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Short filmTranscript
00:06Nazeem, hello. Hello, Virginia. How are you? I'm really well. Well, this is a lot of fun
00:11because you're one of our most important comedians. Don't laugh. No, I love being
00:17called an important comedian. Well, because you say that you want to make the majority
00:23feel like the minority for one hour. That would be something that is in my mind,
00:27and I wouldn't normally want to let other people know about, but here we are. Too late.
00:33I mean, yeah, I think that's fun if you can kind of flip a dynamic. It's not that I go
00:39out looking
00:39for controversial issues to talk about. Like, I want to make people laugh. I want to have a good
00:45time, but comedy feels like the only tool I have at my disposal to make sense of this ridiculous
00:51world we're living in at the moment. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you in action, Nazeem.
00:55Can't wait. Okay, bye. Bye.
01:01I'm Virginia Trioli, and I've spent my life paying attention to creative Australians
01:06and wondering what is going on in that wild mind of theirs.
01:12In this series, I'll showcase artists and performers at the peak of their powers and tell
01:17the story of their triumphs, their stumbles, and why they make the glorious work we love
01:22so much.
01:24Donuts for Nazeem Hussain.
01:26Nazeem Hussain is one of the biggest stars of Australian comedy, whose provocative shows
01:31have won international acclaim.
01:34Let the house just go now. All are coming in.
01:36Sir, please remain calm.
01:38For more than two decades, his audacious stand-up and sketch comedy has held up a mirror to
01:45society, revealing uncomfortable but hilarious truths.
01:49That's not even an insult, calling someone un-Australian. Like, everywhere but Australia
01:54and Bali is un-Australian.
02:03I'm thrilled to be unashamedly celebrating the art of making, because we are a country
02:09of so many brilliant, creative types.
02:23Hey.
02:23Hey, hello, Nazeem. How are you?
02:25Good, how are you?
02:26Great to see you here.
02:27You're about to go in there and wow an audience.
02:30Well, that's the plan.
02:31Okay.
02:32I hope they've studied the refund policy, because there is none.
02:38So we're heading to the powerhouse here. Have you played this joint before?
02:41This is honestly one of my top five venues in Australia.
02:44Oh, really?
02:44It is beautiful. It feels like a treat, and the acoustic, everything's great about it.
03:02What's your pre-show prep?
03:05The aim is to try and be chill, but I inevitably pace a lot and look at my notebook and
03:09feel like
03:10I need to cram more and more jokes and ideas, but in theory, just be chill and just act like
03:16I'm not thinking about the show.
03:24Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
03:34There's a lot of white people. Honestly, I did not expect this amount of white.
03:39Bloody hell. Come on, white people. Go.
03:40Make some noise.
03:42All right. All right.
03:43It's not bad. Not bad.
03:44A lot of confidence. A lot of white pride in that.
03:47Woo!
03:48Brown people make some noise.
03:49Yeah!
03:50I like that ratio. That is good. All right.
03:53I'll tell you a bit of personal news, everybody. I just became a dad, everyone.
03:58We had a baby boy. We named him Yusuf. Yusuf Muhammad Hussein.
04:02Now, we named him that because we're trying to save money, if I'm honest.
04:05Disneyland's expensive. No way he's getting on a plane with that name, so...
04:11Unazim, that was a solid hour of race jokes.
04:14Everyone gets skewered, and yet every person there is absolutely laughing their guts out, including me.
04:21How do you manage that?
04:22I think it's more just about moving the camera around and just sort of just letting everyone feel a little
04:28different.
04:29For me, making a joke is effective when there's tension to pop, like when there's a bubble of expectation or
04:36people don't really know where something's going.
04:37You know, if there's a joke about brown people and white people are laughing, they get self-conscious, and then
04:42it goes both ways.
04:43Everyone's sort of looking at each other, figuring out, like, whether, you know...
04:47Is it okay to laugh?
04:48Is it okay to laugh? There's a lot of thinking going on.
04:50It's race jokes within race jokes within race jokes, which is a complicated and tricky little thing to land.
04:56It doesn't always land. A lot of the writing happens on stage, and...
05:01Oh, really?
05:02Yeah, and I think it kind of has to, because, you know, you might have an idea that's funny, and
05:06you can only figure it out on stage in front of an audience and find out whether they're going to
05:11laugh.
05:11And meanwhile, I can't sleep. Like, I'm wide awake.
05:13My friends are like, just get noise-cancelling headphones. Listen to white noise. That'll help you sleep.
