Comic fools journalist into thinking Omid's his uncle

Never take a comedian at face value.

The Sunday Times has been left looking foolish after asking Tez Ilyas to take part in its Relative Values column - in which a famous person and another family member discuss their relationship - with his 'uncle' Omid Djalili.

The newspaper made the approach after Ilyas posted a photo of the two, unrelated comedians on Twitter in December, accompanied by the joke caption: 'I don't often talk about my personal life publicly … but I'm so proud of my family. Love you uncle @omid9'

Sharing the paper's subsequent correspondence on Twitter today, Ilyas reflected 'this is why you should NEVER make jokes online'.

This is why you should NEVER make jokes online 😫😅😫🤣 pic.twitter.com/ru3vtZYImV

— Tez (@tezilyas) February 5, 2020

Comics responding to the gaffe included Sindhu Vee, Eshaan Akbar and Ian Stone, who quipped: 'We're practically cousins. Can I come down?'

Stand-up Neil Cole simply posted a forehead slap gif from the Naked Gun.

Djalili has yet to respond to the Sunday Times's offer.

Published: 5 Feb 2020