Baruch College’s Performing Arts Center hosted a witty and improvised conversation between two political comedians, Nish Kumar from the United Kingdom and Jordan Klepper from the Daily Show, on Feb. 27.
The comedians discussed the inevitable difficulties of today’s hostile political issues and recent presidential election while highlighting the importance of comedic relief.
Klepper and Kumar opened the conversation by discussing BREXIT, American tariffs, and visa policies.
“We now, for attention, have decided to divorce ourselves from our biggest trading partner, so now we are completely reliant on American investments,” Kumar said.
He follows this by mentioning the length of President Donald Trump’s support correlating to his love of golf. He joked that if at any time Trump decided to switch to pickleball, the U.K. is completely out of luck. This was accompanied by a roar of laughter from the audience.
Kumar added that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s successful visit to the White House that day was based solely on Trump’s ability to completely forget or roll back on things he has previously said. In a moment of seriousness, Klepper asked Kumar, “Do you think he believes that?” Nish’s hesitant response indicated his unsureness, as the crowd also seemed to silently join in on the reluctancy.
As the conversation continued focusing on the results of the election leading to Trump’s second term, Klepper stated that the outcome was an “aberration of what America wanted.” He referenced the events that followed Trump’s last term, such as the Women’s March, the high death rates of the pandemic, and the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Klepper also added that the outcome of the current election seems to confirm a false creation that “maybe this is exactly who we are right now,” as Americans are increasingly identifying with Trump’s spoken campaign. Kumar responded with “the collapse of the Democratic vote over the last four years” playing a role in the outcome of the election and it “being more statistically complicated” than just voting outcomes.
Kumar and Klepper talked about the questionable attendants at the Conservative Political Action Conference, with Klepper being one of the attendees.
“CPAC, a giant party for Republican votes to come in,” Klepper said.
He talked of his encounter with a Trump superfan that was eager to converse and take selfies with him. The fan viewed Klepper as one of the characters of the Trump fandom, paralleling it to the characters of world wrestlers. Klepper said that when it comes to politics, “the loudest voice wins… it’s scary and it’s hard to stomach.”
Later in the discussion, Kumar brings up Americans’ frustration with nepotism and the alliance between the mega-wealthy in America. He stated that Americans are upset at the wrong nepo babies, such as those in Hollywood, as opposed to who is currently in the White House.
Kumar said Jeff Bezos finally admitted to The Washington Post’s opinion being a “stern defense at the free market… finally championing the voiceless.” His frustration with “bailing out deregulated capitalists” was applauded by the audience.
Klepper is an American comedian and co-host of the “Daily Show” with both Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah. During his time at the “Daily Show,” he won an Emmy, while also producing and writing his own Emmy-nominated segments “Jordan Klepper Fingers on the Pulse.”
Kumar, whose passions align through politics and comedy, led to huge success from television in 2016 and radio with BBC, News Quiz, and NewsJack. Kumar’s critically acclaimed comedy has received highly raved stand-up performances at the Apollo Theater and created his own show during the pandemic called “Hello America.”
Throughout the event, the pair continuously highlighted the importance of comedy in the media, specifically political subjects. Both comedians explained their career history. Kumar grew up with a passion for politics and a knack for comedy in his life and was then asked to have his own show, what he calls a British version of the “Daily Show.” While Klepper started in improv, opportunity had led him to the “Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.
Klepper asked Kumar, “In the egregious chaos of Donald Trump, how do you bring comedy in what already seems a heightened situation?” Kumar responds that people often assume they are “disaster capitalists.”
“The whole point of political comedy is you’re supposed to make serious figures ridiculous,” he said. “These people are already ridiculous entertainment figures. We’ve got to do comedy about an actual serious issue. To reason out with myself and try to make everyone feel briefly relieved and no one is having their minds changed but trying to make an audience who may be stressed out feel less stressed,” Kumar said in a moment of self-reflection as to why he chose this career.
Klepper and Kumar’s discussion brought insight and laughter to politics at BPAC. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. A night of frustrating topics and tense opinions were truly relieved with their intellect and comedic banter.
