Comedian Omid Djalili says taking part in the first series of Splash changed his life.
The 48-year-old appeared in the ITV diving show last year, but it proved to be more than light entertainment for the Londoner.
Omid explained: “I didn’t want to do a 10-metre dive. When I went up to that height, I couldn’t even look over the edge. So the fact I did it really changed my life.
“Jumping off the high board is totally symbolic of taking a risk in life, so it completely influenced my day job. I felt like I really needed to push myself as a stand-up and the show did push me.”
The result is Omid’s current UK tour, which takes in 40 dates, including an appearance at the King’s Theatre as part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival on March 29.
Other big names scheduled to appear at the festival include Dorothy Paul, Rich Hall, Miranda Hart and Sarah Millican.
Omid who has also appeared in blockbuster movies like The Mummy, Gladiator and Sex and the City 2 is no stranger to festivals north of the border, having made his breakthrough at the Fringe in 1995.
Last August he did a double shift, starring in a stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption and performing his stand-up in the evening.
“It was my most exciting Edinburgh festival and it was also the least fatiguing, despite doing around 40 shows. The Shawshank cast were all given B12 shots before the run and I think that was the secret.
“I’ve had some terrible festival experiences, though. One time 20 people showed up and they were all exchange students who couldn’t speak English.
“I tried to learn their language but they were all from different countries, so I ended up trying to pull shapes and do physical comedy. I still did the full hour!”
Dad-of-three Omid was nearly 30 before he made his comedy breakthrough.
“I wasn’t even aware of the comedy circuit until I was older, otherwise I would have been involved much earlier. The first time I was given £30 for performing I had to ask why they were giving me money.
“I was shocked that people would pay me for making people laugh, which is what I always did in social circles.”
Omid plays the King’s on March 29 as part of Glasgow Comedy Festival and also performs at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Hall on April 11.
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