The larger-than-life British Iranian talks about suicide bombers, a full-time career in film and his huge gay following in Brighton.

Are you looking forward to coming to Brighton? "Oh definitely - I have a big gay audience down there. I was on stage at Komedia a while back when a guy with a big handlebar moustache and tight jeans got up. I said, Where are you going?' And he grabbed my groin, went honk honk' and said, I'm going to the toilet, ducky'. I was so shocked because I couldn't really see the audience - but I turned the lights on to realise I was performing exclusively to an audience of gay men."

What's the last piece of material you wrote? "It's a joke I wrote last night, actually. People always ask me things about the Middle East like, Do you have the Samaritans?' because they think we're so inhuman. So I have to explain - yes, of course we have the Samaritans, but we don't call them Samaritans, we call them recruitment centres. People call up and say, I want to kill myself', and we say, Very good, don't lose your bottle'."

Is joking about suicide bombers wise? "My attitude to comedy has changed. I was watching myself on TV and was horrified at how shallow my act was. If you've watched me before, you'll see a very different comedian in this show. I used to be a very gag gag gag comedian, because I come from the comedy clubs where if you don't get a laugh every ten seconds you're flagging. But I think if you can really expand on idea, discuss it and engage with it and then find a joke at the end, you've really hooked people and the joke is funnier."

What's the best piece of news you've had recently? "I'm going to get a second series of The Omid Djalili Show on BBC One which is great, because I think to have a person of ethnic minority joking about the Middle Eastern crisis and addressing what it means to be British in front of a mainstream audience is wonderful."

What's the strangest thing that happened to you recently? "Mike Myers called up my agent and asked just one question: How much money does Omid Djalili charge?' My agent asked him what he wanted but he just said, No, how much does he charge?' It turned out he wanted me to star in a new low-budget movie called The Love Guru, which is going to be very, very funny."

Would you ever give up stand-up for a full-time career doing films? "Definitely! My career in stand-up has been a bit chequered as I've stopped to do films like Casanova and Pirates Of The Caribbean III. Stand-up has been my first love but I would definitely give it up for film because you're reaching a bigger audience and, having done films where I've been really happy with the finished product, it is a real thrill."

  • Starts 8pm (SOLD OUT). For returns call 01273 709709. Omid returns to Brighton Dome on Monday, April 7.