As a fan of dark humour and follower of the many edge-lords that wield their near the knuckle comedy left right and centre, I was so shocked and pleased to find myself belly laughing for the 2-hour traffic of Dave Gormans Powerpoint To The People. I would go as far to say that this show was the most I have laughed in a long time.
Dave is a true master of his craft, and from his discussions he is now also the master of the setting toilet humour cryptic crossword puzzles - the the distain of Jane. The use of technology, video and powerpoint in his performance adds a new depth to his comedy, jokes that may otherwise fall flat on a less attentive audience are reenforced with visual aids. He even treated the audience to one of his classic Found Poems.
The contents of the show are kept a closely guarded secret, as not to spoil the surprise to future audience members, or of the few establishments Dave is attempting to troll on mass - as is his nature and reputation. What I can tell you is that the references, call backs, links and narrative of the show really do add together to create a wonderful piece of theatre.
Dave Gorman is best known for his self set adventures, which find him spending his life savings to ‘Meet as many people as he can called Dave Gorman’ or to ‘Meet 10 people who are google whacks’ or even to ‘Get a message to Alan Sugar about the Amstrad Emailer’; there really is no predicting what Dave will do next. He is arguably best known for his TV Series with the TV channel Dave (apt.) Modern Life is Goodish, which challenges the audience to look more closely at the smaller things in life, and to find the sparks of joy in an otherwise bleak reality.
Not that Elemental Theatre Company reviews are ever going to headline posters or find their way onto the websites of these performers, but consider this a 5* review, not a bad word to be said about the whole show - if I had to push for anything, it would be that the first half is funnier than the second, but the second half is also absolutely brilliant, so how can one compare.
The tour continues until June 2023 along the length and breadth of the country, with extra dates added in most areas, so if you missed out the first time round, let me tell you Dave is well worth the drive, train or Boris Bike to get you to his next show!
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