Nick Mohammed shone in the Richmond-based comedy Ted Lasso. But this Christmas, he is turning Scrooge. Jane McGowan pays him a visit...
Nick Mohammed had been slowly but surely carving out a career in comedy for more than 20 years when he became an ‘overnight’ sensation, thanks to a little show called Ted Lasso.
Set in Richmond, where Nick himself was then based, the surprise phenomenon followed the fortunes of the fictional AFC Richmond and its fish-out-of-water coach Ted – a folksy, American college football coach drafted in by the previous owner’s ex-wife with the hope that his inexperience would cause the collapse of the team, thus ruining her ex’s life.
While Jason Sudeikis stars as the eponymous hero, Nick plays Nathan ‘Nate’ Shelley, an unassuming kit man turned assistant coach whose character arc – to the horror of the show’s legions of devoted viewers – turns out to mirror that of a fallen angel.
“Yes, it was quite something,” he says. “Obviously people can still watch, so I don’t want to say too much, but the response was something else. People were really shaken.”
Born in Leeds in 1980, Nick found his way into comedy via Durham University, where he did magic shows at corporate events and weddings in order to pay for his studies in geophysics. Despite his diverse talents – he also played violin for the university orchestra – he twice missed the cut for the Durham Revue.
An audition for the prestigious Cambridge Footlights, however, met with greater success, prompting Nick to take the well-trodden path to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Cue Mr Swallow, the alter ego who has gradually taken over his stage show, growing to fruition while Nick cut his teeth on a variety of other projects, such as the televisual reboot Reggie Perrin.
“He was originally based on a high school teacher,” explains his creator. “A few of us used to impersonate him. When I joined the Footlights, a lot of the comedy was sketch-based, and I found it funnier to give my characters that ‘voice’. Mr Swallow grew from there, really. In 2010, I did my first full show as him, and now I only appear on stage in that guise, so he is very familiar to me now.”
Just as well, given that Nick is about to inhabit the sweater-wearing world of Mr Swallow for six festive weeks, taking to the West End stage in A Christmas Carol (ish) at the Soho Place.
“We’re actually kicking off in mid-November, which could be classed as early. But I always take the start of Christmas as being when the John Lewis ad comes out,” he laughs. “We took our cue from that.
“As the title suggests, it’s a take on the story of Scrooge. Mr Swallow is a bit of a misery and on Christmas Eve, rather than give any of the presents he has bought for other people, he decides to keep them all for himself. He then gets visited by the three ghosts, who have to show him the error of his ways.
“But in typical Mr Swallow fashion, things are not that straightforward and it all gets a bit chaotic. There’s lots of farce and physical comedy – it’s a hoot.
“Actually, it’s a really fun, alternative comedy that is just as funny as a pantomime but isn’t a pantomime – if you know what I mean.”
The show also enables Nick and his three fellow cast members (Kieran Hodgson from BBC2 comedy Two Doors Down, comedian and writer David Elms, and Ghosts star Martha Howe-Douglas) to showcase their singing and dancing talents – although Nick is quick to advise audiences to temper their expectations about the quality of his own routines.
“It is almost a musical,” he reveals. “But as none of us are properly trained in that field, we were reticent about actually calling it one.”
Aside from his flourishing stand-up career, Nick also received plaudits for the Sky One comedy Intelligence – a show he created, wrote and starred in, performing alongside another sitcom legend: Friends star David Schwimmer. And with regular slots on Radio 4 and TV favourites such as 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Nick was more than happy with how his career was progressing. Then, in 2019, he auditioned for a brand new comedy on Apple TV+ – and the rest is television history.
It was thoroughly “life-affirming”, he reflects, to have received such a boost while already in his late 30s.
“I think I am still living through that moment of conversion now,” he says. “It was, and is, life-changing – and it doesn’t happen often in one’s career. As a comedian, actor or whatever, you develop a thick skin. All you are told is that not everything gets a good audience and that you need to be ready if the reviews are mixed. But what no one really prepares you for is something going really, really well.
“I was so thrilled and grateful to be part of team Ted Lasso. At the time, it was just another audition for a show. I couldn’t have anticipated – no one could have anticipated – just how big it would become. It’s mad. And the fact that it’s global is something I still can’t quite appreciate.”
The show first aired on Apple TV+, a recently launched streaming service, during the summer of 2020. Britain was temporarily out of lockdown, but Covid-19 was very much in the air.
“We were all pretty sheltered, as we weren’t allowed to travel to do press or publicity,” Nick recalls. “It was a bit of a sleeper hit over here as Apple TV+ was in its early days, but it seemed to be popular in the US.”
Not until the awards season, however, when the cast were nominated for no fewer than 20 Emmys, did the size of the show’s success become apparent.
“We were all like: ‘Wow, people must really love it!’ And then, of course, the pressure was on to deliver the next season.
“The impact still feels very current. I adored the people and the whole thing. Whether there will be more, who knows, but even if there’s not, we can all be very happy with how it went. It will always be a special, special part of my life.”
The show’s popularity also put Richmond on the showbiz map, with a variety of local places – from Ted’s flat in Paved Court to The Prince’s Head pub (dubbed the Crown & Anchor) on The Green – regularly popping up in episodes.
“It was really quite weird actually,” Nick reveals. “My wife and I moved to Richmond in 2014, and we still lived there during the filming, but yes, it all got a bit strange. I would be out doing the shopping and it would look like I was just hanging around trying to be spotted.”
The star and his family have now “moved a little way out”, but they remain regular visitors to the town where Ted once reigned.
“Yep, it still feels strange walking across The Green as me, perhaps with the kids. And when people actually catch me going past the pub, even now it can still get a little bit mad.”
- A Christmas Carol (ish) is at Soho Place, London W1, from Nov 16 – Dec 31. For more information visit: sohoplace.org
- Nick is also back at Richmond Theatre in 2025 with Show Pony (May 16-17); atgtickets.com
