Comedian Aasif Mandvi talks about celebrity lies in his new show: “It sounds crazy”

Comedian/actor Aasif Mandvi has said his new comedy panel show, Would I Lie To You?, exists because of a TV recommendation he gave to The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King.

“I’ve been watching the British show for a long time,” Mandvi, 56, told The Post, referring to the BBC comedy game show of the same name, which has been on the air since 2007.

“I’ve been a huge fan, it’s been around for about 14 seasons. And as an Indian, I’ve always tried to steal something from the British. So I thought, ‘Why not that?’ I went to Robert and Michelle King who I do “bad” With. I told them about the show. My wife and I watched it – for us it’s a respite from the madness of the world. Robert and Michelle fell in love with her and Robert said, ‘Why don’t we do the American version?’ ”

The series, which airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. on The CW, is hosted and executive produced by Mandvi (“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” “Evil”) and produced by the Kings.

In each episode, prominent guests such as Brooke Shields, Amber Ruffin, Laura Benanti, Michael Ian Black, Adam Pally and Richard Kind are split into two “teams” led by Matt Walsh (“Veep”) and Sabrina Jalees (“Search Party”). Each celebrity takes turns reading out a scenario on a note card, and the other team has to guess whether they’re telling the truth about something they once experienced or telling a fib.

“All the stories are amazing,” Mandvi said. “There’s a pre-interview, but they never saw the actual story until they read it on the air, and they don’t know what they’re about to read. When you have someone like Richard Kind telling a story about giving Paul Neuman Piggyback, that sounds insane and crazy. I always hesitate to call this a game show because at the end of the day, the points don’t count. It’s really a fun panel show. The whole thing is an excuse for people to tell funny stories about shaggy dogs.”

Mandvi is also known for HBO’s The Brink, Younger, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Blue Bloods, among others.

“I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to do a variety of things in my career, I’ve been able to switch back and forth between the dramatic stuff and the comedic stuff,” he said. “I’m shooting ‘Evil’ and this now [show] is a complete exit. It’s a completely different side of me as a performer, as an artist. It allows me to stretch and flex both sides of my acting, comedic and dramatic.”

Mandvi said he was surprised at how many celebs agreed to be on Would I Lie to You?

“Most of the people we approached were game. I think in this world the news feels so depressing right now that I think people are looking for a place to go and laugh and be happy.”