Jake Bhardwaj: Panic attacks used to rule my life

“The problem I had in my twenties – which I still have now – is being crippled by anxiety,” comedy creator Jake Bhardwaj tells me. “I started getting panic attacks when I was at university: they’d happen when I felt like I was trapped.” After moving to London, he would spend seven hours a day on a bus travelling to and from and work because he felt unable to use the Tube or a train. “Going to the cinema or theatre meant being trapped in a middle seat, so that was a no,” he continues. “I couldn’t even go on holiday. My advice to my younger self would be to be a bit kinder to myself and to try and find a way to manage this stuff, rather than fighting it.” When it comes to triumph over adversity, Jake Bhardwaj is arguably its poster boy. The multi-hyphenated comedian, writer, actor, producer and “self-appointed professional comedy quizmaster” has seen his career skyrocket in the past two years. Born in Birmingham and raised in Maidenhead, the 33-year-old has spent most of his career working behind the scenes in television on shows such as The Chase, Eight Out of 10 Cats and Late Night Lycett. Away from work, he began hosting pub quizzes before starting to post absurdist, character-led sketches on social media in 2024. And if you don’t recognise his name, there’s a good chance you’ll know his face. Since then, his profile has grown exponentially. In addition to his podcast with Liam Shaw, The Pub Quiz Podcast, he also co-hosts Joe Marler Will See You with the former England rugby player and Celebrity Traitors favourite, where the pair interviewed Prince Harry (“mad”). His live comedy quiz show Not Another Quiz Night developed from Edinburgh Fringe shows to London residencies and he’s also the official social host of SNL UK. In addition, he’s also diversified into acting, appearing in the BBC’s Ann Droid and The Diaries of Adrian Mole. To say he’s on an upward trajectory is an understatement. Bhardwaj concurs. “Everything I’ve ever wanted is happening at once,” he tells me. “I just hope that people don’t get sick of me. But for now, I’m very excited to be doing all of it.” Shorts As well as being endearingly modest, he also seems surprised to be in his current position. “None of this was meant to happen. I was living a very contented life as a TV producer, occasionally thinking, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t mind doing that differently’. And it was a slightly different time as well. I think I got the end of the glory days of TV. On Fridays, there would be Jägerbombs lined-up on the bar in the office. And we’d always go to the pub on a Thursday and Friday afternoon. I don’t think you’d be getting any of that now.” After studying law at university, a subject he said made him feel “miserable”, comedy remained “a dirty secret”, until a pub across the road from him in south London opened under new management and needed a quizmaster. “I didn’t know anyone in the area and I thought that if I couldn’t do stand-up, I could run a pub quiz and try and make it into a game show because I was already writing questions for The Chase. “So, I started doing that every week to a couple of blokes, Gary and Andrew, who were actually just there to enjoy a pint together and who felt sorry for me.” From inauspicious beginnings emerged “a little community that offered a safe enough space for me to break out into stand-up”. The online sketches followed afterwards, along with everything else. “I thought: ‘Maybe I can just have a go at all the things I’ve always wanted to try’.” The anxiety proved to be a stumbling block, however. “It’s something I wish I could have addressed earlier because as good as things are professionally, what’s greater is feeling I can sit at rest and not be trapped by the fear of having a panic attack,” he says. “I still get them, but they don’t rule my life in the same way they did. You’ve got to sort of accept that it’s going to be there, but try not to be so scared of it, and then you can manage it better. And with that, saying yes to stuff, taking meetings with people – even leaving the house – all becomes a lot easier.” Bhardwaj says of anxiety and panic attacks: ‘You’ve got accept that it’s going to be there, but try not to be so scared of it, and then you can manage it better’ (Photo: YellowBelly Photo) Along with professional help, pushing himself to try new things has also been the making of Bhardwaj. “It’s been reassuring to learn I can adapt to new situations and that I’m not going to crumble just because it’s new and daunting,” he says. “My go-to mindset has changed from, ‘Oh, I could never do that’ to ‘maybe I could do that’.” And the changing face of comedy has offered him a degree of freedom that didn’t exist for previous generations of comics. “What’s scary and exciting about comedy now is that until recently there was such an established blueprint: clock your stand-up hours, go to Edinburgh, appear on Mock the Week, tour your show and that’s that. That’s changed – but it’s also exciting that you no longer have to wait for someone to give you a chat show – you can just make your own sketch show on Instagram about whatever you want.” The accessibility of social media also means the removal of powerful gatekeepers. “I do believe if you post long enough and consistently, you will find your audience,” he says. “It might not necessarily be huge, but you can build a little network of people who like exactly what you’re doing.” Forging a closer connection with your audience is also an unexpected advantage of moving away from the traditional TV format. “When you make a TV show, there are two types of people whose opinion you see: newspaper critics and people writing on X. There’s only a handful of the former and the latter are complete psychopaths, so you’re not really getting a good barometer of what people like. X is just a place for hate now. But on Instagram, for example, you get live feedback of what people like and dislike. And when it comes to creating, it’s just you and the resources you have. I can have a purer understanding of what works and what doesn’t from being across all of it.” Another factor that has contributed to Bhardwaj’s propensity to follow his dreams is getting older and letting go of the fear of being “cringe”. He says: “When I hit 30, I just though f*** it. Everyone else has done the thing they really wanted to do – they’ve all fought the cringe. The idea that people I knew would say something I’d done was rubbish used to seem like the worst thing in the world – but then you realise that’s going to stop you from trying anything. And no one is watching you, eagle-eyed, saying, ‘Well, that’s s***’ – and if they are, they’re the cringe ones. Starting is the biggest hurdle, but I think that inherently, people want to see people succeed.” Bhardwaj’s Not Another Quiz Night events embrace an element of silliness and chaos, something he thinks is unrelated to age. “I’m 33 and I permanently feel 26 years old… I still want to sit at the front of the Docklands Light Railway because it feels like I’m driving the train.” He continues: “Once you’re a certain age, you stop caring about looking cool so you can really throw yourself into the singing or seeing who can throw a poppadom frisbee the furthest. As you get older, the opportunities to go out and let yourself go become fewer and fewer. And the quiz is for everyone – my mum always comes and brings a load of random people.” And when it comes to ambition, he’s overflowing with ideas: a pub sitcom, more chat shows, a tour for Not Another Quiz Night. But it’s simple things like getting in a car, being stuck in traffic or getting the lift to a meeting with a writer or producer that really constitute success. “On an everyday level, being able to have dinner at a friend’s house or going to a restaurant with my mum would have seemed unthinkable at the height of my panic attacks,” he says. “On a bigger level, it’s doing 30 nights of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe in front of 350 people. But it’s the everyday things that feel great.” When we speak, he is preparing to host the British Podcast Awards at the Indigo O2 in front of his contemporaries and heroes, something he describes as a “daunting prospect”. He says: “I do get starstruck.” But when it comes to career advice, he’s clear. “Find someone who’s done well on Traitors and ride their coattails as long as you can.” Listen to Jake Bhardwaj on ‘Joe Marler Will See You’ and ‘The Pub Quiz Podcast’ on all podcast platforms