Omid Djalili stars in Paul Reiser’s new NBC comedy “The Paul Reiser Show” as Habib, a sweet-natured friend of Paul, who runs a business selling “slightly-damaged” goods.
In an interview with Daedrian McNaughton of Premier Guide Media, Bristish-Iranian comedian, Omid Djalili discussed his start in comedy, Mel Brooks line, and crossing the pond to work on “The Paul Reiser Show.”
The Paul Reiser Show – Thursdays (8:30-9 p.m. ET) on NBC
How did your start in the world of comedy?
Omid Djalili: How did I start in – I feel into it by accident. I was always doing “bits” at weddings. At friends kind of you know parties. “Hey. Could you get up and do your bit about how actors take a bow?” I had this bit about how certain kinds of unaware actors would bow at the end of a show. Like the really bad actor who thinks he’s done a – who thinks he Lawrence Olivier. I’d get the audience to applaud very weakly and I’d stand there taking the applause. I always had bits just to entertain, but I think some people said, “You should try standup comedy,” and I think of people are encouraged to do it and they go up there and they crash. And I was just lucky. I was one in a thousand people who try it. I was the one that was that – it’s like literally the sperm that hit the egg and went up there. I think the chemistry was right in the room that particular time and I got laughs. And I liked the idea. Although before I even did that, I remember being in a play – a serious play. It was Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story. And it had to be – it was a very serious piece, but people were laughing from beginning to end and I came off very depressed and upset, and angry like a real – you know, an actor’s actor, saying, “What were they doing laughing? They shouldn’t be laughing. This is a serious piece of theater. Laughs are not meant to happen here.” And someone said comedy is where you need to be. So I was just encouraged that way by life, but I fought against it. And I’m still unhappy about it. I still see people like Duane and Ben Shenkman. I want to be like them, but for some reason I don’t know what happens. Nobody can take me seriously, so I’ve ended up at a place which is a kind of happy medium between working and making people joyful. I think that’s the – that was the trick when I realized that comedy is really about joy. That’s what made me think it’s a happy home to be in.
What do you make of Paul Reiser and his new show?
Omid Djalili: As far as I’m concerned, first of all from a standup comedy perspective, Paul Reiser is part of a whole generation of comedians which include Jerry Seinfeld, which include – a comic who is very big in the UK here. A guy called Rich Hall who – I actually asked Paul if he’d heard of this line. I said it is one of my…He said to me, “What’s one of your favorite lines in comedy?” And I said, “It’s that line when the guy says you know, ‘I read in the newspaper that Hitler had really bad teeth. You know the more I read about this guy, the less I like him.’” And he said, “That’s Rich Hall.” He said, “That’s Rich Hall.” That’s – and I said – he goes he’s a good friend. And they all started out I think at the Apollo in New York together. And so – and then with Paul, there’s a whole other group of comedians who are connected. Larry David. Richard Lewis. He comes from a very, very special group of standup comedians kind of a generation above me, who I’ve always looked up to. And he certainly didn’t disappoint. You know, 95% of this filming business is socializing, and I have to say he’s one of the most generous and one of the funniest, and on top of that he’s not – he’s the most spiritually generous actor you could work with. He wants everyone to be funny. He wants the show to be funny. He’s funny. He’s very secure in his own funniness, so it’s very good….being with a funny guy who then can encourage people to be funny around him, because that’s not always the case.
What was it about your characters when you initial read the script for them that really made you want to play them?
Omid Djalili: I traveled across time to be with Paul Reiser. What got me first of all I have to say was that I’d read a book called Couplehood by Paul Reiser, which my wife had given me. And I remember a small detail – he wrote that when a guy – when guys are in the shower, why do we soap sud our chest hairs first and then spread them across our bodies? And I remember thinking I do that and it stuck with me. And every time for the last eight years that I’m in the shower, I’ve thought of that guy Paul Reiser. So – and they said – when they said Paul Reiser wants to speak to you, I said, “What? ” So he called me up and goes, “Hi. This is Paul Reiser.” And I said, “You know, I’ve thought about you in the shower for the last eight years every day.” And he said, “Well, it’s been nice talking to you,” and then – so that was the reason – that was the main reason. I thought it was a real serendipitous encounter. But second of all, it was a chance not just to play – you know some people know me as playing kind of a Middle Eastern scum bag. I’m a Middle Eastern scum bag specialist in films like The Mummy and Gladiator. I got upgraded in Sex In the City II. I played a kind of a hotelier scum bag. But it was a chance to play an LA American. And I used to joke about this in my standup saying that I have a cousin who’s half American and half Iranian and he spends most of his waking days trying to invade himself, and I think that was something that always made me laugh. And to play a character who was an Iranian-American who’s been living in… They’re a specific kind of people. There were a lot of LA-Iranians came over just after the Iranian revolution, so they’ve got this kind of American but slightly Iranian accent. And I thought I’ve never done that before. And I was very fascinated by what Paul was trying to do. He was just trying to represent an LA demographic that hadn’t really been dealt with in comedy before and it was just – it just excited me.
