THERE is always a telling moment in an interview when you see something you never knew existed and you get to take a peek behind the curtain.

This happened when I reached the end of my interview with Shappi Khorsandi and she told me her favourite song on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was With a Little Help From My Friends.

This was due to the fact, she had learnt to sing it for a play when she was in primary school.

It was about two friends called Benson and Hedges, who were fighting to open a tobacco factory in Ealing. The reason everything tumbled into place was when she said how important connections were for her.

She described it (connections) as the ability to connect with people who if you looked at their likes and dislikes had nothing in common with her but she could make a connection.

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She mentioned this when I asked her what comedy meant to her, Shappi said: “That is a good question as for me comedy is about making a connection with strangers.

“It is what comedy gives to me as it gives me instant gratification, a high and a feeling of warmth. It is a feeling of having a connection which I have created. It is a warmth and it is intoxicating. Connections are important to me as I a get a real kick out of comedy.”

And there you have it, Shappi’s comments making sense when I knew the name of The Beatles song.

You can learn more about Shappi and her life in Britain when she brings her latest show Oh My Country. In this she is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of her arrival in Britain.

She’s reclaiming patriotism, sending a love letter to her adopted land and is bringing her new show to the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton on May 6.

Shappi was six-years-old at the time she had to flea Iran with her family due to the Iranian Revolution in 1979. They were forced to flee from Iran to London after the Islamic Revolution following the publication of a satirical poem her father, Hadi Khorsandi, composed. The poem was seen as critical of the revolutionary regime.

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As a result they had to seek asylum in Great Britain.

Looking back on this period of her life she said: “I was a child and for children home is where your parents are as your parents are your home. At the time I was not able to speak English and I am a talker. I remember my brother having sit with me as I did not know what was going on.

“As asylum seekers we were always looking at what was happening in Iran. We kept speaking our language as we expected to go back home.

“But slowly we realised this was home and my dad’s house become a hub in the social life of the community. I embraced everything British and now people say if you what a proper English Sunday lunch they should go to Shappi’s. I think the one thing which had a profound effect on my life were my parents. They were very creative and people who believed in allowing me to do what I wanted. They were open minded and my dad let me take a year off between GSCE’s and A Levels to go away with a theatre company to Europe. They were risk takers.”

As a stand up comic, Shappi does not think comedy needs to be personal to be a success.

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She felt comedians like Milton Jones and Tim Vine did their shows and you knew nothing about them.

She said: “You don’t know anything about Stewart Lee. You don’t know what makes him tick or what would break his heart.

My comedy is personal as it is in my nature. I am a busy single working mum and I really don’t have much time to ponder. It is just easier for me.”

One of the most enjoyable things which Shappi said she had done was a short drama she wrote for Sky’s Little Crackers in 2011 called Someone’s fondness for Tucker Jenkins goes too far.

She said: “To date it is one of the highlights of my career.

“I had so much fun and could not believe something I had written at my kitchen table would mean so much to so many people.”

Tickets for Shappi Khorsandi at the Brewhouse Theatre cost £13-£15.

They can be bought online at thebrewhouse.net or calling the box office on 01823 283 244.