‘I shouldn’t be allowed to do interviews’: Nish Kumar on family discussions and comedy controversy | Nish Kumar

Nish Kumar – a cover of curly hair, a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, an attractive coffee shop cookie in hand – is sitting inches away from me in a conference room at his media offices in Soho, central London. However, one comedian is catching the eye. On the wall is a large poster promoting Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK – and approaching us from the center of the frame is the show’s director, Jimmy Carr.

This sounds, let’s just say, ridiculous. In Kumar’s last show, he recalled the time he confronted Carr angrily about his decision to appear on Jordan Peterson’s podcast. (“This is a powerful event happening on an unprecedented scale,” Carr said.) Then there’s the blurb in his upcoming tour, Angry Humor from a Really Nice Guy, in which Kumar expresses concern that the comedy show “was co-opted by charlatans in the service of autocrats” — part of a reference to Riyah Cardy’s final celebration.

Once we get to this last topic, there’s nothing left to do but talk nonsense. “He’s right here! Kumar complains. At first he hesitates to criticize his fellow comedians – “All I can think of right now is one word: you shouldn’t be allowed to ask questions” – but soon, in his hyper-articulate, mile-a-minute style, he calls Carr, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and Jack Whitehall (“I mean, I don’t like anything they know” to “cleanse the culture of an authoritarian regime”. “He signed an agreement not to go to MBS (Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia),” he says. “I don’t want to hear about freedom of speech anymore from these things.”

Kumar’s inability to keep a stump could be his biggest asset. At school, he was a controversial figure, something that informs his sense of humor, a smart, fluid stream that takes on everything from immigration to trying to assassinate Donald Trump in 2024. Yet he also behaves like a millennial, especially when it comes to his thoughts (he’s been diagnosed with PTSD and ADHD). More importantly, though, he’s a left-wing irritant at a time when stats like this are rare — so rare, in fact, that his presence is needed more across the pond. Last year, New York Times critic Jason Zinoman he asked if Kumar could be the rabble-rouser the US needs, saying that his post evoked “the spirit of Bill Hicks’ brutal comedy in a way I haven’t seen in years”.

It’s April as we speak and Kumar has just returned from another trip to the US, where he performed his new show for the first time and appeared on the American version of Have I Got News for You. Despite his success, the Londoner’s humor remains UK-based – the anglophiles who attend his US meetings are interested in British politics to thank Angela Rayner and her partner, he says. (He must be quick by listening to Pod Save the UK, a weekly podcast about British politics that he co-hosts with journalist Coco Khan.) Kumar has been vocal about his audience – he has long described his target audience as “people who subscribe to the Guardian or the New York Times or have recently canceled their paid subscriptions to the Guardian, the New York Times or the leftwing” – but he seems more excited about his generational appeal, recently seeing 14-year-olds and activists. septuagenarian in society.

Kumar himself is now 40 years old. This year marks twenty years since his stand-up debut, although his commitment to comedy began much earlier. When he was five, his uncle gave him a VHS of The Simpsons; at home in south London he loved to tell difficult stories and jokes. Chris Rock’s stand-up was another big influence (“He’s a short, swaggering guy who’s screaming about stories”) as was the millennial show Goodness Gracious Me. Until then, the only people who saw them perform were “white or African Americans.

However, he spent his youth curtailing his sporting ambitions through debate (“They were representative sets, mostly”) at a grammar school in the London suburb of Bromley and in his first year at Durham University. Then fellow student Ed Gamble – with whom Kumar was acting in a play – signed him up for a stand-up night. “After that, I didn’t do anything else.” He spent his 20s struggling to make ends meet. “The only thing that motivated me – because I didn’t make money or participate professionally – was the constant encouragement of my friends.” Now Kumar is accusing colleagues including Gamble, James Acaster and Josh Widdicombe of “lying” about his comedy skills. I think he was just happy to be with me.”

You can see why: Kumar is a great team player on and off the field, passionate but not religious; both seductively self-confident and triumphantly restrained. By 2015, his hard work began to pay off: his fourth show was nominated for an Edinburgh comedy award and he started appearing regularly on TV. But it was two years later, when he landed a job on the current news show The Mash Report, that he became a household name — and a right-winger. The Question Time appearance sparked social media abuse; Piers Morgan, Andrew Neil and various Tory politicians have sparked controversy over an “anti-British” episode of children’s show Horrible Histories in which they appeared. Then, in 2021, some journalists reported on unsubstantiated rumors that the cancellation of The Mash Report was ordered by then director-general Tim Davie as part of BBC Mash. went the headline of the Sun).

Today, Kumar is no longer affected by such storms. Is it a relief to no longer be a part of the culture wars or did it make sense to be part of the public debate? He didn’t hesitate: “It calmed me down. It didn’t help anyone; my presence in the conversation didn’t benefit any of the causes I was passionate about. In 2024, he made headlines again when he took part in a Hay’s literary festival boycott for supporting Baillie Gifford’s relationship with Israel: “I forgot how little I missed.”

Kumar doesn’t need papers to help him; he has forced himself enough. Angry Jokes from The Best Guy sees him thinking – not for the first time – about the nature of his work. One of the most important aspects of comedy is the ability to make things less scary – but is that a good idea in an era where unimaginable horrors are being replaced so quickly? Then there is money. “Is it right that I am profiting financially from the fall of the western countries?

In his stand-up, Kumar pokes fun at the wealth his aforementioned friends have made from their podcasts, and also mentions the wealth he’s made from his comedy. His good life has not kept him away from the problems of ordinary people, he says. On the contrary, it gives him a greater appreciation of human failings: the only reason he is entering middle age with a healthy bank account is because of the “chaos” of a successful showbiz career. “My money is not proof of a thriving economy – my life is an idle miracle.”

After all, he’s not living like a star: “Nobody I know has more wealth than he’s passed down the path of everyday life – that’s Jimmy Carr’s money.” In fact, Kumar’s insistence on speaking truth and power has led him to turn down paydays – including The Last Laugh. When his agent made the offer, he told him the money was “very good” and that Carr was hosting. “I said to him: ‘Do you think I can accept this because of what I am saying on stage now?'” He says. “If I’m accusing him of being part of a machine that spins sarcastic, men-shaming ideas into big stories, I can’t be like: Oh, Jimmy, isn’t Bob Mortimer good?!”

Honesty – like righteous indignation – is not lacking in comedy at this point, which makes Kumar’s angry, fiery confrontation a vital part of the proceedings. Not that he is ready to accept this fact: he insists that he is a gag merchant and nothing more. “All I do is take things I’ve read by smart people and write a joke at the end of it.” For once, I’m not sure.

Nish Kumar tour the UK and Ireland, 9 September to 25 November.