I think many people in my life wish I was less willing to slag off my co-workers,” says Nish Kumar, his face all fight and mischief. He’s being droll: “co-workers”, in this context, means fellow comedians. And sure enough, over the 70-odd minutes we spend together, the former host of The Mash Report will go on to badmouth a few of them by name. “People wish I kept my opinions to myself or kept people’s names out of my own mouth. I just, like... I don’t know,” Kumar grins, throwing his hands up. “I’m a d***. Like, I’m just a piece of s***. My agent once said to me, ‘At the end of the day, you love being annoying.’”
Then again, “annoying” isn’t really a word I’d choose for Nish Kumar. It’s really quite the feat to have the career he does and not overstay his welcome. Kumar, now 40 years old, has for years been one of those faces that seems to crop up all over the British media sphere, whether it’s on panel shows, standup tours, or “being a complete buffoon who kicked over a water cooler on Taskmaster”. It’s the sort of sustained exposure that can blunt a comedian’s edge, or make them seem rather establishment: again, with Kumar, that’s not really a problem.
