• Kumail Nanjiani releases Night Thoughts, his first standup special in 12 years, on Hulu.
• The hour-long set leans into vulnerability—especially a moving routine about his late cat, Bagel.
• Nanjiani says therapy helped him dig deeper; he’s now eyeing dramatic roles on stage.
• The comic balances new material about anxiety, fame, and domestic life with gentle, cat-centered moments.
H2: A comeback to standup after a long break
After a dozen years away from long-form standup, Kumail Nanjiani has returned with Night Thoughts, a new special on Hulu that finds the comedian in a quieter, more exposed mode. Known for roles in Silicon Valley, The Big Sick, and the Marvel film Eternals, Nanjiani says he wanted to test whether he still loved the craft—and whether he was still “good at it.” The result is an hour that moves between jokes about anxiety, concerts, and drugs to unexpectedly tender material about home life.
H3: The cat that anchors the hour
At the emotional center of Night Thoughts is a set about Bagel, Nanjiani’s beloved cat who died at seventeen three months before the New Yorker profile. The comedian devotes roughly ten minutes of the hour to Bagel—material he describes as difficult to perform each time. Those minutes shift Night Thoughts from a greatest-hits return into something more intimate; audiences see a comedian wrestling with grief and the awkwardness of public emotion.
H4: Therapy, honesty, and a new creative goal
Nanjiani credits years of therapy with giving him the courage to tackle hard subjects on stage. Where his 2013 special Beta Male showcased the early highlights of his career, Night Thoughts reaches inward. He told the New Yorker that confronting hard topics—like his cat’s illness—sparked a new ambition: performing a dramatic play, where he can “have real emotions in front of a crowd.” Colleagues quoted in the profile praise his energy and range, suggesting that dramatic work could be a natural next step.
H4: Life between specials
Since Beta Male, Nanjiani has kept busy with TV and film. He bulked up for Eternals in 2021, a physical transformation that drew outsized attention and, he says, misconceptions about who he is. Offstage, he and his wife, Emily V. Gordon, recently adopted a kitten named Biscuit. In the New Yorker piece, Nanjiani contrasts Biscuit’s chaotic charm to Bagel’s dignity, admitting the new kitten is a “bit of a dumbass.”
H3: What Night Thoughts means for fans
For longtime followers, Night Thoughts offers a more mature comic voice—still funny, often self-effacing, and now less protective of private feeling. The special shows Kumail Nanjiani returning to standup not to reclaim past glory, but to explore material he previously avoided. For viewers who’ve seen him across film and TV, the hour adds a personal dimension: a performer who can make you laugh and, when needed, make you feel.
Published: Night Thoughts is streaming on Hulu.
Image Referance: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/22/kumail-nanjiani-lets-it-out-of-the-bag
