Editing Dave Gorman (section)

===Early work===
Before his solo successes, he was in demand as a writer, having co-written three series of ''[[The Mrs Merton Show]]'', as well as writing for other television series in the UK, including ''[[The Fast Show]]''. In 2003, he was listed in ''[[The Observer]]'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in [[British comedy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/dec/07/comedy.thebestofbritishcomedy1|title=The A-Z of laughter (part one)|publisher=The Observer|date=7 December 2003|access-date=17 April 2014|archive-date=19 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419025453/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/dec/07/comedy.thebestofbritishcomedy1|url-status=live}}</ref> As a producer, Gorman contributed to two series featuring [[Jenny Eclair]]. He has also written for comedians [[Harry Hill]] and [[Steve Coogan]].

Gorman's first one-man "documentary style" show was titled ''Reasons to be Cheerful''. Billed as "a ninety-minute show based on a four-minute pop song", it was based on the song "[[Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3]]" by [[Ian Dury and the Blockheads]]. The show examined the song's lyrics in detail, with a view to establishing whether or not each of the items listed in the song was really a reason to be cheerful. The visual aspect of the show was provided by each "reason" being illustrated by one of a collection of second-hand slides that he had accumulated for the show. The show was first performed at the [[1998 Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] and toured theatres afterwards.

His second full-length show, ''Dave Gorman's Better World'', was first performed in Edinburgh in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davegorman.com/projects_better_world.html|title=Dave Gorman: Better World|work=davegorman.com|access-date=29 March 2015|archive-date=10 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310024343/http://www.davegorman.com/projects_better_world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> For the show he wrote anonymous letters to thousands of local newspapers and asked the public to suggest ways in which one man could make the world a better place. He then attempted to carry out their suggestions in order to determine their efficacy.