Edinburgh return gig for stand-up comedian Nish Kumar to his "second home"

The comic talks about his Edinburgh haunts

Stand-up comedian Nish Kumar is looking forward to returning to his "second home" of Edinburgh in September as part of his 'Nish Don't Kill My Vibe' UK tour.

Host of television show the Mash Report, Nish has announced a brand-new live tour of the UK and Ireland for 2024. With the 47-date tour kicking off at London’s Hackney Empire on September 7 and finishing in Southend in November, with tickets now on sale for his Edinburgh show at The Royal Lyceum Theatre on September 14.

Nish told the Evening News that he can't wait to return to his "home away from home", with the comedian admitting that he has his favourite haunts in the city due to his Fringe performances over the years and given that he has friends and family here.

He said: "I first came in 2006 and was there once a year until 2016. Then I had a year of just a week's run, then 2018, 19, 22 and 23 when I also did shorter week-long visits.

"It is the only city apart from London that I do think of as home. I really do. I spend so much time there. I even came up in 2021 for the weird phantom Fringe. Getting out of Waverley there was such an odd sense of relief, it was the first time I felt like things were getting back to normal.

"I love it, I have a tremendously emotional relationship with Edinburgh. I have got friends and family that live there as well. It's such a great place, it really feels like a home away from home. I don't know a city, apart from London, as well as I know Edinburgh.

"I certainly feel extremely at home. I have got all my places I like to eat and pubs I like to drink in and coffee shops in the day time. When I'm there for shorter period than the month I know I'm going to go bang, bang, bang, go to Cult for a coffee, get the sriracha eggs benedict from Thomas Watt Opticians, I've just got my very specific places that I like to go.

"Edinburgh 2021 was the first time I felt reality was returning after Covid. It was really touch and go until the last minute. The Monkey Barrell, which is a venue I love very much, asked if would be interested and we had a week ready to go but it depended on Sturgeon re-opening performance venues with social distancing. Then suddenly it was happening.

"The next thing I knew I was in Palmyra on Nicolson Street, which is my favourite kebab shop in Edinburgh. And also the only restaurant that has a photo of me on the wall."

Stand-up comedian Nish Kumar is coming to Edinburgh on his UK tour, at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in September. Photo by Matt Stronge.

Looking ahead to his return to the Royal Lyceum show in September, Nish conceded that there is probably only one venue in Edinburgh left for him to play.

He said: "I think the castle is one of the only places I haven't played in Edinburgh. I have performed in Italian restaurants and rooms on the side of pubs. I have done a lot of Edinburgh venues.

"Even year-round Edinburgh has a lot of of fantastic performance venues that work really well, like the Festival Theatre and the Playhouse. The Royal Lyceum is a beautiful, it's a stunning room, I have played there before. It's funny to go between playing basements to beautiful theatres."

Nish has achieved huge success on the stand-up circuit with five rave reviewed solo stand-up shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Nish’s last tour, Your Power, Your Control, played to sell out audiences up and down the country and was critically acclaimed when it debuted in 2022, with that show released as a special on Sky Comedy in 2023.

He is also a familiar face on television, appearing regularly on shows such as Taskmaster, Live At The Apollo, QI, Have I Got News For You, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Frankie Boyle’s New World Order.

Talking about his 'Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe tour, he said: "The title is a reference to a Kendrick Lemar song and also sort of a reference to me doing stand-up comedy about subject matter which we can charitably refer to a vibe killers, whether it's climate collapse or human mortality.

"It's almost like I've set myself a challenge to write comedy about arguably the least funny things possible.

"It's a fairly standard length of tour, 47 dates. But it's quite manageable. You are away Wednesday to Sunday, but I have friends in bands who are in a van for two months. At least for me I'm sleeping in my own bed half the week.

"I can't resist giving my opinion on things I shouldn't give my opinion on. So there is some politics in there. I have learned that I need to write a 60/70 minute show and leave 20 minutes to re-write to cover what's going on at the time.

"In comedy your fortunes in TV and radio will ebb and flow, but I was told very early on by older comedians there will be times when you are in favour and out of favour, but the one thing you can never let go of is your live audience. That's the solid thing that you can build your career around. Suddenly that goes away during the pandemic and you think, 'that's interesting'.

"There was a lot of chat about how hard people in entertainment found it. I was largely able to work through the lockdown. So I'm slightly resistant to moan about it, there were a lot more people having a much more difficult time."

Nish Kumar is now a familiar face on British television, appearing on shows like 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Have I Got News for You.

In his career in comedy, Nish has noticed a change in his audiences in terms of their political awareness, which he thinks is a good thing.

He said: "In 2014/15 if you were talking about national politics people would often switch off. Because of the independence referendum, Scotland I would say had a wider politicization earlier. There is more than a keen interest in politics from Scottish audiences.

"Back in 2014/15, particularly in England. I would have to explain who everyone is. Now you can talk about much more marginal political figures who are much more well known. It was interesting measuring that sea change in people's political awareness.

"There is a kind of ubiquity, especially for people like Sturgeon and Johnson because of the pandemic. Just because you can't overestimate the intimacy of them being in our living rooms every single day explaining to us what we could and couldn't do.

"The Covid pandemic definitely raised the profile of a lot of politicians. I think what it should have exploded is the idea that politics doesn't have a relevance to your day to day life, as it actually showed you how much decisions that are taken can have a direct impact your day to day life.

"So hopefully people feel obliged to participate in the democratic process, as we've come to a wider understanding of how much it governs our lives. I hope people are more politically active."

Nish Kumar will play the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh on September 15. Tickets are on sale now.