Kumail Nanjiani's "Night Thoughts" Special is a Fantastic Return To Form. (No, It's not a Muscle Joke)
- Marielle Bokor
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
It’s been a minute since I’ve watched a standup special all the way through. I hear clips here and there, on TikTok , but I haven’t made it a destination. But, Kumail Nanjiani and I have history.
Long ago, in my podcast era, he was a guest on the Nerdist podcast, and a personal friend of some of its hosts. I thought he was hilarious on the show, and so I looked him up a little. His sense of humor reminded me of the guy I was dating at the time (who in fact, turned out to be my husband and colleague at this publication). I saw a couple YouTube clips, found out that he got started in Chicago, and was a little bit sad I’d missed him while he was here.
Lucky for me, he showed up in Chicago on tour, after I’d become a regular listener to he and his wife, Emily’s podcast, The Indoor Kids, which was about video games but honestly, endeared me for so many other reasons. Chief among them that I too loved games, but also because the two of them were so real,and so in love.
When I showed up to the show in Chicago at UP Comedy Club on the third floor of hallowed comedy holy place Piper's Alley and I actually got to meet him afterwards, I can't remember what I said to him personally. I do however remember lamenting about having not stopped at Walgreens for a shampoo bottle to gift to his wife. This was a part of what he called the "Eagle Eyed Spotter’s Club” which was simply a fan club he’d started for his wife, who turns out to be an amazing author, super funny in her own right, and an entire badass. I still can’t remember why the thing to bring was shampoo bottles, but I do remember loving the idea of a husband who’s often in the spotlight making a fan club for his wife, who he consistently, fervently believes should be standing beside him in it.
I followed Nanjiani’s career from then on, rooting for him in his acting career, seeking out and reviewing The Big Sick, which he co-wrote with his wife about her journey with chronic illness and their love story. I watched him get all buff for The Eternals, and remembered how wistful he'd be as he talked about loving superhero stories as a boy growing up in Pakistan, and how much he was bullied for being a scrawny little kid. Of all the muscled glow-ups there are to talk about, his was my favorite - because not only did it reflect a change we as fans knew was important to that scrawny kid, it was also for a Marvel movie.
See, the thing I latched on to as a fan of Nanjiani’s standup, podcasting and work in general is his relatability. Kumail was always vulnerable, and made fun of himself even as he took jabs at bigger targets. He used observational humor, something some consider an early career crutch, but surgically with a sense of spastic absurdity and an eye to standup's fourth wall. He always punched up, not down. He wasn’t some dude who was chuckling at his girlfriend hiding under the blanket during a horror flick, he was on stage talking about getting so scared to be killed by an imagined intruder in his attic that he wore a colander on his head for the final confrontation.
He was also the guy who, along with his wife, Emily, had even more to be afraid of during the pandemic. Gordon was one of the most vulnerable during the pandemic, as someone who experiences chronic illness. At the same time, we were taking care of a family member who was also among the most vulnerable groups, and I found solace in laughing with the couple about trying to figure out if we should completely disrobe after coming in every time we sanitized the groceries on the patio or getting really invested in the neighborhood wildlife due to lack of an outside social life. The podcast was called Staying in with Kumail and Emily, and when it ended I honestly wasn't ready to let go of what had become my comfort listen every week.
All this to say, if there’s a comedy special and it’s Kumail Nanjiani’s, I was already going to be hitting play.
Still, you can’t help but wonder, when someone gets super buff, has a hit film that wins multiple awards, and lives in LA, if they can still pull off that same colander headed, “house full of betas” vulnerability.
And the answer is a resounding yes, much to my absolute delight, having just finished Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts. Whether he’s talking about his cat Bagel (also an icon and fixture in his world and on his instagram, who sadly passed away recently) or about getting buff and getting his abs stuck in his belt, he’s somehow got a handle on being absolutely relatable and hilarious.
There’s not a dull spot in the hour long special, and without spoiling it for you the way Hulu's TikTok ads for the special tended to dole out some of the special's best bits too generously.
Luckily, there's a whole lot of laughing out loud. And ok, I will spoil one bit, because though I said he doesn’t really punch down, him looking a Chicago crowd in the eye after the “abs stuck in the belt” bit and addressing them as “deep dish motherfuckers” who’d know nothing of it felt like the most affectionate punch on the shoulder you could possibly get from an old friend.
Kumail Nanjiani’s comedy is special to me because it’s so many types of comedy that I like, and that shouldn’t work together, in one person. He’s intelligent and thoughtful, but absurd and nigh idiotic. He goes for the long con joke-wise, but he’s also got a penchant for super bad puns and dad jokes that he’ll just impale you with and wait for the groans to bleed out.
By the third act, you’re usually wondering what’s left in the tank, and when the conversation turns to therapy and bad reviews, you wouldn’t think it’d be the best way to stick the landing. But between mature, thoughtful things that are also actually funny, petty jabs at mean internet commenters, and an end message that, no matter how many times it’s repeated, could always be said again, stick the landing he does.
I’m glad I’ve been along for the ride this whole time. Six pack abs and movie awards may have given him more standup material, but they haven’t changed the intelligent, vulnerable, ridiculous nature of who Kumail Nanjiani really is, they’ve just let more people in on the secret. If anything, this special just makes me a little sad because I didn’t get tickets to it when it was shot here in Chicago at The Vic, and I would’ve liked to say hello again and finally get Emily that shampoo.
You can have a great laugh during a sometimes tough season by streaming Night Thoughts on Disney+/Hulu now.
EDIT: If you also want Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V Gordon to be the reason you genuinely cry today, read this Instagram Post on the incredible tribute to Bagel by Hulu.