Since 2017, the year of his last special, Homecoming King, Hasan Minhaj hosted his groundbreaking show on Netflix, Patriot Act, took a major recurring role in The Morning Show and founded a production banner, 186K Films. He has been so busy that all of that would explain what seemed to be an extended break from stand-up (not to mention the COVID years taking almost all stand-up out of the equation for awhile).
That said, Minhaj seems to pick up right where he left off, not losing a step, with his latest Netflix hour, The King’s Jester with more moxie, more slick graphics, and a thoroughly entertaining journey through all the feels. For those wanting more out of someone doing stand-up for an hour, Minhaj more than delivers here.
Where Homecoming King was an enthralling, hilarious story of coming-of-age, self-acceptance, and love, Minhaj focuses on how important his family is to him through his career highs of punching up at everyone he could with Patriot Act or taking the mic at esteemed honorary ceremonies. Minhaj is very likely the most impassioned storyteller in comedy these days and it’s marvelous to watch how he interconnects all the narratives of past and present throughout The King’s Jester with undeniable fervor.
This hour shows itself to be as emotionally colorful is as the extremely slick graphics display Hasan uses to highlight his points. With as many raucous laughs and applause breaks, there are many points in the special where you can hear a pin drop followed by a precision slicing of a very thick tension. In fact, there are “awwws” and gasps and almost every sort of reaction you can have when you have the audience completely tied to your every word as a comedian.
Akin to Moses Storm’s Trash White, there is so much to take in visually with The King’s Jester that it would be a disservice to just listen to it as an album (even though Netflix will likely release an album version so it can qualify for Grammys consideration). The wild changes in color and utilizing the sort of graphics package that Hasan had at Patriot Act are a more than welcome break from the routine hour of seeing someone in a soft wash behind a nice curtain in a packed venue (though Bo Burnham sure does know how to make that set up look absolutely stunning). We can only hope that, in the not so distant future, it might be jarring to see a comedy special that could double as a very special live episode of a podcast.
Above all, Hasan’s zeal in his performance is what really ties everything together to make The King’s Jester one of Netflix’s best releases this year. There is such urgency in his delivery and all of his act outs that one can’t help be drawn into his world and want to get caught up, with the rest of the audience, on whatever journey Hasan is taking us on. He’s very animated on stage to be sure, but, at the same time, it never feels so outlandish that it takes away from the gravity of criticizing the Saudi government or dealing with American Islamophobia. We would even venture to say that part of his firebrand way of delivering jokes and stories get fueled by his sticking to the full truth of what he’s talking about as much as possible.
Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester is now streaming on Netflix.