REVIEW: Nish Kumar: 'Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe' at The Leadmill, Sheffield
WALKING carefully onto the stage, Nish Kumar makes it expressively clear why his gait is somewhat cumbersome within minutes of opening.
Not only has he broken his toe, he has “volcanic diarrhoea”.
“Seriously, I can only apologise to the cleaning team at The Leadmill,” he says ruefully.
“The toilets are like Krakatoa.” He goes on to presume that the venue's facilities will have previously been utilised by Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys.
“I've probably desecrated a loo that (frontman) Alex Turner once sat on,” he mused, before quipping in a reference to one of the band's best known numbers, “Well, I really do have a 'Mardy Bum'!”
But while he may be sat down, this stand-up comedian – known for his TV appearances including Hold the Front Page and The Mash Report – delivers a powerful polemic against racism, neoliberalism and the previous Tory government.
In terms of the latter, few escape his ranting wrath, from Liz Truss to Boris Johnson.
But it is Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Suella Braverman who are subjected to a tirade – the C-bomb is dropped very liberally - from a British Asian man outraged by the ex-PM and his colleagues', far-from-liberal policies.
He even manages to playfully attribute his broken toe – sustained while playing football, as he was when he previously broke a finger – to politics, saying both times he was performing manoeuvres on the pitch that saw him “move severely to the left.”
Covering the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump by considering alternative outcomes, but wary of the contentious nature he chides : “Let me finish! I will not be Tenacious D’d!”
Reflecting on people asking why he doesn't cover more 'typical comedy' subjects “like the the contents of my fridge,” he holds up a list of subjects to cover in his set including 'rage', 'Gaza', 'anxiety,' and 'racism', acknowledging there is little room for minor mainstream matters.
“Even with a broken foot and volcanic anus I can still make topical material on the day.
“I should always have a broken foot and diarrhoea, just to give other comedians a chance.
“It's made me even more hysterical!”
He's not wrong.