05:18So it's all right. Well, what's white noise? Like, Coldplay, do you mean?
05:21And, um...
05:23You can ask almost any comedian, where's the line? Where's the line that you won't cross?
05:28I don't know if I can... I don't know if that matters to you.
05:31That might be how it comes across. Like, there's a, you know, there's a veneer of, like, I don't care,
05:35I'll just say anything.
05:35But I am very conscious to not make fun of people who are routinely humiliated, or do it in a
05:41way that doesn't, like, bring them in.
05:43Yeah.
05:44Because the audience will let you know it doesn't feel nice. Like, it feels like a bully up on stage.
05:48Yeah, there is definitely a line. I think there is a responsibility if you've got a microphone.
05:52He comes at it from his own perspective, which is really important.
05:56I suppose for him in a very small venue, it would have been 50 seats, maybe.
06:00I remember me and my wife were the only white people in the crowd.
06:04I was watching people I felt who hadn't laughed that hard in Australia before, in terms of that they had
06:10some comedy made for them.
06:12And I was like, oh, this is how white people feel every day.
06:15And, uh, and it made me realise just how important representation is.
06:20I found, um, I found something called brown noise. Have you guys heard of brown noise? It's like a real
06:24thing, yeah.
06:25It's like, I, uh, I found a three and a half hour track, and I put my noise-cancelling headphones
06:30on, and I pressed play, and I said, welcome to brown noise.
06:34And then it was just my mum's voice. You should have been a doctor. You should have been a doctor.
06:36You should have been a doctor.
06:40I feel like the better I get at comedy, or the more I do it, the more comfortable I am
06:44with, like, playing the room.
06:45And so, yeah, like, if they're laughing, I just keep going.
06:51I'm not too, I'm not shy to, to milk something dry.
06:54Do you smell that?
07:13Oh, my goodness.
07:15Nazeem was born and raised in Melbourne's Burwood, the middle child of Sri Lankan migrants.
07:20It's a surprise, like a kinder surprise.
07:21Oh, my God, look. Oh, yum.
07:25A background rich with inspiration for his comedy.
07:30This is the food that gets you into trouble when you're an immigrant kid.
07:33In primary school, I remember, like, opening my lunchbox, and kids were like, what the hell is that?
07:37And I was like, nothing. Just close it, put it away.
07:39Veggie white.
07:41Veggie white.
07:44All stuffed.
07:46Absolutely delicious.
07:47And a nap.
07:49Yes.
07:54Nazeem, who's this cheerful, happy little kid in this picture?
07:58The only brown in the village.
07:59I think that's me, yeah.
08:00I think it's just me at kinder.
08:02I think I actually wanted to be a firefighter for a very short period of time.
08:05Most kids do?
08:06Yeah.
08:06And then my mum was like, no, a doctor or a lawyer.
08:09That's it.
08:09Well, I want to bring your mum straight into the conversation.
08:12Here she is.
08:13And that's you there, and your sister, and your dad.
08:17Mm-hmm.
08:17Because she is central to, of course, your life, but also your comedic life.
08:23Yeah.
08:23She's sort of like a comedy origin story, really, your mum.
08:26She kind of is.
08:27I think, like, you know, she sort of represents, like, a bigger version of me, you know?
08:31Someone that's navigating between two worlds, who doesn't know how to keep things in, doesn't
08:40really navigate the subtlety that well.
08:45And that's me.
08:46I'm just all out.
08:47She effectively raised us, you know, my dad left when I was about five or six.
08:51So, yeah, single mum, you know, having to work several jobs, navigate a different culture,
08:58try to raise us as good Muslims with a Sri Lankan identity.
09:01So, she really dialled up all aspects of her personality.
09:05Isn't there a story about her pulling in the former Premier, Jeff Kennett, to the aid of
09:09her children?
09:10Yes.
09:10My sister was getting bullied, so my mum took matters into her own hands.
09:13Of course.
09:13Just went straight to the principal.
09:16The principal didn't really have an intention of resolving the thing.
09:18My mum then got in the car, drove straight to the local MP's office, who at the time
09:23was Jeff Kennett, Premier of Victoria.
09:25Had no appointment, just walked in with her hijab.
09:28She saw Jeff, walks into his office.
09:30The receptionist chased my mum.
09:31My mum locked the door behind her, spoke to Jeff Kennett.
09:3545 minutes later, walks back into the principal's office with Jeff Kennett by her side.
09:39Jeff's like, just do whatever this woman says, all right?
09:41And then the bullying stopped.
