Reviews

Omid Djalili – Iranalamadingdong Edinburgh Playhouse

Well, where can I start with this review of an amazing show by Omid Djalili. This show was jam packed with barrels of laughter and fast paced delivery. So I’ve decided to share with you some snapshots of a show that I would highly recommend anyone to go and see while they can. It was also a privilege to be able to interview Omid on our radio show the previous day.

This show can be described as: Complete utterly genius with a sprinkling of mayhem! I don’t think I ever laughed so hard and so much in a long time. Both Omid Djalili and Boothby Graffoe who was the support act were complete comedy geniuses and in their own styles had the audience in fits of laughter for the entire show on subjects that meant something to them both – which takes a lot of rehearsal and practice to have down to a fine art, but both Omid and Boothby had that and kept it flowing through the entire two and half hour performance.

Here’s a couple of snapshots of the night:

Boothby Graffoe: I’m going to be honest with you here: I’m always sceptical when the headlining act has a support act as you can never tell what they are going to be like or whether you will like or hate them. But he was amazing on the guitar and harmonica, and had the audience laughing from the off and through his entire set, even with the unintentional gag thrown in. Once again this was on subjects that made you go “yes, that affects me”.

Omid Djalili: I’ll tell you something for nothing – for a brand new tour he is utterly fantastic and on fire! I know that friends of mine had been to see him over 22 years ago at the Edinburgh Festival in front of a crowd of 50 people – and he was just as nuts and clever as he was then as he is now! He is very fast moving with a quick wit and delivery, and sometimes it’s very hard to keep up with him, but he was just superb throughout his entire set – even willing to make a fool of himself for the audience’s pleasure – and as an added extra, Omid took some time to do a Q & A session with the audience towards the end of the show which I thought was top notch!

But an added cherry on the top to the night was that following the performance, Omid took the time to come out and meet members of the audience and sign autographs on tickets or in his book and to have photographs taken with him. He was a true gent and a pleasure to meet.

Ben Dyson & Jamie Michael Wells