Dodging bullets and dying on stage

Omid Djalili has survived being shot at while a student, and being heckled by his wife while learning his trade as a comic, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

THE actor and comedian Omid Djalili filmed a HBO Comedy Special in 2005. It was a rare distinction for a British comic. His shtick is a blend of intelligent political comedy, much of it focused on his Middle Eastern background, mimicry and endearing tomfoolery, like his famed belly dancing.

There was nothing humorous, though, about the time he was shot at while a student in Northern Ireland. Having idled his way through school in London, he ended up at the University of Coleraine. It was the only place that would take him, he says, given his grades. He was unsure about going, as the North was convulsed in violence at the time, this being the mid-1980s, but an Irish friend reassured him it would be fine, and so it was until his final year.