Katherine MacAlister talks to comedienne Shappi Khorsandi about bringing her new show to the Playhouse

Shappi Khorsandi is now a bonafide grown-up, not just because her new show celebrates her 40th anniversary in this country, but also because the former Iranian has finally realised she’s an old hand at the comedy game and is therefore undaunted by the long tour and the next Edinburgh Fringe run which beckons.

Bringing ‘Oh My Country!’ From Morris Dancing To Morrissey’ to Oxford Playhouse, her timely but unpolitical new show is therefore an unashamedly patriotic look at her adopted land, revelling in some of her favourite unsung heroes such as Lady Emma Hamilton.

Infused with her trademark caustic, off-hand humour, which has seen Shappi rise through the comedy ranks to hold her own with the big boys and girls, the stand-up is confident in the show’s reception, having already completed two weeks at the Soho Theatre in London.

But with the summer approaching, and with it another Edinburgh Fringe, she is already subconsciously preparing for the next show.

“It’s always strange touring a show while writing a new one, a bit like sleeping with an ex, but I will still be sad when I say goodbye to this show because I know all its twists and turns.”

Is the next show daunting then? The 43 year-old laughs: “After 20 years you know what will hit the target, even though it will need honing and trimming, because everything can always be funnier.

“So for me Edinburgh is a month of pure fun. I take my kids now and just hang out. I’ve gone beyond the nail biting stage. The Fringe is no longer about making my dreams come true but about having an awful lot of fun and catching up with

lots of people.”

And then she smiles and adds: “Although this year is going to be different because we are taking the tour up to The Highlands for 10 days and I have never been there before so I can’t wait. My boyfriend and I are sharing the driving and we are going on a bit of an adventure. I made sure we took in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides where they make the whisky,” she laughs.

So why The Highlands? “The show is based on Billy Bragg’s lyrics: “This land is your land, this land is my land, from the coast of Cornwall, to the Scottish Highlands, from the sacred forests, to the holy islands. This land was made for you and me.”

“So we are going from Cornwall to The Highlands and playing somewhere different every night. It makes me feel very emotional just thinking about it and how beautiful it’s all going to be.”

Shappi is also excited because she has just passed her driving test which means she’ll be unleashed properly onto the nation’s roads for the first time.

What took her so long? “Well I’m dyslexic so changing the gears is quite difficult and everyone told me I had to learn in a manual, which of course I never did. Eventually I realised it was never going to happen and passed in an automatic car but I still find it hard to drive to the supermarket and park. I may as well be driving a helicopter for all the use my new car is at the moment, but that’s all about to change.”

As for more current events, has Brexit caused any problems for her show? “I hate the word Brexit, don’t you? And I didn’t really care which way people voted as long as they looked at the economic implications. What got me about it was that it turned into a vote on patriotism #proudtobeenglish by the sort of people who would not include me in that.

“It’s not just about having a passport. It’s about the space you live in. And after 40 years here am I not English? You don’t have to be born here and few people are genetically English. Boris Johnson is a Turk after all and even Morris Dancing is Moorish.

“But I don’t get too bogged down with all that in my show, it’s a light-hearted take on being English - it’s more cuddles than bitterness.

“And everyone who comes to see the show, gets it, because we all love our country, and that’s great because people spend too long on social media looking at the animosity of a minority when most of us feel the other way.

“Everyone wants the same thing: the best for their kids and I always try to remember that Britain has always been a massively tolerant place and what ever we are going through now, it will pass.”

See I told you she was a grown-up.

Shappi Khorsandi - Oh My Country comes to Oxford Playhouse on Saturday. 01865 305305. oxfordplayhouse.com