Friday,
July 2, 2004 16:07
Omid
Djalili - Review |
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| Omid
Djalili |
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The
self-proclaimed funniest Iranian comedian in the world, Omid Djalili
brought his acclaimed stand-up show to Winchester. 大象传媒 Southampton's
Stephen Stafford parachuted in to see the show. |
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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.
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| 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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