How well do you think you fit into the Paul Reiser show?
Omid Djalili: Well, I will say this. I don’t think I fit in at all. I watched myself and I thought, “What the hell am I doing?” I see all these great actors – I watched the first episode. I hadn’t seen the first episode and everybody’s real. Everybody’s you know really grounded. And then there’s bald, Tasmanian devil. And I thought, “What the hell is this guy? What’s he doing?” And I don’t – I really don’t know what I was doing. All I know, I had a really good time. And Duane can tell you, they were playing around with me. There were some times we did that bit with the bobble head? They made me do that take – when I walked out I said, “Who wants a Korean corn dog? Who wants a Chilean something.” We did about 40 takes and just having a good time. And I don’t think I fit in at all. I think I’m – I ruin the show and I’d like to apologize to the whole of America, because I’m working with proper actors, and I don’t know what I’m doing. Andrew Daly is one of the funniest… I don’t think people in America are quite aware of — give me one second — people are not aware of Andy Daly’s pedigree as a character comedian. He’s one of the funniest people I think I’ve ever come across. Ask Patton Oswalt who will not leave Andy Daly alone; on Twitter, on his podcasts, he is one of the most – no, he is. He is one of the most – within the comedy industry, one of the most celebrated comedians. So… …that’s something – I knew about Andy actually before I came, but I don’t know if a lot of people in America know.
How similar or different is your character to your real life?
Omid Djalili: I’m British for a start, so the character could not be – he is as far as removed as possible. I think the character I’m playing is not particularly educated, whereas I have a very high level of articulation and education. He’s got no sense of irony. I’m also – I’m the kind of person that is very aware of the Iranian community and how you can get lost in it, and Habib is someone who is lost in the Iranian community. And so, I think he’s – Paul told me he should be Jewish as well, and I – that hasn’t been touched on. I’d like to see where Paul wants to develop that. But, I think the character – The character Habib is very different from me in probably every aspect. The only thing we share is the same shaped head and the big pot belly, which is inevitable. So, that’s the only that’s about the same I’d say.
Do you have a favorite of Habib’s things?
Omid Djalili: Yes. He provides secondhand children that don’t speak in movie theaters. That’s a specialized thing. Do you know that this is based on a true character? All of our characters are based on friends of Paul Reiser’s who are very much on the kind of outskirts of society. And there is a real life Habib who literally owns this and is very proud to ascertain literally anything you want – anything. You know, like – just like the Internet can provide any Web site? If you stick in the word lace in Google, you’ll get you know, hundreds of Web sites from doilies to porn sites. So, he – this is the real live version of that. You want anything, just say it and he will get it, and it has to be secondhand. So it’s based on a real character and it’s based on truth. And it’s based on very much an Iranian kind of trait, which is to always get a good deal. I don’t know if that’s – maybe that’s a universal thing, but certainly in the Middle East we do love – because we have the Phoenician spirit of tradesmen. We love getting a good deal. Even if you’re a millionaire. It doesn’t matter. I know – remember Benny Hill? The comedic actor Benny Hill? He had a show on American TV. He used to delight in getting tinned food from World War II ships that had been sunk for years. He would delight in bringing up the tinned food that was stuck for 30 years. And yet, he’d open them up and eat them and serve them and say, “Yes. It was free. I got this stuff – it was old stuff .” So, I’m being serious. I’m being serious. I mean, I told an Iranian guy that goes, “Really? That’s a great market, you know. Ships that have been sunk for 30 years. Will we get some tin food and it’s still good.” So I think that – it’s based on a very specific demographic of – and a certain trait which is very much loving a good deal. So I think Paul’s very clever in representing that particular aspect of LA life.
What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprints?
