Dave Gorman confirms the end of Modern Life is Goodish
The stand-up comedian reveals this was the last series of the stand-up show on Dave
We have some baddish (well actually very bad) news. Dave Gorman has called time on his stand-up comedy show Modern Life is Goodish.
But in a blog announcing his decision, Gorman has explained there's no hard feelings – the workload was just too crazily intense and completely unsustainable. And there was no way around it.
"Here's the thing: as lucky as I am to have an almost unique opportunity to do the thing that I love, in the form that I love, on the telly... it's also bloody demanding in terms of time," he says.
In the hectic few weeks before each recording, the comedian would disappear into his shed and work non-stop until the show was ready.
"Three or four times a week during that time I start work at 10am, work through to 5am try to get some sleep... and am at my desk by 10am later that morning to carry on," he writes.
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"And while it doesn't happen every time, there are plenty of occasions where I work through the night and into the next day without sleep because I won't meet the deadlines otherwise. And it's simply not possible to keep doing that without making yourself ill."
Praising execs at TV channel Dave, he explains that everyone tried to find a solution – but ultimately there are no shortcuts to his creative process, which involves Gorman personally creating hundreds of powerpoint slides.
He adds: "When I've built it, we talk about it some more, we come up with some definitive ideas for words to go with it. And sometimes that involves me rebuilding it. And then I perform it. And rewrite and rebuild it. Then perform it again. And rewrite and rebuild it. And then all of that a third time. And then we record it."
With a comedy tour in the works, Gorman made the tough call: there would be no series six.
"What a fantastic opportunity this series has been," he writes. "When people say they think it's a shame the show hasn't been on a bigger channel, I always ask them to tell me any other channel that has given any other comic the opportunity to do this kind of show? Not stand-up and sketches. Not stand-up and anything else. Not a package of discreet bits that could be edited together in a different order and make just as much sense.
"Proper, long-form stand-up that actually represents what a touring comic does live? I can't think of many. I don't think I can think of any."
