When you go to a Nish Kumar gig, you expect political commentary. But the former Mash Report host’s new show Your Power, Your Control comes at an awkward time. Do comedy audiences want to hear about the pandemic after, y’know, living it? Fortunately, Kumar’s topical material is among the best I’ve seen this side of Covid. Intense, weighty news items – from the Colston statue being chucked into the river to the numerous Conservative party failures – are honoured with humour. “Buzzkill on a group chat, great laugh on a panel show,” Kumar tells us, with a chuckle. “I contain multitudes.”
Kumar’s more explicitly political content bookends the show. New allegations about Boris Johnson having yet another party are made two hours before the comic hits the stage, and there’s a sense that Kumar would dwell on it more if it weren’t so utterly depressing. There are slower moments, where Kumar lists examples of political injustice, but it never stays flat for long. On stage, he fizzes with an unrelenting energy, and is prone to bursting into random screams. Really, who can blame him?
