Omid Djalili: No Agenda: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2005
Omid Djalili Live: Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, 2013
Play: The Shawshank Redemption: Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, 2013
Omid Djalili: Iranalamadingdong: Hammersmith Apollo, London, 2015
Headliners Comedy 13th Birthday: George IV pub, Chiswick, London, 2015
Magners Greenwich Comedy Festival: Greenwich Park, London, 2015
Boothby Graffoe: Scratch (Guest): The Bussey Building, Peckham, London, 2016
Omid Djalili: Schmuck For A Night: Hammersmith Apollo, London, 2017
Headliners Comedy 16th Birthday: George IV pub, Chiswick, London, 2018
Stand Up for Alzheimer’s: The Comedy Store, London, 2019
Omid Djalili: The Good Times: Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London, 2021
Omid Djalili: The Good Times: The Stand New Theatre, Edinburgh, 2022
One of Britain’s most popular comics, I have seen Anglo-Iranian comic Omid Djalili many times over the years and he never fails to make me continuously laugh out loud. I first saw him in Edinburgh for his show No Agenda in 2005 where the boundless energy, the unabashed playing to the audience, the cheesy grins and the relentless clowning were in full flow back then and have endeared him to many since in his tour shows.
I have also seen him at the Fringe acting in the prison drama The Shawshank Redemption in 2013 where he played Red, a man who can get anyone anything except parole. In 2006, he made a surprise appearance at his friend and fellow comedian Boothby Graffoe’s show Scratch in which he ended up playing the bongos. In his 2017 tour Schmuck For A Night, he again displayed his extraordinary ability to make an audience laugh with up to the minute jokes on political and domestic life. Djalili is a consummate professional and an extremely funny man.
Djalili appeared at Headliners Comedy 16th Birthday night in September 2018. He unleashed lots of light-hearted good-natured banter to an excited audience who were very pleased to see him. A highlight of is half-hour set included a very funny imagined confrontation between Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.
I saw the comedian perform at Stand Up Against Alzheimer’s at the Comedy Store, London in June 2019. Clearly having fun, the warmth of his overall performance with his gift to entertain and extract a laugh from any situation was unsurpassed.
Djalili’s Good Times Tour arrived at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith in December 2021. Packed with jokes and stories about coping in lockdown, the comedian was on a mission to cheer up the nation after a year of pandemic hardship. He effortlessly entertained the audience for seventy-five minutes with intelligent, political satire, great one liners and infamous impersonations and dancing. He was a joy to watch and the show was so good that I saw it again as part of the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2022.
Djalili is a supreme talent and a truly great comedian.