Funny man Kanan Gill makes his Netflix debut with Yours Sincerely, Kanan Gill, a 72-minute Special in which the 30-year-old stand-up comedian rewinds 15 years ago and mines nostalgia to make a comment on life then and now. The Special touches upon topics like education, health, career and peer pressure — all with a lightness of touch — to deliver laughs for the most part. The Telegraph chats with Kanan on the genesis of the Special and what he does on days when he isn’t feeling ‘funny’.

What made you pick a letter that your 15-year-old self had written to the Kanan Gill of today as the starting point of the material for your Special?

Basically, I wanted to talk about what drives us and why and how it feels like looking back on what used to be important to us. I think a lot of us laugh at the dreams we used to have, but are still completely serious about our current dreams. I think that’s very funny, and that’s what I wanted to talk about.

What made this Special work for me was the sense of relatability. Was that also what you responded to when you began writing this?

Actually, the show took many different forms along the two years it took to write it. I got frustrated with relatability, because I was visiting all these new countries and I had no idea what really I had in common with the audiences there. What I decided to do was be emotionally honest. Turns out emotional relatability is very strong and universal.

If you could now write a letter to your 15-year-old self, what would you tell yourself?

I would honestly tell myself to relax. Nothing is the end of the world except the end of the world. I was so hard on myself for so many years, it really sucks to think about how much living I missed out on because I was worrying and beating myself up to do more.

When you draw material from your own life as you have done for this, are there any dos and don’ts in terms of how much you would be willing to share with the world?

I feel like a watch of the Special will answer this. There are many things I’m not ready to speak about on stage. And there are many things in this Special also that I had to find ways of saying because it felt too weird to say it outright.

Are there days when you don’t feel funny or don’t feel like being funny but are expected to?

If I have a show to do, then no matter how I’m feeling, I’ll put on a good show. People don’t know and they don’t need to care about the day I’m having, and I’ve been doing this long enough to compartmentalise and put on the funny hat.

Who have your inspirations in the field of comedy been and quoting from your Special, is there any ‘goal’ as a comic that you have for yourself in the next few years?

I’m not trying to follow anybody’s path in particular. I’m just trying to keep getting better at what I do and find new and exciting things to do.