09:42So, you know, you can't wait for people to do things or say things for you.
09:46You know, you've just got to front foot it.
09:48So, you're a kid who's getting bullied and learning to have a smart mouth to deal it back.
09:54Yeah.
09:55Very early on with kids that would make jokes about me, I'd give it straight back and then
09:58they would, you know, everyone would laugh at them.
09:59Sometimes they would cry, but they would never mess with me again.
10:02The laughter that I'd get when I'd tease someone back, that was like a weapon.
10:06So, it's just like, I wasn't trying to find the hypocrisy.
10:08I was trying to find the laugh.
10:09So, do we see this as the beginning of your comedic voice?
10:13Probably.
10:14Now that, you know, we're digging into that part of my childhood.
10:19The kid who made his bullies laugh was on the cusp of becoming a confident young comedian.
10:25Community television offered him a defining opportunity.
10:28We've got a new coffee maker.
10:31Well, I tend to like making tea more than coffee, but...
10:34Four years after 9-11, while studying law and science at university,
10:39Nazeem and some fellow Muslim friends put together a show on community television
10:43called Salaam Cafe.
10:45This is surely not a permanent appointment.
10:47What are you, criticising my tea without even tasting it?
10:49Yes.
10:50Yes, I am.
10:51Salaam Cafe was a huge moment in my career.
10:54It's probably where, um, well, it's where television started for me.
10:57A bunch of friends, including Waleed Ali, Susan Carland,
11:00just talking about Muslim life.
11:01I think, in a way, the show came about because, you know, it was post 9-11.
11:06And we were in the news a lot, Muslims.
11:08Yes.
11:09Um, not for good stuff, surprise.
11:11And it sort of came from this frustration, um, about, like,
11:15let's just do a show that, let's be on TV as people that we know.
11:19But I had no filter.
11:20I'd just say anything and do anything.
11:21And then you'd get feedback.
11:23So I learnt that, like, oh, there's an audience out there that don't all like you.
11:26And you're going to hear from them articulately.
11:29And so we would get these angry emails from people from Muslims saying that we shouldn't
11:33be making fun of the religion, which we weren't, I think.
11:37I don't know.
11:38And then non-Muslims were like, stop trying to make Muslims not look like terrorists and
11:43pretend that you're not.
11:44We know what you're really about.
11:45So you couldn't win.
11:46And so through that experience, I sort of learnt to develop a thick skin, I guess,
11:50like that you can't convince everybody.
11:52It is day one of the race for Camden, and I'm going to Camden to meet the people,
11:56to press the flesh, the halal flesh, to see what makes them tick in a non-explosive type
12:01of way.
12:02It was in these early days of Salaam Cafe that Nazeem created what was to become an
12:07enduring character in his comedy, Uncle Sam.
12:11We are here in Camden, which will soon become Islamden.
12:16Tell me about the origin story of this particular character.
12:19We were like, we need a segment.
12:20Tomorrow we've got the deadline.
12:22What are we going to do?
12:23I was like, let's just go to Frankston and just interview some, some bogans, you know?
12:27So we just went down there, and I just started acting like an uncle, and just getting all
12:30these crazy responses, and we aired that, and it went nuts.
12:32What is Ramazan?
12:34Ramazan!
12:35Is that like a papadum?
12:36Go talk to this boy.
12:37He's by himself.
12:39He must be Muslim because nobody liking him.
12:42Are you Muslim?
12:44The character comes from just like many uncles that I've grown up around.
12:48They just have this like beautiful view of the community and faith, and they just want
12:53to share it with people.
12:54So at a time when people were really like freaked out about Muslims, this is probably
12:58when I enjoyed playing that character the most.
13:01He's written to be as kind of guileless, and almost to be daffy, like a daffy uncle.
13:07But what's he trying to do?
13:08Turn Australian, you know, Sharia, right?
13:11Actually trying to introduce Sharia law into Australia.
13:13And that's the gag.
13:14I think the fact that Uncle Sam is quietly spoken and quite polite amuses me.
13:20And he walked down the street, and he would talk to Australians who would patronise him
13:23and not realise that he was ripping the piss out of them.
13:27It's just the most perfect satire.
13:30Well, I think this is where this very, this man who's very dear to you, Amir Rahman, comes
13:36in.
13:36Mm-hmm.
13:36How old were you when you met each other?
13:38Uh, teenagers.
13:40I think like we would go to Muslim community events, and you know, when everybody else was
13:44trying to take things seriously, we were not taking it seriously.
13:49You were sitting up in the back making jokes.
