Iranian funny woman Shappi Khorsandi has been though the mill. But, as she tells KATHERINE MACALISTER, she’s come out smiling.

Shappi Khorsandi is ready to spill the beans. The hilarious Iranian comic has been through the mill recently and wants to tell you all about it.

For those of you who haven’t swum into Shappi’s orbit yet, the 36-year-old star of Let’s Dance For Comic Relief and Michael McIntrye’s Comedy Roadshow, will be appearing on your horizon very soon.

Her new book A Beginner’s Guide To Acting English, about her family’s journey from Iran to England, is already on the best-seller lists, she is due to headline at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and is opening Oxford’s newest comedy club Glee on Saturday.

“Well I’ve got a new show so it’s quite exciting really,” she says, “because comedy clubs mean proper punters so it’s going to be great. I can’t wait.”

Proper punters? “Well Glee is all about the comedy, not massive groups of lads on stag do’s who are only there for the disco afterwards. Comedy literate people are always a joy. People who know their stuff. As for the stand-ups, its a legal high for us because we are all adrenalin junkies. I always think we have more in common with snow-boarders than actors.”

Shappi is on a roll and she just needs to add the finishing touches to her new routine: “It’s all about how you can’t fix everything, so I turn it into comedy rather than get bitter and twisted. Getting divorced has provided lots of new material, and the show is more personal than normal, but it’s what I want to say,” she adds.

“And I don’t cry on stage, or slag off men and my ex, he’s a very nice chap actually, I saved that for my family and friends. But you have to go through that before you can talk about it on stage and make jokes. I could not tell the audience how angry I was last year at The Fringe while it was all happening which was hellish because inside I was falling apart, while being all light and fluffy on stage.”

Stand-up comedy has always been Shappi’s outlet when the going gets tough, even when she was younger. “All comedians are getting their second chance at the playground, that’s what drives us,” she says.

And yes, Shappi had a particularly hard time at school, spending all her time “hiding and trying not to get my head kicked in. I became very shy and introverted and it took me a long time to come out of my shell because it was a hideous experience.

“So while all those comics were at Oxford and Cambridge I had dyslexia and was hiding in lockers trying not to get hurt. But I talk about it all in my act,” she says breezily.

The answer for Shappi was to get up on stage and tell jokes. That’s always been her therapy. And by the way, she’s hilarious – quick, smart and upbeat. Which is why she’s always on TV.

“I knew I could be happy if I could make a living doing stand-up. It’s when I’m at my happiest. Everything else is a bonus – the TV and radio. I’m just thankful to have a job. If you love what you do it makes life worth living.”

Having said this, it took Shappi 10 years of trawling the comedy clubs to get recognised. And then it all came at once. “Doing a book and radio show with a newborn baby and a broken marriage was tough,” she agrees, still smiling.

So where does Shappi craft her jokes? “Mainly at home, but I’ll go for long walks and talk to myself in Richmond Park and get funny looks. I like to think jokes through rather than write them down, but then I forget them,” she laughs. “So I try to text them to myself.”

And has being a woman in a mainly male dominated world been hard?

“In the beginning all the up-and-coming comics used to share lifts and petrol and I would drive round gigs with four established males, which was quite intimidating because I was 23 and they were 50, and sometimes the things they said made my hair stand on end,” she laughs.

“But it’s all character building. And now, even though there is more at stake and I feel like the knives will be out, I’m really excited about it.”

The multi-award winning comedy (and music) venue The Glee Club opens in spectacular fashion on Saturday on the site of Jongleurs, with a special one-off appearance by Shappi Khorsandi, plus burger van owner Angelos Epithemiou, regular panelist on Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer’s revived cult BBC2 comedy series, Shooting Stars. Get tickets on 0871 472 0400 or go to glee.co.uk