IT may have been freezing outside, but those packed inside the Pavilion on Sunday were completely oblivious as Omid Djalili warmed us right up with his cheerful, good-natured and thought-provoking humour.

Support act Boothby Graffoe got things moving with a hearty singalong, before the bubbly British-Iranian comic bounded on stage to regale us with his musings on racism, ageism, sexism and ‘control’.

The forty-something comic sees himself as a real ‘London boy done good’ chap, allowing him to share fly-on-the-wall insights into making a fool of himself at Hollywood premieres and life on Sex and the City film sets as well as more universal themes like marriage and family.

The Infidel star is also chipper about punters’ reactions to his Money Supermarket adverts, quipping: “Stand-up puts food on the table, but commercials put cars on the driveway”.

Even on the meatier, controversial subjects from the Arab Spring to the London riots and Osama Bin Laden’s death, Djalili was in his stride and had us rolling in the theatre aisles. A master of every accent under the sun, Djalili can poke fun at everything – including himself: “I know what you’re all thinking: when are you going to dance fat boy?”, he said near the end of his routine.

Next thing, he was running around, break-dancing.

Djalili is a delight, and after 17 years in the trade is wonderfully comfortable on stage.

Let’s hope he’s back on one in Bournemouth before too long.