Friday, July 2, 2004 16:07
Omid Djalili - Review | |
|  | | Omid Djalili |
| | The self-proclaimed funniest Iranian comedian in the world, Omid Djalili brought his acclaimed stand-up show to Winchester. BBC Southampton's Stephen Stafford parachuted in to see the show. |
| | | As Omid Djalili belly-danced onto the Theatre Royal's stage, it set the scene perfectly for a show which was as diverse, interesting and as unusual as his dance moves.
The Behind Enemy Lines show was originally written in 2002 and was nominated for a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival.
But of course the trouble with being a comedian who draws his material from current events in the Middle East and World affairs is that the routine needs constantly updating from day-to-day. This was certainly the News 24 of stand up comedy - so up-to-the-minute, the court appearance of Sadam Hussain a few hours earlier was included.
 | | Omid Djalili |
It was events on September 11th 2001 and Omid's bold response to them which set him apart from other comics and showed that humour can cut through even the most complex of global crises.
But this was not a political rant on the state of world affairs - his approach is to take us on a cultural tour of the world and of what makes us laugh - wherever or whoever we are.
As a British born Iranian, Omid clearly has a unique perspective on life and a rich seam of experiences to tap into. We stop off at an Indian bingo hall and then sample the eccentricities of an Iranian comedy club. And then come back to the arty Putney dinner-party world that Omid, tongue in cheek, knows he has slipped into.
There is plenty of satire of course - Tony Blair, Yasser Arafat, George Bush, al-Qaeda and more all get the subtle but hilarious Djalili treatment in equal measure - ridiculing those on all sides who "...put the 'mental' into fundamentalist."
Like with any good stand-up there was a bit of excruciating audience participation. Particularly excruciating in this case because it was the guy in the seat in front of me who had to do a Norwegian Godzilla impression for the whole audience - for one stomach turning second I had thought it was me looking down the barrel of Omid's comedy gun!
It was a brilliant, fast-paced, thought-provoking and most of all funny night, and as he pointed out to the Winchester audience: "There's always the Hat Fair to look forward to - I've got a baseball cap and a witch's hat - the evening's not been wasted!"
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