If it wasn't delivered by such a likeable, fiercely intelligent poster boy for multiculturalism, that joke might be deemed horribly offensive.
As it stands, it's just one of the lines Iranian Omid throws out during his live show, which has catapulted him into the upper echelons of the comedy world and scored him a host of film roles.
The second series of his TV show starts this month on BBC One, and Omid admits he's had to tone things down a little since Russell Brand resigned and Jonathan Ross was suspended following on-air offensive phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs.
"Comedically, I know what they were trying to do," he says.
"It was a spiral of offence. They made the first phone call and went too far, and as they kept phoning him back, that became the joke. It's a difficult thing to get right because from the perspective of doing their job, of entertaining people, they were doing what they're good at and what people tune in for."
However, even in the current climate, 43-year-old Omid has no intention of second-guessing his every word. His show, stuffed full of sketches, songs and stand-up, sees him poke fun at contemporary issues such as race, religion, football and lad culture.
"I'm not one for great displays of emotion but I properly jumped up and punched the air when the call came through that the BBC wanted a second series," he says.
"It's going to be quite different this time around. It will still be the stand-up and sketches format but it feels very different to last time. We were going for the whole Saturday Night Live thing last time out and it didn't sit right. You live, you learn."
Much of his act has been built upon the idea of using his heritage as a platform. Thus, he gives some TV favourites a Middle-Eastern makeover - think Sheiks In The City, Middle EastEnders and Jihad's Army.
He also takes viewers hurtling back through the time with his unique portrayal of historical heavyweights such as Napoleon and Henry VIII.
"If Ray Winstone can do him as a Cockney then I can certainly do him African American," Omid says.
His stage act is built upon taking the mickey out of cultural stereotypes, and manages to take in some of the most controversial subjects of the day, in a way that never really offends his audience.
"The last time I got booed by an audience was doing a corporate gig at Chelsea FC," he says.
"I made a joke about a conversation between Phil Scolari and Ray Wilkins and the audience got really upset that I'd dared talk about people who were, at the time, current members of staff. That was a little unexpected."
Omid's Iranian parents moved to London in 1957, where his father worked as a journalist for the Iranian newspaper Kayhan.
However, this career came to a sudden end with the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the new regime's official campaign of persecution against the followers of the Baha'i faith, which included Omid and his family. To earn money, his parents turned their small Kensington mansion-block flat into a sort of boarding house for sick Iranians who had travelled to Harley Street for medical treatment.
Omid calls himself a British-born Iranian: "I may have been brought up between Ayatollah Khomeini and Dickie Davies, but at the same time I know who and what I am," he says.
Getting a second series on the BBC is a mainstream stamp of approval for a comic who didn't really find proper success until well into his 30s.
He was a difficult child - getting kicked out of trendy comprehensive Holland Park School after chasing the first-years on his moped. After botching his exams and failing to adapt to an attempted relocation to California, he enrolled at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, reading theatre studies and English.
He was rejected by 16 drama schools after leaving university, so he headed to Berlin, later ending up in the former Czechoslovakia in productions of Ionesco and Brecht.
When he married in 1992, his wife took him to the Comedy Store to see Lee Hurst, which inspired him to write his own stand-up act for the Edinburgh Festival.
Over the past 10 years, Omid's popularity has grown on both sides of the Atlantic with sell-out tours in the UK and the US, a comedy special on HBO and roles in Hollywood blockbusters including Gladiator, The Mummy, Spy Game and Pirates Of The Caribbean III.
He is one of few comics equally at ease in straight acting roles, and has caught the eye even when sharing screen time with true legends. Does he have any ambitions left when it comes to the silver screen?
"You always want to star with your heroes," he says.
"I've had this dream of playing Al Pacino's son some day, but at 43, I think I'd be more likely cast as his slightly younger brother."
There's plenty more to come, too. Omid has scored his first leading man role in a film written by David Baddiel, where he plays a Muslim who finds out late in life that he's adopted and of Jewish parentage.
"We'll be releasing it this time next year and it's very exciting," he says enthusiastically.
"It's called the Infidel and the script has me in tears with laughter."
First, however, there's the difficult job of filling Rowan Atkinson's shoes as Fagin in the West End production of Oliver Twist.
"If I can get to at least his level I'll have done well," he says.
"I'm going to be the first Iranian Jewish Fagin. The purists will have a ball."
Omid Djalili - Extra Time
Omid has become an Edinburgh Fringe Festival favourite with a string of sell-out shows.
His hyperactive and energetic manner of imitating accents, undercutting political humour with absurd belly dances and singing has earned him a significant worldwide following.
He is a huge star in Finland, where The Omid Djalili Show was a surprise monster hit.
"I did a stand-up show in Helsinki and could barely hear myself for cheers," he remembers. "That was my 'made it, ma' moment."
He has three children with his wife of 17 years, Annabel Knight.
He was voted 60th best stand up in the world in a recent Channel Four poll.
