Worthing date

Omid Djalili admits he’s a caged tiger. He is furious… furious about what happened in Iran earlier this year, the “mass extermination” back in January.

If ever there is an uprising in Iran again, he wants the world to support it and to stand alongside it.

And that’s what his show Namaste is all about, a show which he brings to The Assembly Hall in Worthing on November 12 – a show which will highlight the brutality of the Islamic regime at the start of 2026.

He’s angry at what happened, but he is determined to use that anger constructively.

“I don't think anger is necessarily a bad thing. It is about what you do with it. If you get violent then that is a bad thing, of course but I do think there is a thing that I call constructive resilience which is where you are using your outrage in a non-confrontational way to serve your community. And that's what this is about. You now see people in Iran saying ‘I can't afford bread but I'm happy about it because if I weren't happy then I would be executed!’ And that is so incredibly brave. That's what we are seeing now, people using humour as a way of constructive resilience.

“It's about using humour in a really difficult situation, and for me this show is my version of constructive resilience. I put all my anger through the Namaste catalytic converter and what filters out, if it is interesting or if it is thoughtful, then I use in the show.

“What is winding me up is the lack of information that people are getting, the propaganda of the Islamic regime. We are not getting the nuances of what is happening in the Middle East. But I am in a very, very specific position. I am very aware that I am British-Iranian and that in a way I'm a bridge between East and West.

“And this is my most authentic show. I can talk about myself in the show but I can give nuance to what is happening. At the moment every news outlet is flawed. I've watched Sky and I groan and think ‘This is not the whole truth!’ I watch the BBC and I think ‘Oh really?’ I would like to think that from this show people are going to learn. I don't get everything right. I'm always in learning mode. But I want them to know more about it.

“I want people to know more about what is the goal of the Islamic regime in Iran. We just don't realise how all-pervasive it is. It is not something that a lot of British people are aware of.

“But what has got to happen is that people around the world stand up and stop oppression. When a group of people have killed their own people, you have got to act. What happened in January in Iran when people stood up? We're talking about a government that exterminated tens of thousands of people. That's why we have got to stand up and say this is not right. There was an internet blackout for three months and behind that they were massacring people. If the UK had massacred 50,000 of its own people or however many, you would be surprised if the whole world didn't stand up against it. If you are in a community where a father kills all of his children, you would do something about it. And that's what has got to happen here. The morality of the world has gone out the window and we have allowed this to happen. It is one of the most appalling things since Pol Pot and it was only nine months ago.”

And that's the point that Omid will be making through comedy: “I think the truth is laid bare and the penny drops and pills are easier swallowed when people are laughing. We're losing our moral compass but I don't want to stand on a soapbox. I think that's not the way you go about it, putting a fist in the air. You've got to do something that is more artful.”