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Omid Djalili (Persian: امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British stand-up comedian and actor. Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá`í parents and is a Bahá`í himself. He attended Holland Park School and then the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and Theatre studies. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner`s Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" in 1996. In his act he claimed to be the only Iranian comedian which, he said, was "three more than Germany". His stand-up routines and jokes focus primarily on multiculturalism and ethnic peculiarities. His hyperactive and energetic manner of imitating accents, undercutting political humour with absurd bellydances and singing has earned him a significant worldwide following. He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Germany and the United States, where he had his own HBO Special and did 22 episodes of the NBC sitcom Whoopi with Whoopi Goldberg. Fans of his work include the Emir of Qatar, the late Robin Cook, and Bill Clinton. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. He did his part for Comic Relief after the 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales. In 2006, Sky Television picked him to be the face of their Saturday night movie premičres, and he also announced a new tour of the UK called `No Agenda`, from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. The No Agenda tour DVD was released in late 2007.

On 18 March 2007 he was voted by the British public as the 60th best stand-up comedian in a Channel 4 programme "The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups". On 26 October 2007 he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You. The Omid Djalili Show started on BBC1 on 17 November 2007. The series is a mix of sketches and stand-up material. A second series was recorded in late 2008 and began broadcast on BBC1 on 20 April 2009. Omid performed at Pleasance as part of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in 2008. Omid also performed on We Are Most Amused on ITV to mark Prince Charles`s 60th birthday in 2008.