Omid Djalili

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Omid Djalili
Born September 30, 1965 (1965-09-30) (age 42)
Chelsea, London

Omid Djalili (IPA: [ʌmɪːd dʒəlɪlɪ]; Persian: امید جلیلی; born September 30, 1965) is a British stand-up comedian and actor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Bahá'í parents from Iran and is a Bahá'í himself.[1] He attended Holland Park School and then attended the University of Ulster in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland[citation needed], studying English and Theatre studies[citation needed].

[edit] Comedy career

The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" in 1996. He claimed to be the only Iranian comedian which, he said, was "three more than Germany" His stand-up routines and jokes focus primarily on multiculturalism and ethnic peculiarities. His hyperactive and energetic manner of imitating accents, undercutting political humour with absurd bellydances and singing has earned him a significant worldwide following.

He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Germany and the United States, where he had his own HBO Special and did 22 episodes of the NBC sitcom Whoopi with Whoopi Goldberg. Fans of his work include the Emir of Qatar, the late Robin Cook, and Bill Clinton. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. He did his part for Comic Relief after the 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales. His subsequent No Agenda tour was released on DVD in 2007.

In 2006, Sky Television picked him to be the face of their Saturday night movie premières, and he has also announced a new tour of the UK, from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. In his new tour, he mentioned that he has been invited to appear in Celebrity Big Brother 2008, he has recently accepted this offer as he stated in his own show on BBC called 'The Omid Djalili show'.

On 18 March 2007 he was voted by the British public as the 60th best stand-up comedian in a Channel 4 programme "The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups".

On 26 October 2007 he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You.

The Omid Djalili Show started on BBC1 on 17 November, 2007. The series was a mix of sketches and stand-up material.

[edit] Film career

Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He is probably best-known to American audiences as Nasim from the US sitcom Whoopi, starring alongside actress Whoopi Goldberg. He recently picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Cinema

[edit] Television

[edit] Awards

Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners.

He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ ]http://payvand.com/news/07/mar/1171.html In The Arena With Omid Djalili] By Darius Kadivar, Payvand's Iran News, 3/12/07

[edit] External links

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