Dave Gorman carved out his reputation with a show based on his global jaunts meeting his namesakes. In his new show, Dave Gorman's Powerpoint Presentation, our hero largely reflected on his travels around the internet. What could have been a dull surf was given a wonderful spin by his skill at unearthing humour everywhere, from debunking marketing nonsense to recalling an unexpectedly civil Twitter chat with Jim Davidson.
It is Gorman's playful niceness that made this such a winning show. He is hardly the first
stand-up to notice the "nutjobs" that populate the web but instead of ridiculing them, he was fascinated by them. Even those who bombarded him with abusive tweets when he appeared on television looking slightly portly.
There was nothing flabby about this set though, which was performed with breathless panache. The bearded star was happy to be the butt of his banter, mocking his geekiness and welcoming the cheer that followed the inevitable appearance of a graph on his onstage screen. His love of mischief also deserves plaudits. He could not resist boasting that he outranked friend Jon Ronson in a chart of literary Jews, despite not being Jewish.
This was superbly structured, packed with precision-tooled punchlines, twists and visual gags.
Extremely clever, yet unlike Stewart Lee, whose West End run has just opened, not a scintilla of superiority. Gorman simply rattled out ideas that entertained his audience. The man behind me was not laughing, he was positively ululating. And probably still is.
Dave Gorman's Powerpoint Presentation
Hammersmith Apollo
Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QH
