Nish Kumar is not an angry, fulminating stand-up. “Nice boy, reads books” is how the mild-mannered comedian describes himself. In Nish Kumar: Is A Comedian he boldly asks why we find some things offensive. The show might not pack the final knockout punch but it is consistently thoughtful and skilfully delivered.
The London-based performer was prompted to explore this idea when he was offended by a picture of him that had gone viral with the new headline “Confused Muslim”. Admittedly Kumar looked pensive, as his onstage slideshow confirms, but he is not a Muslim and was definitely not confused. Though maybe he should be as he explains that he gets mistaken for being both an Arab and a Jew: “If they put me on the Gaza Strip both sides would kill me.”
His set touches on various aspects of life in a multicultural society. Assumptions, accidental racism from liberals, his Indian father’s view of his son as the perfect Englishman. He gives each angle a soft, self-deprecating edge, even a disquieting tale of a teacher calling a pupil “Chutney” instead of attempting to pronounce “Jyoti” correctly.
Alongside his theme there are also more generic portraits of behaviour in this melting pot city. Kumar recalls a Friday-night drinker copiously vomiting on a station platform with particular gusto. If the political ideas are not quite hammered home and the humour is not quite side-splitting there is still much to enjoy. Nice boy, reads books, tells great stories.
Until December 21, 020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com
