The Lights venue in Andover is preparing to host Omid Djalili’s brand new show, ‘Namaste’ when he performs for two dates on his world tour.

Omid will be entertaining audiences on October 20 and 21, but says although the word 'namaste' is usually associated with peace and tranquillity, he has decided to steer clear of that and bow instead to his inner anger.

Talking about the show he said: “I’ve always tried to be nice about people but this time I can’t. The world is in such a terrible state. At the end of the day the whole purpose of comedy is not just making people laugh.

"That’s not the end game. When you talk about the means to an end, the means is comedy but the end is to actually make sense of what’s going on. And because I’m from the Middle East, I feel I do have some answers.”

Born in 1965 Omid’s first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was aged 30, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with ‘Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son’

Omid explained: “People come to me as some kind of bridge, like a cultural stopgap, as someone to spread light on things. This is me trying to use comedy to make it more palatable for a British audience to understand what’s going on.”

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A firm favourite at the Edinburgh Festival, Omid's stand-up awards include the Time Out Award for Best Stand Up. He's also been both a Perrier Award nominee and a winner of the Edinburgh Award Panel Prize.

Omid was also awarded a Best Actor award at the Turin Film Festival for his lead performance in The Infidel. His credits range from Hollywood to television and the West End Stage with critically acclaimed performances as Fagin in Oliver! and Reb Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

Recent TV and film credits include starring in the award-winning movie Journey To Bethlehem as one of the Wise Men and as Bridget Christie’s husband in the highly acclaimed series The Change on Channel 4. He also hosted two series of Winning Combination on ITV1.

For more information and to book tickets please go to www.thelights.org.uk or phone the Box Office on 01264 368368