AS he prepares to go on the road within days of becoming a father for the first time and appear at the Alhambra Theatre, in Dunfermline, on Sunday, Dave Gorman opened up to Mark Wareham about what makes him tick as a performer, and explains why he has one of the most enviable jobs in comedy.

From early shows like Are You Dave Gorman? to his latest smash-hit TV series, Modern Life Is Goodish, Dave Gorman’s unique comic adventures have enthralled and entertained, both on his travels and in cyberspace.

For verification purposes, are you Dave Gorman?

Yes, I still am. I tried to start a rumour that it was a stage name and that I was an actor called Matthew Street, but you could see people thinking, ‘Then everything he’s done is a lie,’ so it didn’t take hold.

You’ve just had your TV show Modern Life Is Goodish recommissioned by Dave for two more series. Are you pleased about the amount of work you’ve now got lined up?

Yes and no. It’s weird. These commissions are the only times in my life I’ve ever known my diary beyond three months ahead, and it’s quite unsettling having a bit of a future mapped out. I’m not used to that at all.

What’s the process? Are you always road-testing stuff?

Constantly. I do a monthly new-material night where I put on four really good acts, and try out new stuff. Then before we go into the studio I’ll do dry runs in theatres and get it down to time. I’ve never written a paper script. It’s a jigsaw puzzle in your head.

When you do the live stuff, does that feel like a breath of fresh air? Do you prefer it?

I do. But making the TV show is like doing live stuff. We deliberately don’t record it in a TV studio. You see a lot of TV shows where the audience are sitting behind a bank of Dalek-sized cameras craning their necks to watch it on a tiny monitor. So we imbued the production team with the sense that our job is to give these people a good night.

But the joy of life is, you have an idea, and you say it that night and you get immediate feedback. And it’s really good fun. A couple of my friends throw up before every gig. I don’t know how they carry on. It’s the most enjoyable way of spending an evening. So with the live show, the ratio of fun to work is much better.

Going back to when you started out in the early 90s, you stopped your degree to take up comedy. Was there a specific moment when you made that decision?

Sort of. I did my first gig at the end of my first year and remarkably it went well. My 3rd or 4th gig was awful but I’d tasted this thing that was brilliant and wanted to do it again. So I threw myself into it and I didn’t go to any lectures in my second year. In Manchester it was a very small circuit, so I was doing open spots in Leicester, Nottingham and Birmingham. I’d already made my mind up, but I had to wait until I’d failed so I could tell my parents and move on and go on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. I’m one of Thatcher’s children. By the end of it I was self-sufficient, so it actually worked. If I’d had a degree to fall back on, I’d have had a safety net. Nothing motivates you more than ‘this had better work’.