.- LHSGOW
Still the foremost British/Iranian stand-up, Omid Djalili tells Brian Donaldson about meeting Prince Charles, being the new Dave Allen and joking about the Glasgow Airport attacks
here are a text things guaranteed abotit an
()mid I)jalili \Il()\\. 'I‘here'll be spot—on
regional aeeents. plentilul jokes about his Iranian roots. a slap or t\\o in the pug ugl_\ Iaee ol‘ British bigotr} and. the pieee de resistanee. an enel'1—‘etie slab ot' beII_\daneing. The British- Iranian eomedian and aetor has been working sueh tumm} jiggling into his aet tor a deeade nou. though the roots ol' it streteh baek to him being bullied at sehool \sith demands that he perl'orm I'or his tormentors. On stage. he Iirst did it to eo\et' tip jokes \shieh didn‘t go down so \\eII. .'\'o\\. it's simpl} espeeted. ‘I don't think I‘ll es‘er gi\ e that tip.. he tells me on the phone. slightly eshausted thanks to a faulty Sat .'\'a\' that resulted in an e\eessi\'eI} long dri\e back to London l’roin a gig in Nottingham the night bel‘ore. 'Nothing makes an audienee happier than seeing it lk‘rt‘ormer danee. I‘Ve tried lots ot' tIiI'Iel‘ent kinds oI. endings and I just IitltI that the most sueeessl'ul one is to danee and that makes them leel josl‘uI. When you see some tat. bald man shaking his boot). it's a \er}. \er_\ tlpIiIlillg thing. I‘m getting heax‘ier as well so it's not getting an} easier.‘
I)jaIiIi has skirted around the edges ol' real. proper bona I'ide lame sinee making his Iidinburgh Iiringe debut in 1995 with Short l'ill A'e/ml) Shop ()tt'ner's Son. I'oIIo“ ing that up \\ ith eritieal and audienee hits sueh as ()mid Dju/i/i is lil/mie and Ilium to .llj‘ Iii/Hung Smile. B} the time he reeei\ ed a Perrier nomination in 2002 going lie/rim! line/tit Lines. I)jalili had nabbed himseII' hit parts in The .Ilimmn‘. (Elm/tutor and The II'or/d is .\'o/ Iinoug/i. Ii\'en then. though. he would be more IikeI_\ to be reeognised l‘or d} ing on his btitt at .Iongleurs t‘I'\e had people do the poo l‘aee at me. sasing I stink'l than tor appearing in IIoIluxood bloekbusters \\ith roles he onee deseribed as ‘third .-\rab on the Iel't.‘
These da_\s. he seems to ha\ e hit reeognition p;i_\dirt no\\ that his laee and ethno-eultural shtiek haVe been seen b_\ almost l‘our million BBCI \iess'ers eouttess' ot‘ Saturda) nights The ()mid Djuli/i Show. It's quite a remarkable aehiex‘ement tor a .sho\\ \\ hieh perhaps the wars ago \sould haxe been buried deep in the bowels of BBCZ's gra\ e}ard slot. ‘\\'hen _\ou'\ e got sour o\\‘n .sho\\. the}' seem to be too seared to approaeh and the} no“ just \shisper about tne. I used to have this need} stare: "Please reeognise me. please like me". but no“ Ijust as'en m} e}es
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and hear them \shisper. 'I‘re\or .\Iel)onaId to es near me and \\ hen he \salks do“ n the street. the}
just part like the sea.‘
'I‘he sueeess iii The ()mid Ufa/ill .VIUH' Ieels like a just reuard tor the long slog oI' endless touring and tiring da_\s hanging around a lilm set to sit} one line that might end up being eut born the linal produet. :\l'l'i\lllg last war and ha\ing reeentl_\' been eommissioned tor a seeond series. the shim was billed as 'I)a\e .-\Ilen tor the let eentursg' 'I‘he eomparison seems odd at l'irst
gIanee: hou' ean sou eonI‘use a British/Iranian \sho bell}danees
\Igtit'ollsl} with an Irishman \\ho seemed to spend most ol‘ his small sereen time in a ehair with lag in one hand. glass ol‘ whisk} in the other telling \arious tales oi him he lost the index linger oI‘ his hit hand‘.’ ‘I)a\ e Allen \\ as an ama/ing. one- oII talent.‘ admits I)jaIiIi. ‘I didn‘t sit do\\n in our show beeause xx e wanted to make it a bit more dynamie. I would ne\'er want to fill his shoes but the BBC ha\e wanted to do that t‘ormat oI' stand-up and sketehes for a number ol' years and the}'\ e asked a lot oI‘ great eomedians to do pilots: ’I'omm)‘ ’I'iernan did one and Stewart Lee has just done one. But beeaUse I had more of a multieultural angle and I‘\ e toured l‘or a while. the} thought that the}'d get an audienee.'
.-\nd it seems that it's not just the BBC \\ ho belie\e the} lime a surelire hit on their hands \\ hen it eomes to ()mid I)jaIiIi; es en the higher eehelons of modern British ro}alt_\ are in on the joke. Last Christmas. I’rinee Charles imited I)jaIiIi to perform l‘or his stall. l'oIonsing in the l‘ootsteps of .loan Risers. Stephen Iir} and Roi“) Bremner. “He said to me: "Do _\ou like Borat'.’ I think that‘s an e\traordinar} lihn. I eried in} e} es out.” I)jaIiIi reealls the time \\ hen Stephen K .-\mos onee said that the old) \\a_\ he'd get on a BBC siteom is \saiting until I.enn_\ Ilenr} dies. ‘:\t the RU};1I \'ariet_\. Charles said: "This is the man \\ ho \\ ants I.enn_\ Ilenr} dead. You kno\\. one eouId ha\ e that arranged.” \Vhieh. in the light oi the Diana inquest. is a Very edg} joke to eraek.‘
There are plent} \\ ho uould elaim that
()mid I)jali|i is no longer an edg} eomie. but a
joke about it and then it gets nast_\.' But
sale mainstream ha\en lot those \\Ilo \\anl .l splash ol raeiaI polities \\lIIl then stand up, In the immediate al'termath ol “H I. bod_\ seaiehes \\ ere eondueted belore tans \\ ere ;tllo\\ ed into his sho\\ s. \ouadass. he'll still make eiaeks about pass‘the»pareel at \I ()aeda patties. question the real motixation ol his team Chelsea's ne\\ Israeli manager and reeall the moment \shen terrorism eame to Seotland. 'I'in a\\are that e\er_\bod_\ has a (ilasgoxx .\irport gag but I'm doing one. too. I ha\e a good
tear not. a Iren/ied bout ol Iiellstlaiieiiig is looming just o\ er the hori/on.
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sun 9 Mar, 8pm, £19; Playhouse, Edinburgh, Mon 10 Mar, 8pm, £19.