Following on from his hugely successful tour both sides of the Atlantic last year, British-born Iranian comic and actor Omid Djalili returns to the stage with his new show, Iranalamadingdong.
He will be bringing his show to the Villa’s Royal Hall tonight (Thursday) as part of a British Isles-wide tour.
As well as being an award-winning stand-up, Omid’s acting performances on stage and screen have won him plaudits the world over.
His credits include the part of Fagin in West-End smash hit musical Oliver!, Dr Rance in Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw and Mahmud Nasir in The Infidel.
He also appeared in Sex And The City 2, Mr Nice and Moonfleet with Ray Winstone.
Omid feels very much at home in the stand-up arena.
‘When I was working on Moonfleet last summer Ray Winstone told me: “I don’t feel I come alive on set until I’ve done a fight scene and thrown my first right hook”,’ he said.
‘Similarly, I don’t really feel I’ve come to life unless I’ve triggered laughter from a crowd.
‘It’s probably an illness… a comedian’s illness. But I don’t panic like I used to.
‘If a joke misses or backfires I know there’s a hundred more on their way.
‘But it’s strange, I’m getting more serious off stage and savour even more the times when I’m on it.
‘There’s always something in my mind telling me “enjoy it while you can, this isn’t going to last much longer”.’
The new show sees Omid discuss themes of getting older, relationships, overcoming fears and the perils of celebrity.
‘When you become a celebrity, or in fact in any line of work where you feel you are important somehow in a worldly sense because people around you are telling you so, there is a period when you become an arse. It happens to everyone.
‘You start believing your own hype and behave foolishly.
‘Not many talk people about this “arse”-phase but I’m happy to. I became an arse. I’ll go there. And it’s bad.’
He said everyone struggles with getting older: ‘As Dave Allen once said: “I enjoy getting older. I have to because there’s no choice”.
‘When you hit your forties you understand life better, but at the same time your body is more prone to fail.
‘So you have to find a way of joining your received wisdom with physical prowess.’
‘A lot of men who hit 40 try to do things that make them feel more alive because they want to prove themselves.’
It was this desire to prove himself that attracted Omid to take part in ITV show Splash!, diving off the 10m board.
‘I wanted to do something out of the box, stretch my courage and prove I was still a young man at heart even though my bits were dropping off,’ he explained.
The show starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £23.50.