Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester, a second Netflix special by the stand-up comedian, is a bold one hour set which reflects his skills as a captivating, powerful storyteller. Hasan delivers the set with vigour and the special is aided by a gaudy production.
“The first joke I ever told saved my life,” says Hasan adding, “and now my stupid-a** jokes almost cost me my baby’s life.” This encompasses the set, as he talks about how comedy is a matter of life and death, dealing with infertility, his spiralling fame and his addiction to it, and of course, his risqué materials from the past. Oh yes! The King's too.
Hasan’s flamboyant on-stage persona takes centerstage more than ever in this special, as he uses theatrics to bring his material to life. Every gesture, every pause, each expression, and his half-cry-half- laugh cadence - all seem too measured and rehearsed as he delivers moving personal anecdotes as a comedian and a second-generation Indian-American Muslim.
You will empathise with him irrespective of your cast or colour.
Hasan transitions effortlessly from talking about infertility to harmless jokes about his contemporaries to making strong revelations about his child’s life being in danger, his craving for fame, which feels intoxicating.
Hasan Minhaj in his latest Netflix special.
(Photo Courtesy: Netflix)
The set begins with him relaying the struggles he and his wife faced when dealing with infertility. It is refreshing to watch him address infertility and that it had nothing to do with his wife, but him. Because of the warped expectations that society has thrust upon men and women and the stigma attached to infertility, people are often hesitant to speak about it.
Hasan speaking about how he had to go through a surgery to fix it to eventually becoming a father to two children is truly refreshing and, thankfully, it has started a conversation.
Hasan also goes on to narrate a story about how he landed his first joke, as a teenager in a post 9/11 America (which is truly heartbreaking), about “selling a terrorist attack” in front of an FBI agent when he almost got arrested. That joke saved his life. He then goes on to relay instances from his past when his jokes landed his family in danger. When Hasan critiqued the Saudi government's assassination of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he faced a lot of backlash and Netflix had to pull the episode in Saudi Arabia. He received a hostile response when he put out risqué material about Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The King’s Jester, however, is not as controversial as his show Patriotic Act. Hasan, though, takes a dig at the King, the Indian Prime Minister and the (now late) Queen and slides in casually, “Priyanka Chopra’s wedding was fake. Who marries Nick Jonas unironically? Malala follows me on Instagram and I don’t follow her back.” It almost feels like an attempt to move away from the provocative stance that he is known to take as he makes it abundantly clear that comedy is a matter of “life and death”.
As Hasan deals with the “satire versus sincerity” theme, he trusts viewers to distinguish between the two. While he provides evidence to support his anecdotes, some stories seem too far-stretched and leave you wondering how to discern between the two.
The King’s Jester is about an immigrant trying to fit in, a comedian’s addiction to his celebrity status, the effects of it and the importance of drawing ‘the line’ to protect what’s yours.
Watch this personal, thoughtful sketch for the stories that humanize the man behind them as he narrates them in powerful way. Though I found it to be a bit self-serving, try to cut him some slack.
Here’s hoping the audience can differentiate between ‘satire and sincerity’ and view comedy as it is supposed to be – for laughs and to start conversations about issues that need to be addressed.
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