With viewership of The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix sliding and the episodes barely scoring on the laughter-metre, Kapil Sharma has finally pulled a rabbit out of the hat with one of the most delightful episodes in his TV-plus-OTT career, featuring global sensation Ed Sheeran.

The Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter dances to bhangra tunes, sings and speaks in Hindi, and even strikes the Shah Rukh Khan pose in this gem of an episode, filmed during Ed's trip to India for his Mumbai concert in March.

The eighth episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show kicked off with Kapil fumbling while rehearsing his lines in English, much to the amusement of Archana Puran Singh, and the studio audience. The giant screen on the set then showed visuals of Ed in the greenroom, equally nervous about speaking in Hindi. Cut to Ed arriving on stage, delivering his smash hit Shape Of You with a bhangra twist, instantly setting the mood.

Kapil, ever the charmer, welcomed him with a blend of banter about his own English, playful jibes about Ed’s tattoos, and some hilarious tales from Ed’s Indian adventures. Then, Kapil plunged into his favourite territory — toilet humour — with an ode to jet sprays and all. The host, clearly a bit unsure about how his traditional humour would land with his global guest, often hid his face in mock embarrassment after a quip. While one would cringe in a regular episode, Ed Sheeran’s reactions were pure gold – he didn’t just laugh; he dived right into the fun.

Ed also opened up about a time when he aspired to be an actor, not a musician. Ed revealed that he was around 16 at the time when he auditioned for a TV show. He had decided if he landed the role, he would quit music, but if he didn't, he would quit acting. Thankfully, Ed didn’t land the role!

When asked by Kapil about the strangest job he had before becoming famous, the superstar singer revealed he once worked in a bar where he had to wash and clean all the cutlery. And the strangest food he had tried while travelling for his concerts? Fish sperm in Japan!

Ed Sheeran added musical magic to the show, first with a perfect rendition of, well, Perfect – with the audience singing along – and then an impromptu performance of Raj Kapoor’s Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai with Kapil. He also dwelt on his time spent with Shah Rukh Khan at Mannat – famous arms-stretch pose, ‘bade-bade-sheheron-mein…’ line and all.

While Ed was the perfect guest, Kapil’s team also deserves kudos for delivering on laughs without making the pop icon uncomfortable. Krushna Abhishek showed up as Mona and had Ed dancing to some desi moves and cracked a groan-worthy joke about Taylor Swift being a, er, tailor. Sunil Grover brought his own sparkle as Diamond Raja, the snooty, potbellied owner of Chak Chak Dhoom Orchestra, with Kiku Sharda as his candyfloss-sweet girlfriend.

In one hilarious exchange, Ed Sheeran asked for Diamond Raja’s sunglasses, and Sunil coolly replied, they are ‘expensive’! Ed, ever the sport, also picked up his guitar and strummed a bilingual birthday song for some ‘Lakhan Pal’, following Sunil’s lead.

If that was not enough, Ed rocked it while playing the drums – Kapil by his side – when Dharavi Reloaded, a junk percussion band, took the stage by storm.

Wrapping up, Ed called The Great Indian Kapil Show the “craziest, most fun” show he had ever been on. And for us, Ed was the coolest guest ever on the show.

Farah Khan and Anil Kapoor have a tough act to follow in the cafe this Saturday.