I’ll make it no secret that I absolutely love Dave Gorman. His witty cynicism, combined with his teacher-student audience relationship, and brilliant mocking of media, means that for me, Modern Life is Goodish is always an essential watch and its return is an exciting event.
Series 4 continues in this brilliant fashion. Mr Gorman starts off in style, discussing ‘Extractor Fans’, although its not what you might first think – he refers to fans who are utterly intolerant of the concept that a fellow fan may be as much of a fan as you are. I’m sure we all know some of these people! They come in three forms; 1) ‘I can’t believe you don’t know (insert random band or television show here)’ ; 2) ‘I don’t like (insert name here), they are too mainstream)’ ; and 3) ‘Why do you like… (insert name here)?!’. You get the idea. Gorman tears this concept to shreds, in reference to his old friend Micky, a self-proclaimed music mogul who goes by the moniker of ‘Mickipedia’.
More on Micky later though. Firstly, we traverse through the ridiculous notion of ‘guilty pleasures’; namely how the majority of them are not guilty pleasures! We see examples like Coronation Street, Jeremy Kyle, and even Homes Under The Hammer. While I am sure we love a bit of HUTH, you do get a genuine example of a guilty pleasure; I won’t spoil it here, but it certainly qualifies. The Gorman also debunks the myth he is geek, which is apparently based on the fact he likes information (as you know, most smart people do), and owns a computer; just like well-known geeks Ross Kemp and Danny Dyer. Neither of them have been included in a list of ‘Britain’s Sexiest Geeks’ though. Mind you, Piers Morgan was on the list.
If you are looking for advice on some new periodicals, good ol’ Gorman has you covered once again. He recommends Cage and Aviary Birds, with the superb column, ‘Desert Island Birds’. Sounds truly thrilling, no? Wait till you see the Superb Starling – not to be confused with the Superb Nick Knowles. Nothing can compare to the Conservation and Hunting magazine. Although the entire idea does seem to be something of a contradiction. He masterfully and skilfully negotiates the target markets and focuses for each issue – Gorman could be a marketing genius.
His forte once again comes in his signature move, ‘The Found Poem’. This week, he focuses on the outrage of Liz Hurley’s teenage son drinking wine at a Private Wedding. How outrageous! Dave trawls the dark corners of the internet, collecting the unrequited rage and anger of people who should not care about certain issues, and yet can get so worked up about it. It’s truly glorious, and I would recommend watching the show purely for it. Having seen Dave perform live, he is absolutely fantastic in channeling the misplaced passion of the angry proletariat.
Returning back to ‘Mikipedia’, I won’t say too much more, but I will point you in the direction of a fantastic quiz which Dave Gorman promoted on his show. It’s quite difficult, but those with music knowledge can probably do it. If you want to give it a try, it’s here. My top score is 11.
Once again, time may have passed, but Dave in his checkered shirt and classic beard seems as relevant and witty as ever. It’s hilariously inventive, and the fact he can get so much out of just a tweet, or a website redirect, is testament to his true comic genius.
Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish airs on 10pm on Dave every Tuesday. Check out the trailer below:
