DaveGorman.com

Live Dates.

I've listed things in chronological order - naturally - but because I do all sorts of different things that means dates can be a bit of a jumble with short stand-up sets, benefit gigs, book readings, tour warm ups and TV and radio recordings all mixed together. I try to put as much information in about each event as I can... but if you want to skip straight to the dates and details of my new stand-up tour, you can do so here: These are the 2009 dates that I'm cycling to and these are the dates for the non-cycling 2010 tour extension. You can read the Press Release for the touring show here. Before you e-mail me about the show, please read the Tour FAQ here

BEFORE THE TOUR:

When	Where	Who For	What	Wing Wing	www
May 9	Belfast	Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	2pm: Book Reading for America Unchained	Tel: 028 9024 6609	Festival website
May 24	Hay on Wye	The Hay Festival	Book Reading for America Unchained	Tel: 0870 990 1299	Festival website
May 29-31	Kilkenny	Cat Laughs Comedy Festival	A few short stand-up sets on mixed bills at this great festival... More Details	Tel: 056 776 3837	Festival website
June 7	Balham, London	TEMWA (Benefit gig raising funds for sustainable community projects in Malawi)	A short set in a mixed bill of stand-up for a great charity.		Get tickets
July 10	Cheltenham	Town Hall	Warm up gig for the tour.	??
August 13-15	Porthcawl	The Grand Pavilion	Three work-in-progress, warm up gigs for the tour.	Tel: 01656 815 995	Venue website
August 16	Edinburgh	International Book Festival	8pm. Book Reading for America Unchained	Tel: 0845 373 5888	Festival website
August 20-22	Andover	The Lights	Three work-in-progress, warm up gigs for the tour.	Tel: 01264 368 368	Venue website

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2009 TOUR: SIT DOWN, PEDAL, PEDAL, STOP AND STAND UP (Read the Press Release for the tour here)
The first thing to say is that this didn't start off as an idea for a tour. It started off as an idea for a bike ride. I'm cycling from the southernmost part of the British mainland to the northernmost part of the British mainland, taking in the most easterly and westerly points along the way. So there's not a lot of leeway in the route... it is what it is. Then I decided to do a gig every night along the way. But it's not a show about the journey, it's a stand-up show. I just happen to be travelling to it by bike. In 2010 I'm going to take the same show on the road - only this time I won't be cycling. You can skip to those dates here.

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2010 TOUR EXTENSION: I WON'T BE CYCLING TO THESE. SAME SHOW, FEWER BLISTERS.

I wasn't expecting there to be so much demand for tickets - and I wasn't expecting people to get so upset about the 2009 tour not coming near them (y'know, it's really not my fault that Sheffield doesn't fall on the route from S to E to W to N!) but in order to meet demand and reach parts of the country that aren't on the route of my bike ride, I'm doing these dates in early 2010. It'll be the same show. Only the title won't make much sense anymore because I won't be cycling.

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DAVE GORMAN: SIT DOWN, PEDAL, PEDAL, STOP AND STAND UP.

DAVE GORMAN is going back on the road. And when we say "on the road" we really mean it.

Five years after he last toured the UK he's embarking on a truly unique stand-up comedy tour.
A lot of acts will tell you they're covering the length and breadth of the country... but Dave's really doing it.
Dave Gorman:Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop And Stand Up will see the intrepid comedian covering the extremes of the British mainland as he travels from this land's southernmost point to its northernmost tip, taking in the most easterly and westerly points along the way. If nothing else he'll get to see four lighthouses.
Dave will be performing each and every night of the journey but as this is a tour that promises to reach parts of the country that other tours just don't reach, it goes without saying that the venues will sometimes be a little unconventional too. He'll play in 2000 seat theatres but also 30 seat village halls. He'll be performing in a barn, the odd hotel function room and - odder still - a railway dining car.

Oh, and did we mention he's going to do the whole thing on his push bike? The travelling, we mean. Not the gigs. That'd be silly. He'll be standing up for those. If he still can.
He's 38 and not especially fit. 1500 miles. 32 days in the saddle. 32 nights on the stage. His Mum's told him not to do it but he won't listen.
Not that you need to know all this... after all, it's not a show about the journey. Dave - whose hit Radio 4 series, GENIUS, starts its new BBC TWO incarnation on our TV screens this spring - may be widely acclaimed as the pioneer of documentary comedy but with this show he's going back to his roots as a straight up, one-man-and-a-mic, stand-up whose "material is mercilessly sharp and original" (The Times.) "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.

