Omid Djalili

[Rasputin]

Omid Djalili (born September 30, 1965) is a British stand-up comedian, born to Iranian parents. He attended the University of Ulster in Coleraine, studying English and Theatre studies and is an active member of the Bahá'í Faith.

Starting his stand-up comedy career with amazing success at the Edinburgh Festival in 1995, he followed up his comedic performances with even more successful, sell-out shows, starting with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son" in 1995, following up with "The Arab and the Jew" in 1996, "Omid Djalili is Ethnic" in 1997, "Warm to My Winning Smile" in 2000, "Behind Enemy Lines" in 2002, and his most-recent "No Agenda" in October of this year.

His stand-up routines and jokes focus primarily on multiculturalism and ethnic particularities. His hyperactive and energetic manner of imitating accents, doing bellydances, and singing songs earned him a significant fanbase all over the globe.

He has performed in over 12 countries worldwide, including Australia, Denmark, Canada, Germany, and the United States.

Omid Djalili has also appeared in a number of motion pictures, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. He is probably best-known to American audiences as Nasim from the US sitcom Whoopi, starring alongside actress Whoopi Goldberg.

In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

His latest movie, Alien Autopsy, is currently in production and is slated for release in the UK in the first quarter of 2006.



Filmography

Cinema:
The Mummy (1999)
Notting Hill (1999) (Uncredited)
Mad Cows (1999)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
Spy Game (2001)
Mean Machine (2001)
Anita and Me (2002)
Cross My Heart (2003)
Deadlines (2004)
The Calcium Kid (2004)
Modigliani (2004)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Casanova (2005)

Television:

Barking (1998
The Lake of Darkness (1999)
Cleopatra (1999)
Coming Soon (1999)
Small Potatoes (1999)
Black Books (2000)
Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
Lenny Henry in Pieces (2000)
Dinotopia: The Series (2002)
Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2003)
Whoopi (2003)




Awards
Omid Djalili has won a vast number of awards for his comedy. These include the Emma Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners.

Subsequently, he has also been nominated for another equally varied array of 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.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Iranian comic first in celebrity line-up

BRITAIN'S only Iranian stand-up comedian, Omid Djalili, will be the first major act in the new season at Liverpool's Rawhide Comedy Club.

The club, now based at the Royal Court Theatre, released its new season details yesterday.

It will stage its usual Thursdays-Saturdays comedy nights with numerous comics - many of them local - on hand to provide the laughs.

But, as in its first season at this venue, the club, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, will be staging special celebrity nights.

Djalili on Wednesday, January 25, is the first, a revival of his record-breaking London season last year.



Story continues

The son of an Iranian reporter and a dress-maker, Djalili's comedy interests were sparked while still young. He later attended the University of Ulster, Coleraine, in Northern Ireland and earned a degree in English and theatre studies.


He won his first award in 1994 at the Edinburgh Fringe where he has really made his mark.


The following year he was enjoying sell-out shows with Short Fat Kebab Owner's Son and in 1996 with Arab & The Jew.


His full-length solo act in 1997, Omid Djalili Is Ethnic, was an even bigger hit.


Since then he has mixed comedy appearances on television with acting performances in films like The Mummy, Gladiator and Jason and the Argonauts with Dennis Hopper and David Bowie.

[green_president2004]

khayly adame bahale showmane khoobiam hast

[khanoomi]

thanks redwin ke enghadr zahmat az khodet dar mikoni

[Parinaz_M]

aghaye omid vaghean adame honarmandiye, va hame az karhash kheyli khosheshon miyad. karesh harf nadare

[jjbb]

I loved watching him in films and whoopy golberg serial.............

[nanakhafan]

eh man ke nemidooonestam in iraniye vali khkeili bahale thx redwine jonnnn

[Rasputin]

Iranian-British actor and comedian Omid Djalili has delivered what I would call is his best work yet, maximizing his screen time in the light hearted romantic comedy romp, Casanova.

The impact of Omid's shining in this role, becomes somewhat clearer when you realize he is competing with names the likes of, Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, and Oliver Platt, but don't stop there, now add veterans Jeremy Irons and Lena Olin, and you can see there simply is no marquis space left for our boy.

Reprising what has now become a somewhat predictable character, the comedic manservant feigning simplemindedness, but really a loyal friend with the heart of a lion when the chips are down. You know the guy, Phileas Fogg's Paspartout (around the world in 80 days), Dr. Frankenstein's Igor, and Last but not least, Daie Jan's, Mash Ghasem.

Omid plays his role perfectly and adds his usual extra Persian flair to the part, little gems of facial expression, or body twitches, here and there, subtle but as an Iranian watching, you can see them, as if he put them there for us only to enjoy.

Hilarious facial expressions, and possibly some of his best physical humor to date, Omid often carried the comedic scene as needed, occasionally outdoing the star Ledger handily. Ledger's overdone British accent was at times annoying, especially when the story, Hello? takes place in Venice? Omid's accent was far more realistic and sounded much more authentic.

But wrong accents is the least of your worries, as expected from outstanding director Lasse Hallstrom who brought not only his talents, but that of his wife's, the incredible Lena Olin to the project.

Omid has been on a roll if you haven't noticed, you should and will from now on. I used to think it was beneath him to take all of the roles he has in his career, but the more I watch him and the more I get to see his craft on screen, the more I have come to appreciate what a talent he truly is.

Recently he was on the HBO Special "One Night Stand" and killed the audience. Opening his show with the cliche Arab accent expected by the largely American audience, ethnic jokes flew like machine gun fire in Fallujah (sorry). Then, suddenly at the halfway point, he switched to a full-on perfect British accent, and shocked the New York City crowd as he announced, " I don't really talk like that it's just a bit of an ethnic ruse.", and went on with the rest of his routine which I can't begin to describe how funny he was.

If you ever see him, ask-no demand that he demonstrate the 4 primary Iranian Disco Dance moves. Then plan your funeral because you will die. Gladly.

But back to Casanova for a final note, I totally bought it when, at the end of the film Omid said to Ledger, "Sir, I am Venetian, my place is here in Venice."

You could almost hear him saying it with an entirely different city in mind.

[l_n4sh3n4s_l]

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[Rasputin]

Hey .. hich kas donbalet nakardeh ya majbooret nakardeh keh biaei chizi keh man minevisam bekhooni ! ya nemifahmi in chizharo ya umadi tooyeh forum barayeh maskhareh bazi ! havasam behet hast bebinam dastanet chieh ! inja jayeh in karha nist !

[l_n4sh3n4s_l]

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[khanoomi]

nashnakhte redwin hamaro zire telskopesh dare va age bekhair aziat koni dige a veilast

[khanoomi]

looooooooooool

[l_n4sh3n4s_l]

realised...