Streams on Netflix
Sporting an all-khaki ensemble against a massive screen that changes colors and displays graphics, photos and video clips, Minhaj gets personal, sharing stories about the complications he endured trying to start a family with his wife, then trying to resettle with them in Greenwich, Conn., before going back in time to relive a teenage encounter with a white man at the family mosque who may or may not have been an undercover FBI agent.
But the real Hasan is brave, not afraid to call it what it is and can stand up the biggest bullies in the world.
And it is not only for comedy material, but also because there is a part of him, like a lot of us, who want to call out things that are not logical around us. Hasan has the platform to do it on a bigger scale.
Hasan’s The Kings Jester is rehearsed and very well synchronized. It is as if Hasan is prepared for the fall out. But mostly, it is careful enough that there seem to be no such triggers in the content.
Minhaj starts with the story of how he and his wife struggled to get pregnant which was around the same time that Minhaj was transitioning out of his role at The Daily Show and moving into Patriot Act, which were both opportunities that allow him to lean into a side of himself that is both successful and self-destructive.
Minhaj also shares the backstories on experiences that shaped multiple episodes of Patriot Act, including a teenage encounter with an undercover FBI agent in the wake of 9/11, a misguided attempt to interview the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, calling out Jared Kushner at a Time100 banquet, and a desire to turn the tables on one of the other fathers at his daughter’s school. He confesses his realization about the fact that while tackling these constant controversies, her may have put his immediate family at risk.
Hasan, at some point refers to The Kings Jester as a “Power Point Comedy” and the fun of it is the background images appear throughout the narrative.
The King’s Jester is a special about Minhaj coming to terms with himself and attempting to find a balance between his total dedication to comedic ruthlessness and protecting his family from any blowback. He even recounts his moments of poor judgement.
There are sections of The King’s Jester that stand out though and makes Hasan seem vulnerable and human.
This special is the story of the Indian American immigrant experience, the story of a muslim growing up in America and the story of the Indian American community.
What screams through Hasan’s activism is the fact that his heart is in the right place “I don’t want to be the Tupac of comedy…If anything, I want to be the Puffy of comedy.” We don’t expect this to be the last you hear from Minhaj and not the last time he gets on the bad side of people.
