“I’m from England and I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Covid is over,” sarcastically announced Nish Kumar, acknowledging that his Aberdeen fans still had to wear face masks at last night’s gig.
He kicked off his “Your Power, Your Control” show by condemning the UK government for its “incompetence, corruption and ideology” – taking a particular jab at the myth of Rishi Sunak’s competence.
Reminding Aberdonians of the Chancellor’s idea of “serving Covid-flavoured ramen to Eat Out to Help Out” in the middle of a global pandemic, it was obvious what the comedian thought of the Conservative Party.
Nish’s political views on how the current government handled the pandemic are well-known and the English funnyman received a big round of applause when he announced that he thought there was “no better argument for Scottish independence than Boris Johnson being the prime minister”.
Support act also delights The Tivoli audience
But before Nish, who used to be the host of The Mash Report, delved into his political routine, his support act Tessa Coates greeted The Tivoli audience by asking them: “Fit like, Aberdeen? Foos yer doos?”
Taking the time to learn Doric phrases, Tessa won over Aberdeen comedy fans within seconds and received roars of approval.
Her story about how she forgot to socialise during lockdown and needed to re-learn how to join a conversation was painfully relatable and her comedic timing was great too.
After she told Aberdonians that she was contractually obliged to leave the stage after 20 minutes, she cleverly introduced Nish Kumar – and the laughs just kept on coming from the moment he walked on the stage.
Why did someone throw a bread roll at Nish Kumar?
Following his political routine, he went on to tell Aberdeen fans what exactly happened at the Lord’s Taverners charity gig where an audience member threw a bread roll at him because he didn’t appreciate his anti-Brexit jokes.
Nish told us the story – which made the news in 2019 – didn’t just trigger horrible headlines, but also resulted in death threats and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He spoke about his mental fragility, initial refusal of attending therapy sessions and his denial to acknowledge that the death threats – one of which he read in full – affected him.
From being the “main character on the internet” and receiving racial abuse to feeling protective of young people of colour and having to deal with those who would rather keep statues of slave traders, Nish didn’t just offer jokes but also insight into what is a painful reality for many in the UK.
Nish also touched on climate change – he joked that “old white people” will only start caring about the planet when we start calling it “climate immigration”.
Fuelled by righteous anger, he finished off his routine with more political commentary on nationalism, meaningless national anthems, and a confession that he Googles if the Queen is still alive before every gig to make sure he can still tell his jokes.
Nish Kumar will – most likely – return to Aberdeen
If you missed Nish’s Aberdeen gig last night, fear not, the stand-up comic will most likely return to the north-east – even though he does not enjoy travelling up north.
He said: “Aberdeen is far from everywhere – it’s even far from Scotland.
“Every year I try to get rid of you but the gig is always good so guess I’ll have to come back again.”