13:50We were sitting up in the back making jokes.
13:50And so, it was kind of fun to meet someone who was also just as irreverent.
13:55Well, you put together the show that ended up being your breakthrough moment, the two
14:00of you, which is Fear of a Brown Planet.
14:02What's your name?
14:04In the pink?
14:05Victoria.
14:06Nice to meet you, Victoria.
14:07I'll take you on a date, Victoria.
14:09Candlelight dinner.
14:10I'd be sitting here gazing at you.
14:12You'd be sitting there gazing straight back at me.
14:16And my mum.
14:17Um, I was probably the more, well, definitely the more palatable of the two of us.
14:23Like, I was sugar and he was spice.
14:25You know, you either like him or you're like, I can't do chilli.
14:27Um, so he was, um, yeah, it felt really exciting to be able to say your thoughts on a microphone
14:34to people that clap with you and laugh, and it just felt really good for us.
14:43After their early success in Australia, Nazeem and Amer took a long time.
14:47Fear of a Brown Planet to the tough judgements of the Edinburgh Festival.
14:51He got a one-star review this morning, which said amongst other things that, uh, we were
14:58racist and, uh, that we weren't good enough comedians to write about coming from immigrant
15:04stock.
15:06The first couple of weeks, it was brutal.
15:08I think it was a one-star review, I think.
15:10It was a one-star review.
15:11We had like...
15:11I can see, I can see you feel, you still feel it.
15:14I still feel it, it's just like, oh, it's so, I've got so much to say about reviews, but
15:17like some, the worst reviews are the ones that actually make sense, and you're like, oh,
15:20you're right.
15:21You're right, yeah.
15:21Oh, I hate you, though.
15:23Totally.
15:23Why'd you have to tell everyone?
15:25Yes.
15:25You know, sometimes you need that pressure to cut the crap and just get straight to the
15:30funny bits.
15:31So, I think it was good.
15:33The second half of the run, there was an improvement, and suddenly we sort of like started to figure
15:38out what made the show good and funny, and yeah, people started coming.
15:43What were you learning?
15:44So, what do you learn when you do stand-up night after night after night?
15:48It's getting yourself away from the sort of easy laughs.
15:52Yes.
15:52That makes you a better comedian.
15:54Let me get this right.
15:55So, for white people to go out and enjoy the company of other white people, for that to
16:01happen, you need to intoxicate yourselves, is that?
16:05In order for that to happen, is that?
16:13While Nazeem's comedy career was taking off, he was working as a tax accountant at PwC,
16:20but his dual life was about to come to a head.
16:24You called yourself a tax accountant Batman.
16:28Tax accountancy by day?
16:29Pretty much.
16:30Literally.
16:31And what, by night?
16:31Comedian.
16:32Yeah.
16:33Like, I was walking to gigs with my suit on and my shirt, and I'd be taking my suit
16:38off on the white sometimes.
16:40Just like Batman.
16:40And literally, yeah, going on stage with, like, suit pants and a shirt, like, oh, if
16:44I take off two buttons, it kind of looks casual.
16:46Definitely very different worlds.
16:48When you're at PwC, you get an extraordinary opportunity from SBS.
16:53Yeah.
16:53So, I sort of, so why don't we just pitch this idea to SBS?
16:56You know, because that would be the exact show that I'd want to do.
16:59Not thinking that they would say yes, and then they said yes, and I was like, oh, crap,
17:02but I've got a job.
17:03Well, you said, like, should I go?
17:05What'd they say?
17:06And so I was like, look, you know, SBS have offered me this TV show, but PwC is number
17:11one for me.
17:12That's just, you know, I'll say no.
17:14He's like, wait, wait, they've given you your own show?
17:15I'm like, yeah.
17:16He's like, you've got to say yes, you idiots.
17:18Did you need to hear that?
17:19I think I did.
17:20That is a great thing to be told.
17:21It was a pretty, like, it gave me a lot of comfort.
17:23Well, I've got some Legally Brown here, the SBS show, and in this particular scene,
17:29white man dancing, so Matt O'Kine goes searching, almost in a sort of a furtive drug deal-y
17:38type way, to be taught how to dance like a white man.
17:42And what ensues is a cringing, juicingly accurate representation of what it is like, but of
17:49course, in that kind of, you know, reverse racism way that you love to do.
17:54You want to dance like a white man?
17:58Watch and learn.
18:08He's sweating.
18:09I actually pulled a neck muscle doing this.
18:12Oh, brain.
18:14Yes.
