What's on: Shappi Khorsandi, Burnley Mechanics, February 11 (From Lancashire Telegraph)

What's on: Shappi Khorsandi, Burnley Mechanics, February 11

in Stage: What's on By John Anson, Features editor

THERE’S a huge clue to the nature of Shappi Khorsandi’s comedy in the title of her new show, which comes to Burnley Mechanics next month.

Me and My Brother In Our Pants, Holding Hands, isn’t the snappiest of names but it demonstrates how much Shappi’s own life shapes her comedy.

“I think it’s just in my nature,” said the exuberant comedian, who has been nominated for a British Comedy Award.

“I do wear my heart on my sleeve, I’ve always been like that.”

Shappi’s new show includes sections on her childhood and her relationship with her brother, her recent divorce and now being a single mum to her son Charlie.

“It’s just the way I am. I will only use something that’s personal in my show once I’ve accepted a situation and I’m happy to talk about it.”

Shappi’s rise to prominence via shows such as Live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow coincided with a period of upheaval in her private life.

“I was going through quite a lot of heartache at the same time as doing some of those show,” she said.

“At the point my career was taking off, parts of my family life were breaking down.

As a result I wasn’t really aware of all the hype surrounding them so I didn’t realise that I was getting better known.

“Even now when I go on stage and get a big cheer it still surprises me.”

Shappi and her family fled to England from Iran after her father, a poet and satirist, was critical of the regime there following the revolution in 1979.

For her new show Shappi will once again be supporting herself by going on stage with some general stand-up before the show itself.

“It’s partly because I’m too tight to have a warm-up,” she said.

“But to me it’s part of the show. It allows me to interract with the audience, to see what they are like.

"The important thing to me is that the audience comes away from the night believing that they have been entertained and entertained in a way that won’t be the same for any other audience.”

Shappi’s new tour seees her travelling around the country but she refuses to undertake a marathon string of dates like some comedians.

“I have to balance my work with Charlie,” she said.

“As a single parent I’ve accepted that I’ll work less and live in a smaller house but I will have more time with my son. I really enjoy that balance.”

*Shappi Khorsandi, Burnley Mechanics, Saturday, February 11. Details from 01282 664400.