So yeah... that's it. From the southernmost point to the easternmost point, to the westernmost point to the northernmost point of the British mainland. By bicycle. None of your Land's End to John O'Groats for me. With a gig each night. Nothing to be scared of there. Gulp. Interesting pub-quiz fact for you: Britain isn't quite so vertically aligned as we like to think. It tilts. Edinburgh is further west than Cardiff. Who knew? I know I didn't. But I found out when I started trying to find the westernmost part of mainland Britain. Turns out it's in the Highlands.

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Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop And Stand Up FAQ

1: Oi... why aren't you playing near where I live on the 2009 leg of your tour?
This is far and away the most frequently asked question.
The first thing to say is that I'm genuinely really, really flattered that you want to see the show. I really am. It means a lot to me. Thanks.
If you're referring to the first part of tour - the bit that I'm doing by bike - well then, there's your answer. The thing is, this wasn't originally conceived as a tour. Before I decided to involve gigs I decided I wanted to do a big bike ride. I thought about going from Lands End to John O'Groats but the cliche of it kind of put me off. That and the fact that Land's End isn't the most southern or John O'Groats the most northern point of Britain. So I thought I'd do a bicycle ride between Britain's true extremities. From the most southerly to the most easterly to the most westerly to the most northerly points of the mainland.
Then I decided that I'd try and gig every night as I went.
So the route was planned first. It would be insane to take a cycling diversion of several hundred miles just to include your city. It doesn't make a great deal of financial sense to tour this way. You don't find many tours taking in 30 seat village halls as well as 2000 seat theatres. But I kind of like the fact that I'm going to play in some unlikely venues and some people who wouldn't normally get to see a show will be able to come along.
If I said I was going to walk from London to Norwich playing a game of table tennis each night as I went you wouldn't be upset that I wasn't taking my table tennis game to Leeds now would you?

2: Right, so what about the 2010 leg... you're still not playing near me?
I've extended the tour because of demand. But unlike the cycling bit where the route of my ride dictates the towns I can play in there's no way I can completely control the towns this more conventional batch of shows will reach. I don't book venues, they book me. So maybe I'm not playing in your town because your local venue didn't want to book it or maybe it just wasn't available on a day that worked. There are two or three cities that I'm going to in both '09 and '10 - that's simply because the venues are really confident that they're going to sell out and wanted another show...

3: How are you going to get a show together when you're cycling every day?
It's not a show about the journey. I'm not going to be telling you about my day in the saddle. I don't think of shows like Better World or Googlewhack Adventure as stand-up. In those shows I tell you a story from start to finish. In this show, instead of telling you one story, I'll tell you about... well, lots of things. In whatever order. Y'know... stand-up.

4: I'm a cyclist. Can I come with you for some of the tour?
I really wasn't expecting anyone to ask this. But they do. I want to avoid a situation where I end up feeling responsible for people who wouldn't normally do that kind of cycling and I want to make sure I don't end up being a tour guide because I don't have a clue what I'm doing. If I let 5 people come along with me that'd be another 5 people I'd have to feel responsible for and it's bad enough being responsible for myself. While I enjoy road-cycling it's foolish not to acknowledge that there is an element of risk involved. I did however ask for Human Sat Navs to come forward - people who know what they're doing and who know their way around each area - to guide me each day. But I think I've got more than enough volunteers for now and I don't want to suddenly end up with large groups.

5: Will it be the same show on both legs of the tour?
The tour's title, Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop And Stand Up obviously refers to the fact that for the 2009 tour I'll be cycling from venue to venue. While I won't be cycling for the tour extension I've kept the same title because I don't want to falsely advertise it as a brand new show. Stand-up is a constantly evolving kind of thing but it would be ridiculous to throw away a whole show after just 32 gigs. So I expect it to be, if not the same, at least substantially so.

6: When are tickets on sale? What time does the show start? Can I park at the venue?
The venues are more likely to be able to answer this than me. If I have their details I've put them with the dates...

Tour Details. Tour Dates. Top of the Page.