The self-proclaimed "Les Dennis of the Middle East", Omid Djalili, has managed to get himself a BBC1 comedy series; a mix of Anglo-Iranian comedian's stand-up material and a handful of sketches.
It's well known that times of political unrest often give rise to great comedy, best evidence with alternative comedy birth from the criticism of Thatcher's Britain in the 1980s.
These days, comedians are using the post-911 landscape of our world to fuel their jokes – recycling 90s Gulf War gags, musing on airport security, suicide bombers, Guantanamo Bay, Bush dumbness, Blair spin-doctoring, WMDs, the "Axis Of Evil", the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts – all have been the lifeblood of stand-up comedy and TV panel shows for the past 6 years.
Into that melting pot comes Omid Djalili, whose (fairly) unique selling point is that he's of Iranian stock, and therefore able to better tackle issues and make statements that might get a white performer accused of racism and intolerance.
The Omid Djalili Show provides another outlet for Djalili's stand-up routine, which you've probably heard already if you've seen him live... or on TVs Live At The Apollo last year... or as he regurgitated that belly dancing gag on Have I Got News For You just a few weeks ago. But repetition is to be expected -- at least initially – and the gags still hit the funny bone.
The sketches were generally okay, but they all revolved around the two aspects of Djalili you associate with him: his ethnic background and movies. Djalili's been a Hollywood stock ethnic character in everything from Gladiator and The Mummy to Notting Hill.
A sketch entitled "The Ethnic Bit Part Actor's Studio" provided some amusing clips of the real Djalili's blink-and-miss career, although the gag was that he was treated lie a world-famous thesp by alumni like Burt Kwouk.
Another sketch starred Djalili as Steve "The Dragon" Thompson, a poor man's Ray Mears, busy making cheapo survivalist videos about how to stay alive in the countryside. It was amusing at times, but quite predictable and trod old comedy ground.
The worst moment came with a very bad sketch involving (of all people!) ex-EastEnder Jill Halfpenny, who was chatted up in a bar by a Djalili alter-ego so desperate to be famous he re-enacts film scenes for her. The Alien chestburster sequence just about saved it from total tedium (thanks to the daft puppet), although it's a nearly 30-year-old gag.
The best idea arrived with Djalili playing Scottish film director Dirk Monroe, a gay filmmaker who travels to Afghanistan to shoot Osama Bin Laden's latest video diatribe. Unfortunately, the joke was stretched to absolute breaking point, but contained some funny moments along the way.
"Kebab Shop: The Musical" was the show's climax, which was about as funny as it sounded (i.e., fun for a few minutes, but running out of steam.)
Overall, The Omid Djalili Show was certainly entertaining, although it's too early to tell if the series has bigger potential – or perhaps should have been an hour-long special. Djalili relied on years of honed stand-up material for 50% of the show, which I personally found more amusing than the mostly limp sketches, despite having heard it all before. But he should really drop that Godzilla impression and sign-off – was it ever funny?
I hope Djalili has fresh material next week – not to mention sketch ideas that don't constantly revolve around showbiz and the Middle East. But that's probably like hoping Lee Evans does a stand-up tour without pulling faces.
17 November 2007
BBC1, 9.40 pm
It's well known that times of political unrest often give rise to great comedy, best evidence with alternative comedy birth from the criticism of Thatcher's Britain in the 1980s.
These days, comedians are using the post-911 landscape of our world to fuel their jokes – recycling 90s Gulf War gags, musing on airport security, suicide bombers, Guantanamo Bay, Bush dumbness, Blair spin-doctoring, WMDs, the "Axis Of Evil", the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts – all have been the lifeblood of stand-up comedy and TV panel shows for the past 6 years.
Into that melting pot comes Omid Djalili, whose (fairly) unique selling point is that he's of Iranian stock, and therefore able to better tackle issues and make statements that might get a white performer accused of racism and intolerance.
The Omid Djalili Show provides another outlet for Djalili's stand-up routine, which you've probably heard already if you've seen him live... or on TVs Live At The Apollo last year... or as he regurgitated that belly dancing gag on Have I Got News For You just a few weeks ago. But repetition is to be expected -- at least initially – and the gags still hit the funny bone.
The sketches were generally okay, but they all revolved around the two aspects of Djalili you associate with him: his ethnic background and movies. Djalili's been a Hollywood stock ethnic character in everything from Gladiator and The Mummy to Notting Hill.
A sketch entitled "The Ethnic Bit Part Actor's Studio" provided some amusing clips of the real Djalili's blink-and-miss career, although the gag was that he was treated lie a world-famous thesp by alumni like Burt Kwouk.
Another sketch starred Djalili as Steve "The Dragon" Thompson, a poor man's Ray Mears, busy making cheapo survivalist videos about how to stay alive in the countryside. It was amusing at times, but quite predictable and trod old comedy ground.
The worst moment came with a very bad sketch involving (of all people!) ex-EastEnder Jill Halfpenny, who was chatted up in a bar by a Djalili alter-ego so desperate to be famous he re-enacts film scenes for her. The Alien chestburster sequence just about saved it from total tedium (thanks to the daft puppet), although it's a nearly 30-year-old gag.
The best idea arrived with Djalili playing Scottish film director Dirk Monroe, a gay filmmaker who travels to Afghanistan to shoot Osama Bin Laden's latest video diatribe. Unfortunately, the joke was stretched to absolute breaking point, but contained some funny moments along the way.
"Kebab Shop: The Musical" was the show's climax, which was about as funny as it sounded (i.e., fun for a few minutes, but running out of steam.)
Overall, The Omid Djalili Show was certainly entertaining, although it's too early to tell if the series has bigger potential – or perhaps should have been an hour-long special. Djalili relied on years of honed stand-up material for 50% of the show, which I personally found more amusing than the mostly limp sketches, despite having heard it all before. But he should really drop that Godzilla impression and sign-off – was it ever funny?
I hope Djalili has fresh material next week – not to mention sketch ideas that don't constantly revolve around showbiz and the Middle East. But that's probably like hoping Lee Evans does a stand-up tour without pulling faces.
17 November 2007
BBC1, 9.40 pm
