As Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint Presentation tour continues, the comedian chats about the gigs, how he developed his unique comedy style and why he turned his back on university

You rose to fame with the show Are You Dave Gorman? What percentage of interviews start with that question?

About 40% to be completely honest. I get it every day of my life in one way or another.

What can we expect from your new stand-up show?

It is, as the title suggests, a PowerPoint presentation. It’s a kind of melding of that style of presentation that I did in my narrative shows with my stand-up, so the two of them kind of co-exist.

How did your style of gadget-assisted comedy come about?

It kind of just evolved. To tell the stories the way I used to, it was absolutely the best way of telling it. Then you learn a language or a way of working of your own. A couple of people have described it like a double act with the screen and me. It is weird because sometimes the screen is doing the punchline and I’m doing the set up and sometimes I’m doing the punchline and it’s doing the set up. It kind of leaves the audience ever so slightly off balance.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given about stand-up comedy?

The best advice is, “don’t take advice”. When people say to a band, 'who are your influences?’ what it means is, 'who do you sound a bit like?’ In comedy when people say, 'who are your influences?’, nobody says, 'oh, I’m a bit like Paul Merton.’ It doesn’t mean anything. You don’t want to be like that. You’ve got to find your own way.

Did you have to give up a day job to do comedy full time?

I never had a day job, so I had it lucky in a way. I discovered comedy when I was 19 and I’m 40 now so I’ve been doing it for more than half my life.

For one year I was officially a student. I did my first gig at the end of my first year at university, and in my second year I didn’t go to any lectures at all. I pursued gigs everywhere I could. That seemed so much more exciting. At the end of that year I thought, 'I can do this; I’m getting enough work, I think I’ll be all right. I can live on this.’ So I dropped out of uni and carried on doing that.

You must have been thrilled when your documentary America Unchained won best documentary at the Austin Film Festival.

Yes, I was really chuffed. The documentary was a fairly serious thing; it wasn’t played out and out for laughs. It was about America and I thought, 'I want to know what an American audience thinks of this’, so before a British audience saw it we sent it off to a couple of American film festivals, and Austin was the first one it went to. Having an American audience give it the thumbs up was great.

The Dave Gorman story

:: The author, comedian and presenter first achieved mainstream success on the TV show Are You Dave Gorman? in which he tracked down namesake people around the world.

:: Dave is 40 and was born in Stafford.

:: In August, 2009, he began a 32 date tour called Sit Down, Pedal, Pedal, Stop and Stand Up, which saw him cycle from Britain’s southernmost point to its northernmost tip, taking in the most easterly and westerly points along the way and performing each night of the journey.

:: Other projects have included Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure and the award-winning documentary America Unchained.

Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint Presentation comes to Tunbridge Wells’ Assembly Hall Theatre on Wednesday, November 16 at 8pm. Tickets £20. Box office 01892 530613. His DVD and book America Unchained are available atwww.davegorman.com