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The Mash Report has always turned tough topics into comedy. As it returns in lockdown, host Nish Kumar and standups Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Tom Mayhew talk about satire’s role in a crisis
When Nish Kumar’s political comedy show The Mash Report returned to our TV screens earlier this month, things looked very different to the last series – and not just because he’d accidentally shaved his beard off. With the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown in place, Kumar hosted the show from his spare room, forcing him to grapple with a professional camera and lighting on his own.
Writing the show had been challenging, too. He knew that viewers who were isolated from loved ones needed a laugh. But making jokes while respecting the gravity of the situation is a tricky balancing act. In the end, Kumar decided to not to hold back: “This whole situation is a weird combination of boring and terrifying, like an epidemiology lecture delivered by Freddy Krueger – or Dominic Raab being, well, Dominic Raab,” he announced. Meanwhile, co-star Rachel Parris tackled self-appointed coronavirus experts, including “testicle with teeth”, JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin. Continue reading...