jens stoltenberg was speaking as leaders of nato countries prepare to meet at a summit in madrid on tuesday. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. what i find funny, you might find offensive. comedy challenges taste and convention and it can rouse strong reaction, as we saw at this year s 0scars when a joke earned comedian chris rock a slap in the face from the actor will smith. my guest today has spent more than 25 years finding laughs in sometimes unlikely places. 0mid djalili was born in london to iranian parents. he has thrived as a cross culture comedic chameleon, but is it possible to be funny without being mean? 0mid djalili, welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur, my friend, my fellow presenter in the business of show, man who is so unbelievably good looking and thin that he walks into snooker hall, they start chalking his head. i am so happy to be here, this is one of my favourite shows. well, if you carry on like that, this won t be a
in sometimes unlikely places, omid djalili was born in london to iranian parents. he has thrived as a cross culture comedic chameleon, but is it possible to be funny without being mean? omid djalili, welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur, my friend, my fellow presenter in the business of show, man who is so unbelievably good looking and thin that he walks into snooker hall, they start chalking his head. i am so happy to be here, this is one of my favourite shows. well, if you carry on like that, this won t be an interview, it will be a monologue! let me ask you this, you have been doing comedy for almost 30 years, do you find the same stuff funny today as you did back then? what a tricky question! what a way to start. that is such a tricky question. look, at the end of the day, it is a big subject now because we saw the oscars and we saw will smith smack chris rock. can i just tell you, just to speak personally, i saw the video the day after, and i bleary eyed woke up on monday
Correctness, of wokery, even cancel culture? to quote bill maher, the american late night comedian, there is a war onjokes. do you think there is war onjokes? a little bit, yes, but also, i think if a comedian is clever, they can navigate it in a way. i will give you an example, stephen, coming from the comedy clubs where it was very bang, bang, bang. you ve got ten seconds to make someone laugh. i remember being in a comedy club and they weren t laughing, and the guy goes, give me a chance, and people said, if you are not funny, get off, and he said, give me a chance, i am actually a schizophrenic. you can both get off. so, people are really quick. the way the comedy is built for short bits, and that is where you can get into trouble because if you just go for the gag, you may get into trouble. so, now, for my concert pieces, i have never done more setup in my life, because sometimes you need setup and, i better say this before they cancel me.
Make a point so that is authentically me, and the more authentic you can be, the more powerful the comedy is. can you be authentic? can you be your genuine funny self in a culture today which some comedians say is so full of sort of correctness, of wokery, even cancel culture? to quote bill maher, the american late night comedian, there is a war onjokes. do you think there is war onjokes? a little bit, yes, but also, i think if a comedian is clever, they can navigate it in a way. i will give you an example, stephen, coming from the comedy clubs where it was very bang, bang, bang. you ve got ten seconds to make someone laugh. i remember being in a comedy club and they weren t laughing, and the guy goes, give me a chance, and people said, if you are not funny, get off, and he said, give me a chance, i am actually a schizophrenic. you can both get off. so, people are really quick. the way the comedy is built for short bits, and that is where you can get into trouble because if you
Correctness, of wokery, even cancel culture? to quote bill maher, the american late night comedian, there is a war onjokes. do you think there is war onjokes? a little bit, yes, but also, i think if a comedian is clever, they can navigate it in a way. i will give you an example, stephen, coming from the comedy clubs where it was very bang, bang, bang. you ve got ten seconds to make someone laugh. i remember being in a comedy club and they weren t laughing, and the guy goes, give me a chance, and people said, if you are not funny, get off, and he said, give me a chance, i am actually a schizophrenic. you can both get off. so, people are really quick. the way the comedy is built for short bits, and that is where you can get into trouble because if you just go for the gag, you may get into trouble. so, now, for my concert pieces, i have never done more setup in my life, because sometimes you need setup and, i better say this before they cancel may. there is more explanation.