monday, October 27, 2014

Covering The Bases...

This week will take us up to the half-way point on the tour... and at the same time, will take us on the longest journeys yet. We start the week bouncing around the capital - St Albans, Tunbridge Wells, High Wycombe and then head to Stafford, Preston and eventually Aberdeen.
The remaining 30 dates aren't all sold out yet, but I'm delighted to say that it looks like things are on target to sell out. But if a venue's website says a show is sold out, I'd always encourage you to contact the venue directly.

Our last show - Cardiff - was a great illustration as to why. With a show like mine, it goes without saying that you need to be able to see the screen. The venue in Cardiff is multipurpose. It has seats that are almost side-on to the stage... fine if you're watching an orchestra... fine if you're watching one person and a microphone... not so fine if you're watching a double act between a man and a screen that you can't actually see. So those seats weren't initially on sale.

But looking at a seating plan and a technical drawing of the venue doesn't always tell you everything you need to know and we always try and set the show up in a way that affords as many people as possible the best view. So, when we arrived in Cardiff and worked out where the screen ought to be we then went through a process of running around the venue and working out if any new seats could be put on sale. In the end, we released a further 40+ seats... and because the venue had been so organised and kept the contact details for people who'd been trying to get tickets, they were able to sell them all in an hour and a bit.

That's not the only time there have been late releases... and it's not unusual for venues to get returns, or to release tickets that had been held for press etc too. The websites won't tell you that... they'll only tell you whether a ticket is currently available or not. And I figure most people will assume that's that... they won't think of trying again in a week and in this day and age, it seems people are reluctant to pick up a phone and actually speak to a human being. If the internet isn't there to help us avoid human contact, what the hell is it for?

Obviously, I'm delighted to be in a position where this is relevant... and I want everyone who wants to see the show to be able to do so...

Like I say, there are plenty of venues where the show isn't sold out yet... but it does look like they will... and if/when that happens, that doesn't mean that all is lost... it often means you're best speaking to someone... just in case...

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Yoyoing

The tour is going swimmingly. There have been some lovely reviews. They contain a few mild spoilers so if you're already coming along, you might as well wait until after... but if you're the kind of person who wants to be persuaded by the opinions of others and you think this sort of thing might tip you into a ticket purchase, then here you go.

There are two reviews from the Dublin show, one in the Herald and one in the Irish Independent and a third from the Nottingham Post for last Sunday's show.

The spoiler-free pull quotes would be:

"Observational comics are supposed to say what we're all thinking, but Gorman has made an art form out of digging deeper and picking apart the obscenities of modern life through actual research and analysis. It's an inventive approach, but his greatest talent is that he is naturally funny, with effortless comic timing and delivery. Dave Gorman gets straight to the point, all right. He's also a deadly teacher."
The Herald


"Contemporary comedy is populated by the good, the bad and the unfunny. The circuit is full of chancers trying to shock and chicken 'n' chips charlatans telling willy jokes.
Dave Gorman brings something fresh and exciting to the table. It is an absolute joy to behold."
The Irish Independent

and
"...had the crowd it fits of laughter from the get go, and using PowerPoint to hit home his observations, the subtle social commentary stayed away from preaching and just made everyone laugh at their own behaviour."
The Nottingham Post

Incidentally, I'm not sure I really understand the Nottingham reviewer's definitions of mainstream and cult and I had no idea that I was a regular on panel shows but there you go. Perception is often more powerful than reality.

I've been studying the patterns of our tour travels, hitting a reset button every time we return home. Block One was really rather gentle:



Then Block Two was kind of exhausting... mainly because the show is, naturally, quite technical and working out how to hire things in for an overseas show while still having our regular kit ready for us on our return adds a layer of time and effort...

Block Three is starting to look like one of those spider's webs made by a spider on amphetamines...

This week's travels - Wednesday = Southend, Thursday = Wimborne, Friday = Wrexham and Saturday = Cardiff - look gentle by comparison.



And of course, there are plenty of dates left after that as the tour continues through til mid-December.

And while we're yoyoing around the country, the TV show continues for another two weeks also. Episode 7 contains some yoyoing of a different kind. You have been warned.






I've got a new TV Show: Modern Life Is Goodish
I've written a new book: Too Much Information
I'm on tour: Dave Gorman Gets Straight To The Point

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Two Spoonfuls Of Sugar

Episode 6 of Modern Life Is Goodish will be on air tonight at 10pm. On Dave. Obvs.

