Visiting American comic Kiran Deol on her most memorable gigs

Indian-American comedian Kiran Deol is at London’s Soho Theatre all week with her show Assault On Comedy, about the horrifying unprovoked attack she was subjected to in 2022 and its medical and legal aftermath. Here she recalls five of her most memorable gigs. 

Best gig

I’ve been blessed with so many incredible gigs but one that stands out: Damrosch Park is the outdoor amphitheater opposite Lincoln Center. It can hold an audience of 4,000 and there was a comedy programme there funded by the City of New York to bring comedians in for a free gig to the people.  

This is exceptionally rare in America — not sure if you’ve heard but we’ve had arts funding cuts and erm… it’s a whole thing. 

On stage, you are watching the sunset in the middle of New York City to a packed crowd.  The privilege of getting to perform in beautiful places for thousands of people will ever cease to amaze me.  More of this, please! 

Least welcome post-show comment

I was in Birmingham (yes THAT Birmingham, in your fine country) leaving a comedy club and one man stopped me on the way out and decided to give me some advice: ‘Be better.’

Thanks, Captain Obvious. 

He was about twice my size and might have been drinking? The woman in me smiled and nodded politely, but the comedian in me wanted to kick him in the shin.  

I would believe it was a fever dream if a dear friend of mine hadn’t been with me to remind me that yes, this did in fact happen.  This is why the right audience is so important! 

Gig that taught me the biggest lesson

I was the lead in a pilot that didn’t end up going to series (gah, market forces!) The shoot was very tight and we shot the first and last scene of the pilot on the very last day of shooting, after several 16-hour days. 

I was so tired when we shot the first scene. I remember beating myself up so badly after: it wasn’t my best work, blah blah blah.  

My co-star at the time offered a great bit of advice: you show up and give your best on the day, given the circumstances of that day. It’s such a gracious perspective. Your best work may differ from day to day, given the audience, your health — any number of extenuating circumstances that any performer, or person is working with. 

Most exotic gig

I hosted a panel of billionaires once at the San Francisco Palace of the Fine Arts. Even saying it now, it doesn’t feel real. It wasn’t one billionaire. It was like FIVE billionaires. Do you understand how strange that is?  

One was wearing a literal tin foil hat and the weirdest shoes. It looked a toddler had dressed himself. It was SO INCREDIBLY WEIRD.  

These folks are not used to ever hearing the word ‘no’ from anyone, or having their ideas challenged because everyone around them is on their payroll or needs money from them for their organisation etc.  Talking to them felt like wrangling cats. 

Gig that changed my life

After I got hit in the face with a bottle, I remember feeling so… helpless. I have a weekly show in Los Angeles, Peacock, on the east side. It’s a very safe room for me, and it was a place to talk about what was happening — the attack, the surgeries, the trial, in front of a real audience that was safe and willing to listen, as I found the jokes. 

It gave me the confidence to work the material and it became the hour that is at Soho Theatre right now (a limited run from now until Saturday May 16!). It taught me the importance of the right kind of stage time for the material. A Kill Tony set is very different than say, the audience at Stamptown. 

• Kiran Deol: Assault On Comedy is at Soho Theatre at 7.15pm from tonight until Saturday. Tickets.

Published: 11 May 2026