5 stand-up comics to binge on over the weekend, plus, highlights from Hasan Minhaj's, latest, 'The King’s Jester'

Hasan Minhaj is back on Netflix with The King’s Jester, the comedian’s second special following 2017’s Homecoming King. Spanning a little more than an hour, it’s a social commentary that catches the attention of the Brooklyn crowd right from the word go. Real, funny, and so vulnerable, Minhaj, through his impeccable storytelling skills, takes us through his journey as a husband, father, a comic who loves antagonising everybody, and tells us how comedy has been as much a curse in his life as it has been a boon.

Here are some of the best moments from the one-hour special. 

Becoming a father 
 

Watching Minhaj, a former correspondent on The Daily Show, open up on his balls being the problem—mini Minaj took for years to make—was the perfect cocktail of comedy and dialogue on real-life problems. And the line that took the cake was, “The thing they don’t tell you about adulthood is that life becomes very real when ‘don't want’ becomes ‘can’t have’.” 

Trouble with the Saudis

When you’re one of the most-watched comedians in the world, you better know the people who you want to be in the good books of. Sparing no one, Minhaj always has a target on his back. In fact, his tiff with the Saudis is the stuff of legends. Reminding us of his Patriot Act episode, which was taken down in the Kingdom and the repercussions that it had on his family, Minhaj goes all out on The King’s Jester. “Of all the Netflix originals, the only show that Saudi Arabia thinks violates Muslim values is the one hosted by a Muslim.” What’s best about the delivery is that at no point do you feel that he’s playing the victim.

How the ‘Patriot Act’ got its name

This one’s my favourite. “Growing up as an Asian Muslim in America came with its fair share of suspicion. As a matter of fact, Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis—are the Mexicans of the Middle East. Even brown people have their own brown people.” While ‘Brother Eric’ aka Craig Monteilh (former FBI informant) might have befriended Minhaj, his friends from the mosque, and even his family, he only did so to keep an eye on them for any suspicious activity. The silver lining to this was Minhaj going on to name his show—The Patriot Act—after the program Brother Eric used to spy on them!

Coming to know he was going to be a father for the second time

The name and fame certainly got to Minhaj’s head with time (he calls it the cocaine clout—being addicted to the social media meth, Facebook fentanyl), and it was absolutely heartwarming to see him address the drawbacks to this love, adulation, and, yes, criticism and hate too. His jokes, while popular, almost broke his family—as a mail from a fan, when opened, ended up with his daughter covered in white powder (thankfully not drugs). He tells the audience about the earful he received from his wife, only to realise that when she accused him of “choosing clout over our kids”, she used a plural. A family of three is soon to become four. 

The world that Hasan Minhaj wants to perform for

Hasan Minhaj is a very reasonable man, one who wants to understand in order to be understood. When his lawyer, Sam (an absolute savage), reminds him that he should think more about the people, little does he know that a world built of the trust of people is exactly the one that Minhaj wants to live in. He wants to live in and perform for them. He wants to switch between satire and simplicity and trusts people to know the difference and not take him out of context. For him, every single thing is built on trust. That’s why he locked up everyone’s phones before they could take a seat. 

What is his line?

Everyone wants to know how far Minhaj will go for his jokes. He makes it very clear that he does want to antagonise everyone. But at what cost? Does he draw the line? Is there a line? How blurred is it? Minhaj saves the best for the very last as he reveals that he does have a line. “I’m only willing to take the joke, as far as I possibly can, legally. Up until the point that it hurts our family.” 

If you haven’t already seen Hasan Minhaj-The King's Jester, well, what are you waiting for? And since we know your binge-watching speed and huge appetite for all things comedy, we have your weekend covered with five brilliant comics whose acts you need to watch right now. 

Nicole Byer

Her stand-up special Nicole Byer: BBW (Big Beautiful Weirdo) was one of the best we witnessed last year. It covered a host of topics, all of them set  in her personal life. What stays with us, during and after the show, is how political her conversations are without sounding like a lecture. Along with BBW, you can also laugh out loud with her podcast Why Won’t You Date Me? And Netflix’s Nailed It!, a reality baking show where she is the host.

Hannah Gadsby

If you’ve been keeping a close track of comedians who’re making waves in the world of stand-up comedy, here’s a name that’s surely on top of your list. As a matter of fact, her highly-rated special, Nanette, is far from the traditional skits that we’ve watched. She was honest, and her commentary on her struggles as a queer woman, injustices against the LGBTQ+ community, and childhood turmoil saw her bag a host of awards, including an Emmy. And if that wasn’t enough, she followed it up with another special, Douglas, that sees her speak about misogyny and all things American culture. 

Ali Wong

If it’s Ali Wong, we know it’s going to be good. If you’ve watched her in American Housewives, or Always Be My Maybe, you probably know just how good Wong is when it comes to comedy. You can start of by watching her Netflix specials Hard Knock Wife and Baby Cobra. And if you’re done with that, you can try her most recent one—Ali Wong: Don Wong. She’s loud and she’s lewd. Be it discussing a man’s climax during sex or her underwear, it’s shock value at its best when you have the wonderful Wong in front of you. 

Vir Das

The only Indian comedian with four Netflix stand-up specials to his name (Abroad Understanding, Losing It, For India, and Vir Das: Outside In). And if you thought the pandemic would make us see less of him, think again, as his shows held on Zoom reinvented how stand-up comics reach out to their audiences. He engaged his viewers in conversations that made them laugh and open up easily, leading to jokes that were absolutely hilarious and unplanned. Going the extra mile, each of these 30 shows on Zoom helped raise funds during the pandemic. An artist who’s at the very top of his game, each new special sees Das present new topics for us to ponder, laugh, and retrospect on with effortless ease.