Omid Djalili: Oh, I do a lot. I do a hell of a lot. I do a hell of a lot. The first thing I do, I blame India and China for most of the economic waste. I’ve become very racist. My percentage of anti-Chinese and anti-Indian jokes are up by about 10%. I also – I’m also very eco-friendly. I do put – I do have food waste, which is very important. That’s a big thing we do. And I drive an electric car, so there you go. You can’t get better than that. There was a time – I have to say there was one – just to finish up, there was one time I was considering not washing my underwear. I used to get them sent away. That was also something that wasn’t particularly eco-friendly. I mean you have to understand. I always think I’m doing the right thing. You know like that guy Reverend Terry Jones wants to burn some – copies of the Qur’an. Well in protest, I went to a mosque. I went to a mosque. I started cradling copies of the Qur’an. It turned out that was just as offensive, so I stopped doing that. Nobody understands me. That’s the problem. No one gets me.
What do you consider good comedy?
Omid Djalili: For me, I think any good comedy show has a simple premise, like when I did the film The Infidel. The premise was it’s a Muslim who finds out he’s a Jew. Simple idea. And here, it’s – you know, it’s not even about an ex-Hollywood star who then – you know, it’s a simple thing about fatherhood. It’s just fatherhood. A bunch of fathers. I know Chris Rock used to have a routine about, “I’m now the guy who stand around at BBQs saying, ‘The way to get to work is to take the 405 North, and then you take the,’” you know, just the sheer in enormity of guys hanging around and the things they do, and trying to find the comedy of fatherhood. And it’s fatherhood and the kind of randomness of the friends you end up with. I think that that’s – it’s a very simple concept, and I like the idea of Paul being a very conscious person. A very savvy person surrounded by people who — apart from one character, the character of Jonathan — of other people who are not particularly aware who are they much in their own lives, and how they impact on his life. And I like that. I think it’s a very simple concept. Good, good comedies always comes from a very simple place. And from a good place as well, because I think that there’s a trend for a lot of mean comedy; whereas, this show is very much in a good place. And I don’t think Paul Reiser has a mean bone in his body. And I think that – I like the fact that it comes from a – that the comedy’s not a kind of – you know, it’s not there to denigrate or upset anyone. It’s just funny. It’s just funny. It comes from a good place and has a very simple concept.
The Paul Reiser Show is a single camera comedy. How is this for you where you’re really not getting any feedback from an audience?
Omid Djalili: Well first of all, what’s interesting is when I did Whoopi Goldberg’s sitcom a few years ago, I learned about what canned laughter is. In the sense that on the night the laughs – and Duane will tell you having done (off the camera) himself, that the laughs are sometimes so big there’s no time to put them in. So they shorten the laugh, put a fake laugh on it just for time, and that was the birth of canned laughter from shows being too funny. And actually having the real laugh would be alienating for an audience at home. So we had reactions from crew members, but they were – they’d have to muffle the laugh because you couldn’t do it. But what was interesting when we did have screenings of the show, the laughs coming from the crowd was almost like a multi-camera sitcom. So – I remember going to see at the Aspen Comedy Festival Curb Your Enthusiasm. They had a – I think 2004 they had a kind of the cast retrospective. And they played – it was the first time they’d played it to a room which had a thousand-plus audience. And it played like a multi-camera sitcom. The laughs were just as big and they – people go the jokes – bang. So, I think that even though it’s a different medium, and it’s nice to be able to get things right, it is – I think it’s just as satisfactory, especially when you see it played back with an audience. It’s a science. I think that’s because the great thing is Reiser is watching every scene. He’s not the kind of star – you know, there was a scene where me and Duane are alone where he’s teaching me about calories and food, and Reiser was there. He was there the whole time and kept coming in and giving us notes and fine tuning things. You know, it’s a science. It’s a science of what is it that you do? You have the truth of the scene, but what is it that actually creates that involuntary reaction of laughter? And it’s scientific almost, and it needs you know not just a director; you need a couple of people to be there. And all of us – me and Duane can feel it and then Paul will give us a note and then we shoot a scene; that’s it. Bang. And then we do – like to do a few more for fun. And that was the thing. We always did – we always got it, but then had (to do) five or six takes for fun. And then I asked Paul, “Why are you making us doing – why are you making us do so many takes?” He just said, “It’s fun. Come on. We are having a great time watching this on the monitor. So they did it for fun, and I think that’s it. It’s science plus fun.
Mel Brooks was a guest star, what did he say?
Omid Djalili: Mel Brooks went in to say, “By the way, I only do one emotion which is angry cat,” but apparently different emotions.