By With his new comedy special “Homecoming King” on Netflix, we decided it was time to take a good look at what makes Hasan Minhaj one of the best out there.
1. He was the first Muslim to ever deliver a keynote address at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
And naturally he killed it. While the speech never shied away from Trump’s buzz complaints these days like fake news and liberal media bias, he reaffirmed his respect for journalists and their utmost importance, especially in today’s political landscape.
“But your work is invaluable, and I mean that as a fake journalist,” he joked in the speech. “I am rooting for you. We’re 100 days in, 1,360 days to go. You guys are running the marathon, and I’m at the half-mile mark giving you tape for your nipples. So I’m wishing you nothing but the best. You chafed, man? You a little chafed? It’s a long way to go.”
2. His comedy gives you all the feels.
Hasan will never cease to take his audience on an emotional rollercoaster during an interview or standup. Whether it’s his candid thoughts on 9/11 or his two cents on Indian toilets you’ll be laughing so hard your stomach hurts, or maybe even grabbing one of those precious and overpriced but soft like Egyptian cotton kleenexes (seriously why did they only give you like three tissues) because you’re bawling.
3. He is a product of the American Dream.
As Minhaj explains on his new Netflix special, his father moved from India alone and raised him in California. Not having much opportunity, his father immigrated in hopes of starting a better life for his son and eventually his daughter when the family all reunited a little later in Hasan’s childhood. He’s pretty much a self-made man. His story goes from the streets of Aligarh, a small province in India, to now regularly fist bumping it out with Trevor Noah as a correspondent on The Daily Show. With the help of a breakthrough Pizza Hut commercial, he has championed the comedy world through hard work, and his father’s dreams.
He’s pretty much a self-made man. His story goes from the streets of Aligarh, a small province in India, to now regularly fist bumping it out with Trevor Noah as a correspondent on The Daily Show. With the help of a breakthrough Pizza Hut commercial, he has championed the comedy world through hard work and his father’s dreams.
4. His eyebrows are insane.
Well groomed and defined. Who could ask for a better combo? The question is, thread or wax? TELL ME THE SECRET.
5. He is the epitome of a Millenial Muslim.
There is this unspoken but highly understood requirement for American Muslims of about age 16-35. On one hand, you take on life as a normal American teenager or young adult. You go to school, or you get a job. And because you’re probably a family of immigrants, you better succeed at it too. But we also take on the role of fighting social injustice. My Muslim friends and I have always felt like it was our duty to break down schemas and stigmas surrounding the Islamic faith IN ADDITION to living our lives. In a post 9/11 America, we feel that it seems to our job to sweep up.
That’s exactly what Minhaj has chosen to do with his career. He makes people laugh and everything, but he also shares his story of being a normal Muslim boy growing up in Cali. By telling his narrative, he gives a window into what true Islam looks like. And I for one am extremely grateful for that.
Don’t change Hasan. Especially the brows.