I've had a lot of emails and tweets from people who have, naturally enough, assumed that this will be the last episode of the series. Six episodes is pretty standard in the UK. And six is the number of episodes contained in series one.

But when Dave commissioned series two and three, they asked for eight episodes apiece... and we were more than happy to oblige. So, including tonight's, there are three more still to go out for this series.

In tonight's episode, I return to a topic from series one. By which I mean... Alan Sugar gets another mention. When we decided on the running order of our shows we had no idea that this episode would be landing on the same day as the return of The Apprentice. But there you have it. If you want two spoonfuls of Sugar tonight, you can watch that and then turn over to Dave at 10pm...




New TV Show: Modern Life Is Goodish
New Book: Too Much Information
I'm on tour: Dave Gorman Gets Straight To The Point

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Goodish News


I was really proud of series 1 of Modern Life Is Goodish. It did a rare thing in telly terms: its audience grew. And Dave (the channel) have been brilliant with the way they've got behind it -  and showed real faith in us by commissioning two more series. And not just two more... where series 1 was 6 episodes, series 2 and 3 are eight episodes apiece.

And right now, we're half way through series 2 and I've just been told that episode 4 of series 2 is the best performing episode of both series, so far. Which is fantastic news. And makes me feel very grateful to everyone who's tuned in. If you're one of them: thanks.

When the show's on air, I normally try to be around so that I can reply to tweets and so on. But that's not really been possible since the tour started. When episode four was going out for the first time last Tuesday I was onstage doing a preview show in Wolverhampton. But when I came off stage and looked at my tweets I found myself chuckling. There were lots of tweets like this
and this...
Often they were in pairs, with one expressing outrage at the apparent purchase of a lawnmower and another a few minutes later, basically saying, "Okay... you got me."

I don't think we expected quite so many people to actually have (or get) a QR code reader on their phone and to go through with it. I expected most people to watch it passively, and thought that they'd find the knowledge that someone, somewhere must have done it, abstractly amusing. But for so many people to have interacted with the joke feels really special. And odd. Because we played a practical joke on people in the future.

I haven't replied to that many of those tweets because I didn't want to leave any spoilers lying around the internet for people who were yet to watch it on one of the week's repeat screenings. But as the last of those went out last night - and the latest episode will be on the box tonight (10pm, thanks for asking) I figure now's as good a time as any to mention it. But, whether I replied or not, please know that the lawnmower-tweets have been making me giggle all week. Thanks.


I've just sent an email to my mailing list with a competition question that relates to episode five. (10pm, tonight, thanks for asking). As there wasn't really a souvenir from episode 4 that I could give away, I'm going to give away a couple of books. My latest book, Too Much Information and the Found Poetry book. (Which is more of a booklet, truth be told).

I'll try and do the same for each of the remaining four episodes this series. If there's something from the show to give away, I will... if not, I'll make it a book or two. I do it via my mailing list for several reasons. I kind of dislike those, "retweet to enter" competitions because they seem like a way of artificially boosting some measure of twitter activity. They also exclude the people who don't use Twitter but are on Facebook or what have you. If I ran one on Facebook that would exclude people on Twitter too. By running it for my mailing list it keeps it out of the way of people who simply aren't that interested.

And of course, I hope it encourages a few people to sign up. Because nobody sees every tweet or every facebook post... but an email lands in your inbox and so it seems like a far more reliable way of staying in touch with folks.

You can subscribe - and if it comes to it, you can unsubscribe - right here.



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Friday, October 3, 2014

It's Tour Day!

Here we go...


                                   Zoom in, scroll around or see it full screen by clicking on the top right corner-------------------->




While I'm here, congratulations to Daniel Armstrong who won the mailing list competition for the jigsaw from episode 3. An impossible jigsaw with a slightly unsavoury picture will be winging its way to him shortly.

If I find time while I'm on tour - or more to the point - if I have a workable wifi connection on Tuesday - I'll run another competition for the next show. But as there's not really a souvenir from show 4 that I can give away, I'll make the prize a book instead. Not just any book. My latest book.

This one:

As the question is asked in an email to my mailing list... you have to be on that to be in with a chance of winning...

Hope to see you on tour...