18:15Notice his intense sex face, and how his feet are constantly out of time with the music
18:19and the rest of his body.
18:21It's like poetry.
18:23White sneakers.
18:26And then some Riverdance.
18:27The Riverdance.
18:29Yeah, my career.
18:32Damn.
18:33Damn, I swear you guys were white the way you were moving just then.
18:36So what's the challenge of sketch comedy when you're doing that?
18:39So when you're doing something like Legally Brown on SBS and you're having to churn it out,
18:42you're working in a team, I guess?
18:43You're working with other writers?
18:45Oh, it's like, it is so much more, I would say, in many ways, more difficult than stand-up.
18:50Because?
18:51Well, you need to write the sketch as well.
18:53So you've got to have a good team of writers, good comedy actors or comedians.
18:56You've got to have people that edit well and know how to get the timing right.
18:59You've got to be able to say the things that you want to say and not be told off by
19:04the networks.
19:04And if one of those elements falls over, like, it's just not funny and the audience doesn't know why.
19:10He's one of a rare breed of comedian who can do stand-up and sketch comedy.
19:15There are a lot of comedians who can only do one or the other and he can do both seamlessly.
19:19Yes.
19:29Nazeem's comedy career can be hectic and unpredictable.
19:33So, he seeks out ways to find focus.
19:45Jiu-jitsu is this old martial art.
19:48There's so much order.
19:50There's a way things are done.
19:51There's respect.
19:51There's a hierarchy.
19:52So, it's the structure of my life where everything else is chaotic.
19:58Jiu-jitsu has completely upgraded my life.
20:02Like, I'll go every morning at 6.30 and it's almost getting bashed every morning.
20:08There's something about, like, being physical where you are grappling to not get choked out or have your arm snapped
20:14off.
20:14That, it's like it unlocks the creative side of my brain.
20:17And for the rest of the day, I kind of ride that wave.
20:25As a comedian who plays with risk, Nazeem's not afraid to make himself vulnerable.
20:33In 2017, he took a bold step by appearing on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
20:39This powerful exchange was highlighted by the network as a key and highly emotional moment
20:46of Nazeem sharing how the aftermath of the Lindt cafe siege affected his family.
20:52So, that was horrific and it was very frightening for a lot of people.
20:55And my sister then texts me and she says,
20:56Nazeem, she goes, I'm scared to wear the hijab home because I think people are going to attack me.
21:00And then throughout the day, that hashtag started trending, I'll ride with you.
21:03Non-Muslims were volunteering to sit with Muslims and make them feel more comfortable.
21:07And then she then messaged me later on going, no, you know what?
21:10I now feel comfortable and safe knowing that my fellow Australians are willing to stand up
21:15and support me on public transport.
21:17Yeah, that was nice.
21:18And that made me, like, it actually made me cry when that happened because that man wanted
21:23to divide Australia.
21:25He wanted us to turn on each other.
21:26Oh, he was a lunatic.
21:27But what he did instead was make us come together.
21:30The fly on the wall style of the production lent Nazeem's very personal story an air of
21:35authentic self-revelation that struck deeply with his castmates and the viewers.
21:41It was a turning point.
21:44It changed a lot of things for you, didn't it?
21:46That kind of show.
21:47I felt like I didn't need to do any more, like, explaining.
21:50Like, I sometimes felt like to do a punchline on a joke about whatever, I'd have to first
21:55prove to the audience that I'm with you and that, look, I, you know, I love Australia
21:58too, but this is something that I'm a bit annoyed with.
22:01And then, you know, then you can get to the funny.
22:03But after that show, people were like, oh, we know this guy we love.
22:05We know where his heart's at.
22:06So you just get straight to the punchline.
22:08They know one.
22:09Isn't that interesting?
22:10So it sort of kind of plowed the field.
22:11It just made it so much easier to tell jokes.
22:23Ordinary Australians can smell and see an underdog.
22:26Our government still hasn't got the message.
22:28I reckon what might overwhelmingly pressure them to stop funding this genocide is maybe
22:32if we all just did something small, just started Auslifying the way we said Gaza.
22:36Instead of calling it Gaza, we started calling it Gaza.
22:38Then Australians would be like, oh, shit.
22:40Gaza's in strife.
22:41Quick.
22:42Someone call up Bunnings.
22:43Let's organise a sausage sizzle.
22:46Your comedy has referenced Palestine, Gaza and Israel from day dot, right from the very beginning.
22:52Did the events of October 7 make it harder for you to want to do comedy around Palestine and Gaza?
