Kumail Nanjiani Talks Return To Stand-Up With ‘Night Thoughts,’ ‘Fallout’ S2 & Plans To Direct First Feature Next Year – Comedy Means Business Podcast
After hitting it big in Hollywood with projects like Silicon Valley and The Big Sick — first, an actor, and then behind the camera — Kumail Nanjiani‘s career has come full circle.
For the first time in a decade, he’s returned to his roots in stand-up, tackling his first proper theater tour in support of Night Thoughts, his second-ever comedy special and first for Hulu, in which he tackles topics ranging from the weird, anxious thoughts that keep him up at night, to his much-discussed physical transformation, the illness of his beloved cat Bagel (who just passed in September), and how he’s navigated critical online discourse around him.
At the forefront of Nanjiani’s mind in crafting the special — which just landed him his first Golden Globe nomination — was establishing, for those who know him only from film and TV, that he is a true stand-up, rather than an actor taking a stab at comedy on a whim. Indeed, this is true, as someone who began his career on Chicago’s alt comedy scene in the early 2000s before making his way to New York and Los Angeles, and helping to establish Meltdown Comics as an iconic destination for stand-up at the latter.
Nanjiani decided to return to the stage when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 stalled his progress on projects for the screen, as they did for so many others. Going forward, he’s admittedly not sure how stand-up will factor into his output, given how busy his schedule has become. With his production company Winter Coat, launched last year, he’s developing a full slate of projects, including Howl, a genre feature we’re told that he expects to make next year, in his feature directorial debut. Additionally, of course, acting commitments will keep him busy, as he’s now highly sought after in that space, with a role in Fallout Season 2 and James L. Brooks’ film Ella McCay on display just this month.
In conversation with Deadline at All Things Comedy’s podcast studio, Nanjiani reflects on his whole career journey, including what it felt like returning to stand-up after setting it to the side for many years. For the full conversation, in which he dishes on how he came to Fallout Season 2, his filmmaking ambitions and more, click above.
