Gorman unveils drunken tattoo

Dave Gorman has revealed the biggest surprise of his latest live show to millions of viewers.

The comic had a tattoo of his driving licence etched onto his arm during a drunken night out during his globe-trotting Googlewhack Adventure.

He awoke with no memory of what had happened, only a searing pain and the physical evidence - and the revelation of the body art was one of the biggest surprises of his stage show.

Theatre audience were sworn to secrecy. Even his mother was unaware of the tattoo until he last night showed his battle scars on ITV1's Frank Skinner Show.

He had the tattoo done after being refused permission to enter bars of Austin, Texas, without ID proving that he was over 21, despite being a decade older.

Gorman told Skinner: "I was going mad with them. Then I realised I had my passport on me and went back to the hotel and then went out to get drunk.

"Now getting drunk when you are angry is a very stupid idea. Getting drunk and you're angry and you're in possession of your passport. Is even stupider idea.

"I woke up the next morning in my hotel room in Austin and I thought that is the strangest hangover I've ever had. My head was completely clear. That was absolutely fine. My stomach was turning, not the fast cycle just turning. But I had a hangover in my arm.

"It's hard to talk about. I went to the bathroom and I was still wearing my shirt and I lifted up my sleeve and I've got a tattoo of a Texas driver's licence on my arm.

"I've got my ID now haven't I! They can't turn me away now. And then it all came back to me. I was on the streets of Austin, Texas walking around with my shirt rolled over my shoulder ranting at the bouncers going "I've got my ID now, do I have a drivers licence on me? Yes I have!

"The police came and took me away and made me go back to my hotel room otherwise I would have been in breech of the peace. And now I have to live with this abomination on my arm for the rest of my life. "

Gorman was in Texas hunting down the owners of Googlewhacks - owners of web pages that contain a unique combination of two words, according to the Internet's leading search engine.

The show, which started life in the Melbourne Comedy festival earlier this year before selling out at Edinburgh and on a nationwide tour, has now been turned into a book, out in the New Year.

Click here to buy it from Amazon.

Published: 23 Dec 2003