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jens stoltenberg was speaking as leaders of nato countries prepare to meet at a summit in madrid on tuesday. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. what i find funny, you might find offensive. comedy challenges taste and convention and it can rouse strong reaction, as we saw at this year's 0scars when a joke earned comedian chris rock a slap in the face from the actor will smith. my guest today has spent more than 25 years finding laughs in sometimes unlikely places. 0mid djalili was born in london to iranian parents. he has thrived as a cross cultur...

in sometimes unlikely places, omid djalili was born in london to iranian parents. he has thrived as a cross culture comedic chameleon, but is it possible to be funny without being mean? omid djalili, welcome to hardtalk. stephen sackur, my friend, my fellow presenter in the business of show, man who is so unbelievably good looking and thin that he walks into snooker hall, they start chalking his head. i am so happy to be here, this is one of my favourite shows. well, if you carry on like that, this won't be an interview, it will be a monologue! let me ask you this, you have been doin...

I don't even go there. but for me, that is the red line. i am just interested. i may mangle it, i probably will because i am not good atjoke telling, but there is one joke of yours which i recall which i wonder whether in retrospect you might think... oh, he is getting hard on me now, i love this. it was a line you said about an iranian listening to a joke about an irishman, an englishman, and a scotsman, the classic setupjoke for an english audience, and the iranians didn't get it, you said, because to him, that was just a hostage situation. yeah, thejoke is in britain, an englishman, an iris...

The 110th floor again. and it was making fun of people who were on the 110th floor who were roasting alive. and i remember thinking, that's not a very good joke. and the other comedian was saying, yeah, but he is trying to deal with the situation. and i just thought that is trying to make light of someone burning alive, so i personally, that is a little red line for me. i don't even go there. but for me, that is the red line. i am just interested. i may mangle it, i probably will because i am not good atjoke telling, but there is one joke of yours which i recall which i wonder whether in retro...

But there is one joke of yours which i recall which i wonder whether in retrospect you might think... oh, he is getting hard on me now, i love this. it was a line you said about an iranian listening to a joke about an irishman, an englishman, and a scotsman, the classic setupjoke for an english audience, and the iranians didn't get it, you said, because to him, that was just a hostage situation. yeah, thejoke is in england, ,an englishman, an irishman, and a scotsman — that is the beginning of a joke. for us, that is a hostage situation. yeah. you are not even muslim, we know that you are re...