2 weeks Ago By Daniel Herborn
Nish Kumar: Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe ★★★★ Factory Theatre, April 22. Until April 24. Reviewed by DANIEL HERBORN Midway through his Sydney Comedy Festival show, British comic Nish Kumar outlines the topics he’s about to cover: anxiety, death and rage.
No wonder someone recently told him he should try more relatable material, like riffing on the contents of his fridge. Nish Kumar riffs on anxiety, death and Elon Musk. Credit: Matt Stronge He’d already rattled through a litany of injustice and nonsense, from billionaire biohacker Bryan Johnson – who injects himself with his teenage son’s blood in a bid to live forever – to his deep frustration at being told he should be “pleased about the representation” of having a fellow British Indian, conservative Rishi Sunak, in power.
The 39-year-old Kumar seems so energised by white-hot rage that he barely pauses for breath. The breakneck style makes for an urgent and wide-ranging excoriation of powerful individuals demonising minorities for their own gain. Crucially, though, Kumar doesn’t settle for making right-on points but draws consistent belly laughs with his furious monologues, aided by vividly grotesque descriptions of his foes – from Elon Musk to his transphobic comedy peers – and his knack for unexpected but spot-on analogies.
In the second half of the hour, he turns his focus inwards, giving a potentially one- note show some much-needed light and shade. “I’m like this all the time,” he says of his exasperated state, reflecting on how exhausting being constantly outraged is and how it both drives and results from his anxiety. A streak of humility runs through Kumar’s work, elevating it above a political rant, albeit one with well-chosen targets.
The self-deprecation shines through in the hilarious and farcical closing account of his confronting Boris Johnson. He even gives writing a joke about his fridge his best shot. This being a Nish Kumar show, it goes somewhere angrier and more political than you’d expect, but it’s all the funnier for that.
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