‘F*** Ricky Gervais’: Nish Kumar clip resurfaces after comedian’s controversial Netflix special

‘Trans people are just the latest to get it in the neck from comedians who can’t be bothered to try at their jobs anymore,’ said comic

A clip from Nish Kumar’s 2019 stand-up show, which criticises fellow comedian Ricky Gervais for his jokes about transgender people, has resurfaced on social media.

Gervais’s new Netflix special has been met with condemnation online over a series of remarks targeting the trans community.

Viewers have described the star’s show, SuperNature, as “toxic” and “transphobic” following its release on Tuesday (24 May). Read quotes from the show here.

As fans and critics discuss SuperNature, many have shared a clip Kumar’s 2019 show It’s in Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves Part 2, in which he name-checks Gervais and calls him out for “deciding to s*** on the latest minority group”.

“Guys, why is everyone so angry with trans people?” he asks. “What did they do? There’s like 12 of them, why is everyone so upset? Everyone’s like, do you say ‘he’ or ‘she’? I don’t know, ask. It’s not an unsolvable conundrum.

“Also, in my experience, trans people are not deliberately mysteriously when you do ask…”

After doing a bit on the debate about trans women using women’s toilets, he continues: “F*** Ricky Gervais. F*** Ricky Gervais. What he’s doing isn’t edgy or interesting… he is the same as every other rich white dude comedian who gets too successful, runs out of ideas and decides to s*** on the latest minority group.

“In the 1970s, that was my f***ing family, Black and minority ethnic people, in the Eighties, it was gay people. Trans people are just the latest to get it in the neck from comedians who can’t be bothered to try at their jobs anymore.”

He continues: “I cannot stand here and watch another dogs*** comedian go, ‘If a woman can identify as a man, maybe I’ll identify as a chair.’ Why don’t you identify as a good comedian you hack motherf***ers?”

Read The Independent’s interview with Kumar here, in which he discussed facing abuse and why it’s time to cancel talk of cancel culture.

Kumar’s name has been trending on Twitter thanks to the 2019 clip, which follows another resurfaced clip of comedian James Acaster criticising Gervais.

The Independent has contacted Gervais’s representative for comment.

In a two-star review for The Independent, Nick Hilton wrote of SuperNature: “As is all too frequent these days, the longest riff is reserved for the humiliation of trans people. ‘Full disclosure,’ [Gervais] reveals towards the end of the show, ‘in real life, of course I support trans rights.’

“At this point there are a few stray cheers from the naïve few in the audience who think the irony is real, but that’s nothing compared to the roar of laughter and applause when the punchline – a crass joke about gender affirmation surgery – arrives.”

Last week, Gervais discussed why he believes people find his jokes offensive.

“People get offended when they mistake the subject of the joke with the actual target and smart people know you can deal with anything, particularly when dealing with something like irony,” The Office creator told Stephen Colbert.

Netflix has previously faced criticism for its decision to run content described by critics as transphobic, most notably in the case of comedian Dave Chappelle.

Chappelle’s specials for the streaming service were also criticised for jokes targeting trans people. Netflix employees staged a walkout last year in protest, with the employee who first criticised the company eventually resigning over the incident.