After a decade of acting in projects like Silicon Valley and The Big Sick, Kumail Nanjiani is set to premiere his first stand-up special in over 10 years.
Kumail Nanjiani is an Oscar nominated actor, comedian and writer with a career spanning hit shows and Hollywood blockbusters.
At 47 Nanjiani is returning to his comedic roots with a new stand-up special, Night Thoughts, premiering on Hulu December 19th. His first and only other special was Comedy Central’s Beta Male from 2013.
Nanjiani first performed stand-up at an open-mic night in college. Upon graduation in 2001 he moved to Chicago becoming well-established on an alternative comedy circuit.
To pursue comedic acting Nanjiani moved to Los Angeles in 2010 to appear in hit shows including Portlandia, Saturday Night Live, and Veep.
His breakthrough role came in 2014 starring as Dinesh Chugtai in the critically acclaimed HBO comedy series Silicon Valley. Nanjiani appeared in all 53 episodes over 6 seasons earning him widespread recognition.
His defining project came in 2017 with the romantic comedy-drama The Big Sick which he co-wrote with wife Emily Gordon and starred in. The two wrote the film loosely based on their courtship upon meeting while in Chicago before marrying in 2007. Nanjiani and Gordon earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, while the film grossed $56 million – eleven times its budget.
Subsequently he transitioned into voice acting for major franchise roles in the 2017 animated martial arts comedy film The Lego Ninjago Movie and 2019’s Men in Black: International. Nanjiani also starred in the live-action films Eternals in 2021– part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in 2024. Those four films grossed nearly $1 billion.
Nanjiani was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. He moved to the U.S. at 18 to attend Iowa’s Grinnell College, graduating in 2001 with degrees in computer science and philosophy.
Commonly posting comedic bits on social media has earned him 3.8 million followers between X and Instagram.
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