23:00Yeah, it was definitely something that I didn't walk into, you know, without thinking or overthinking.
23:05And I took a lot of guidance and advice from people I trust.
23:09People who I know understand the landscape.
23:12It's one thing that I always do.
23:14I don't just speak first and think second when it comes to big issues like that.
23:18So I'm lucky to be around some clever people.
23:22In 2025, Nazeem released an excerpt from his Totally Normal show as an online special.
23:28Do you reckon we should make jokes about Israel tonight?
23:33Called jokes about Israel for 12 and a half minutes, it's now become one of his most watched online clips.
23:41Israel doesn't let anybody leave.
23:43They control everything that comes in.
23:44Food, water, medicine, electricity.
23:47It's like being in a relationship with R. Kelly, you know?
23:52Does that punchline justify the speech?
23:57Well, you had that repeated refrain where you say, did the punchline justify the speech?
24:02I found that really fascinating.
24:04To watch a comedian clearly having to walk an absolute tightrope of, I'm here to tell jokes,
24:10but I'm here telling jokes about something that matters to me deeply
24:13and is an incredibly serious subject and divisive subject.
24:17Obviously, merely mentioning Israel or Palestine or Gaza is heavy
24:21and people are immediately tense.
24:22Then the jokes are like, not surface level, but they're easier to digest
24:25and it starts to get a little harder to maintain the veneer of comedy around it.
24:30Yes, yes.
24:30And so by the end of that routine, effectively, like, I'm laying on a punchline,
24:36but it's almost just like to serve the mechanical purpose
24:39of justifying what I've just said.
24:40You might not necessarily be setting out to change minds,
24:43but have you ever had any Jewish or Zionist supporters
24:48come to you and say that you've changed their mind?
24:51Oh, I've had a lot of Jewish people tell me that they love what I'm doing
24:56and support me, and I've had people really kick up a fuss in the show
25:02who have come to the show...
25:03Within the show?
25:04Yeah, yeah, when I get on the Israel material.
25:07But to be honest, I feel like when there's someone in the crowd
25:11that does or says something and, you know, I've got the mic,
25:15it really brings the audience together.
25:17So it actually improves the show.
25:18It really gets the energy back up at the 50-minute mark.
25:22I think it's great that he covers all those subject areas
25:25because, you know, a lot of people put them in the too-hard basket.
25:28I mean, to some degree, I do, if I'm honest.
25:30I think it's outside my specialty.
25:33People understand Naz has an understanding of that situation
25:40to be able to talk about it.
25:42If someone else did that heavy-handed
25:44and didn't have an affinity with it, we wouldn't accept it.
25:47It's his resume that says this material is safe in his hands.
25:55I went to a rural country town here in Queensland called Capella
25:59and I got to the hotel.
26:00There was a middle-aged woman standing there named Barbara.
26:03Bleached blonde hair.
26:04She had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth
26:06and she was holding my set list
26:08and at the bottom had in big, bold letters
26:10jokes about Israel.
26:11She looked really pissed off.
26:12She was like, is this yours?
26:13I said, yep.
26:14Are you a comedian, are you?
26:16I said, yep, my name's Akmal.
26:17And, um...
26:20So she gives it to me.
26:21As I'm walking off, she goes, oi, Akmal.
26:23I said, yeah.
26:24And she puts a white fist in the air and she goes,
26:26free Palestine.
26:30And that just blew my mind.
26:33That's how you know that Israel's gone too far
26:36when even Bogan Queenslanders are like,
26:39nah, I'm with the Arabs on these, actually, yeah.
26:45Anyhow, that's how I met my wife, so...
26:55So what's been the most unexpected response?
26:58Oh, I had a Palestinian guy who came to my show.
27:02He's an artist.
27:02He's from Gaza.
27:03And then afterwards he came out and he said,
27:05yeah, I haven't felt like laughing, um,
27:08you know, for the last couple of years.
27:09And so, yeah, that was something that really made it
27:11to me.
27:12Yeah.
27:15That's a good answer.
27:16Oh.
27:17Mm.
27:18I understand how words can hurt,
27:21also how words can have real-life implications.
27:23Yeah.
27:24Um, but I guess if I did have an intention,
27:27it would be that my comedy brings us closer together
27:30and makes us understand each other more
27:33as opposed to, like, create a wedge
27:35where we're pushed further apart.
27:38Listen, you guys have been great.
27:39Thank you so much for coming.
27:40I appreciate you coming out.
27:41Thank you so much.
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