Akmal Saleh arrived in Australia at the age of ten.
His family migrated from Egypt, in search of a better life.
His first day in Australia is etched into his memory.
"One my of my most potent memories is when we were landing in Sydney, this was in the seventies, and seeing the rooftops, they were triangular, we didn't have that in Egypt because it doesn't rain, from the air they looked like pyramids I remember thinking, they've got millions of pyramids in this country, and we've only got seven, this must be very advanced"
His family made its home in Punchbowl, in the suburbs of Western Sydney.
Their new neighbourhood was something of a culture shock after the hustle and bustle of Egypt's largest city.
"Coming into Sydney in the seventies on a Sunday, going from probably the most populated city in the world to the least populated city in the world at the time. It was just such a contrast, it seemed to me like the place was just shut, it was just like closed, no traffic."
Akmal and his brother embraced their new life, and there was a lot to learn.
At first everything seemed foreign, starting a new school and learning a new language - English.
He says it was very different to life in Egypt.
"You don't even hear other languages because it's not a multicultural country it's a mono cultural country as so even the idea of lanuage is foreign to you when you're 10 years old. Trying to get my head around this whole language thing, I'd go to school people would speak to me in English and I couldn't understand and I really wanted to desparately understand."
Growing up, Akmal often felt like an outsider, and not just because of his ethnicity.
"I never fitted in no matter what, whether it was racial or not. I've been an outsider. Even if every kid in the class was an Egyptian like me I would still've been an outsider. I had the comedy on my side, so I could always make fun of myself."
The Coptic church played a big role in Akmal's life in his younger years, but as he grew older he changed his focus and found expression through humour.
"When I first started doing comedy I was scared of being ethnic, I thought they're not going to like me, it was a really Anglo environment and community, so I changed my name to Peter, 'cos I thought, if I change my name to Peter, maybe people won't realise I'm ethnic."
But life surprised him and his Arabic heritage turned out to be one of his best assets, enabling him to poke fun at stereotypes.
"Believe it or not folks, not all Arabs are terrorists or belong to gangs. Some of us sell weapons. (laughter)"
Success on the comedy circuit brought with it the chance to travel.
It also opened up roles in television and radio.
But whether he was on the stage or the screen, he made jokes about subjects other comedians wouldn't.
"Are there any Islamic extremists in tonight? (laughter) 'coz maybe that's the problem. You never know they could be on their way to blow up an embassy or bridge or something and suddenly one of them says 'why don't we stop off and watch the comedy gala for fun and laughter, hahha." [laughter].
"Theoretically you can talk about any topic, but it's what you're saying about it, or how you're presenting it, what spirit are you bringing to it, are you divisive or hateful or are you just trying to work things out in a genuine way? Any topic can potentially be funny but the more contentious the topic the more careful, or the cleverer you have to be."
The Australian way of life is now firmly embedded in his identity.
"If I'd grown up in Eygpt I'd probably would've be a different person, you know you're shaped by our environment and the good thing about Australia is that I probably the opportuntiy to do things that are different."
