Iranian comedian Omid Djalili is back on tour and loving every minute of it. Ahead of his show in Leeds, we caught up with the funnyman to find out that he’s not the only one enjoying the return of live stand-up.
“I think everyone got so excited about going out to a show that they started drinking about an hour or so before the gig” recalls Iranian comedian Omid Djalili. A little excited for some people it would seem as the comic recalls events of an earlier show revealing “last night, my support act came off and said to me that there were a couple in the front row who were so drunk they were asleep.”
For both audiences and the comics, the return of actual live stand-up is something that has been long overdue. Especially for Omid where his attempts at live stream events didn’t go according to plan. “They didn’t go very well. At all. The thing was that I kind of lost control of one lockdown gig where everyone was wearing visors and they weren’t allowed to talk to me.”
Djalil continues “I just said to them that if they really want to heckle, just steam up the inside of your visors and that’s what they did. They spent the rest of the gig steaming up their visors. I did Zoom gigs. I did drive-in gigs. I talk about it in the show. It is a remarkable time and I suppose it’s a testament to the comedy community that we just refused to be held down. The joy givers will always just try and get their stuff out.”
“That’s what I tried with my Instagram account”, explains Djalili, “I tried to put fresh content out all the time. I was always filming stuff and putting it up there.”
Variety is the trick it would seem and it’s something that the comic has taken into his current live show, “you realise that, in lockdown, we’ve all been used to higher quality content so now, if you do something lazy or like COVID variant gags, the audience wants to know if that’s the best you’ve got. It’s hard because, while you think it might be the cleverest thing you’ve done, the audience can’t relate to it so you need to keep adapting.”
Listen to the full interview here where Omid talks about the new Bond film, his upcoming appearance on BBC Persia and much more.
Tour Dates:
12 October 2021 LYTHAM ST ANNES LOWTHER PAVILION
13 October 2021 WOKING NEW VICTORIA THEATRE
14 October 2021 WELLINGBOROGUH CASTLE THEATRE
15 October 2021 WIMBORNE TIVOLI THEATRE
19 October 2021 AYLESBURY WATERSIDE THEATRE
21 October 2021 RADLETT CENTRE
22 October 2021 WORCESTER HUNTINGDON HALL
23 October 2021 LONDON CADOGAN HALL
28 October 2021 CAMBERLEY THEATRE
29 October 2021 WESTON-SUPER MARE PLAYHOUSE
30 October 2021 HEREFORD COURTYARD
31 October 2021 TRURO HALL FOR CORNWALL
04 November 2021 LANCASTER GRAND THEATRE
05 November 2021 CHESTER STORYHOUSE
06 November 2021 CREWE LYCEUM
09 November 2021 LOUGHBOROUGH TOWN HALL
10 November 2021 YORK GRAND THEATRE
11 November 2021 ALDERSHOT PRINCES THEATRE
12 November 2021 EASTLEIGH THE POINT
13 November 2021 DORKING HALLS
17 November 2021 CRAWLEY THE HAWTH
18 November 2021 GUILDFORD G LIVE
19 November 2021 CROYDON FAIRFIELD HALLS
20 November 2021 CHATHAM THEATRE
26 November 2021 PORTSMOUTH NEW THEATRE ROYAL
27 November 2021 SOUTHEND CLIFFS PAVILLION
30 November 2021 LEEDS TOWN HALL
02 December 2021 TEWKESBURY THE ROSES THEATRE
03 December 2021 BATH FORUM
17 December 2021 FARNHAM MALTINGS
You can find all dates and tickets here
