Akmal Saleh is fresh from the jungle and back on the road this month, to bring his unique brand of humour to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The always candid comic opens up about his time in the wilds of South Africa, a newfound addiction to reality TV, his new show about nothing and his dream of making a classic Aussie film.
Saleh was the second person voted out of this season’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, and according to the reluctant reality star, it wasn’t a moment too soon. “It was such a stressful experience for me,” he says. “That show suits some people and not others. A lot of people said to me ‘C’mon, you should do it’, because the producers had asked me the year before as well, and I thought ‘Ah, this isn’t for me at all’, I didn’t even consider it, but then I thought, ‘I shouldn’t think like that’.
“So I went and signed the contract, and I still hadn’t watched the show,” he laughs. “Then three weeks before I hopped on the plane I thought ‘Oh, I should really check this show out’, and then I watched a couple of YouTube clips, and I thought ‘Oh, yeah, that looks like fun . . .” Saleh pauses for effect.
“But honestly, people watching it on TV have no idea the full extent of the tension, the starvation and the manipulation that goes on in the camp. It’s not for the faint-hearted, I really admire the people that could do it for six weeks, my god! Two weeks was the maximum for me. But I became addicted to the show, because they had become my friends. I found myself running home to watch I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! It was surreal.”
Perhaps Saleh has been spending too much time in front of the box lately, because he readily admits he is still working on new stand-up material with just over a week to go till his run of shows kick off on April 5. “Unfortunately, I’m quite lazy,” he says in a playful tone. “But in my defence, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do the festival or not because of all the other things happening, so I let it slip for a while and now, I’m kind of panicking trying to write a full hour, and it’s really tough. I’m scrambling for material, that’s what my show should be called!” Saleh jokes.
“At this stage to be honest with you it’s probably going to be a big chunk of last year’s show,” he continues jokingly. “So if you’ve seen last year’s show don’t come! Unless you’ve got a terrible memory, if you’ve got a memory problem, then came and it will be all brand new.”
Scrambling or not, Saleh is a very talented man. He has conquered radio, film and T.V, published a memoir (Life of Akmal 2012), and more recently turned his hand to documentary film making (Pharaoh vs. the Egyptians 2013) which saw him return to Egypt (Saleh’s birthplace) six months after the revolution to chronicle the events that led to millions of Egyptians (most of them under the age of thirty) deciding to risk their lives in order to protest against decades of oppression and a brutal regime. “It won best film at the Bryon Bay Film Festival. I can tell you it’s the one thing I’ve done in my career I’m most proud of.” he says, “but before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I want to do a another comedy film, something that’s memorable – just a really good Aussie film.”
By Natalie Rogers
Venue: The Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins St, CBD
Dates: April 5 – April 17 (Except Sundays)
Times: 9.30pm (Sundays 8.30pm)
Tickets: $30 – $39
