There is a joy in seeing brown voices reach a global platform and use it to tell deeply personal stories. Despite immigrants and their children undergoing different struggles, we can’t help but feel that one of us made it. Hasan Minhaj personified the anxieties of being brown in post 9/11 America with his Peabody-winning Netflix debut, Homecoming King. His newly released The King’s Jester is a fitting sequel, expertly combining storytelling and satire as Minhaj navigates through first laughs, fame and fertility.
Minhaj's brand of ‘PowerPoint’ comedy carries forward to this special too, something that he points out himself. However, this time the screen isn’t just used to elicit big laughs but to also establish an intimacy with the audience. From the first line, it’s clear that this special is Minhaj’s way of talking about all the things he couldn’t, be it his own infertility or his insatiable desire to trend on Twitter. And the comedian doesn’t hold back.
A lot of The King’s Jester feels like Minhaj letting us into the fractured masculinity that exists behind all the cameras. He doesn’t try to take a high-handed view of the world and talk down to the audience. Instead, he sits down, sometimes literally, and finds himself appalled by the workings of his brain. The entire ‘I created internet-breaking news to break the internet’ bit has a sublime metaness to it, making us ponder how much of doing good actually comes from a selfish desire to feel good.
Minhaj expertly straddles his unpopular thoughts on Priyanka Chopra and Malala, with anecdotes from his Netflix show, Patriot Act, giving us a sense of familiarity while also pushing the envelope. While there is a lot of the brown-kid-caught-in-the-storm that we loved in Homecoming King, he also addresses how life has changed personally and professionally, and the kind of world he wants for his children — second-generation Brown Americans. There is also some discourse on ‘the line’ that comedians cannot cross, and why he chooses to mock the unmockable. Bit by bit, the comedian unravels his insecurities and by the end, Hasan isn’t a star, but Hasan bhai in the truest sense.
Much like his last special, the personal anecdotes remain the strongest part of this one too. Anyone who has followed Minhaj’s work feels like Beena and Najmi are side characters in their life. The bits on Patriot Act have some of the biggest laughs, but tend to lose out on the intimacy he so carefully builds in the first half. The comedian’s effort is visible in how effortless everything feels, with no fluff in the writing or performances.
The production crew deserves a nod for creating Minhaj’s most intimate outing yet, with the screens bringing out the personality of his jokes when he needs them to, and blending into a mellow background when his mic takes centrestage. The pauses particularly elevate The King’s Jester from a comedy special to a storytelling masterclass, and Minhaj builds and releases tension at will. It’s unbelievable how much control he seems to exercise even behind a laptop screen.
The King’s Jester is an easy special to recommend because it has something for everyone — personal storytelling, observations about the world, and the occasional pushy joke. This takes Minhaj’s Netflix tally to 3/3. It will be interesting to see where he takes his fourth.
