“Super Serious” Offers an Oral History of LA Indie Stand-Up Scene in a Gorgeous Coffee Table Book

It’s unclear as to exactly what was going on in 2010 in LA comedy, but it was the starting point of almost everything that makes it special now (well, right before COVID-19 struck anyway). The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail started around then, WTF with Marc Maron was picking up steam and kickstarted LA’s comedy podcast explosion, and even we had our humble beginnings around then. Also, so many indie comedy shows popped in and around LA giving the LA comedy scene the sort of connective tissue that it was missing years prior.

One such show is The Super Serious Show and, as they’ve kept their high flying variety show going for a decade between a handful of unique, wondrous venues around LA, they’ve seen the ebbs and flows, the new, the old, the highs, the shifts, the rumblings, the lows, and everything in between that has been going in the venerable indie LA comedy scene, especially when it comes to stand-up. Thus, Super Serious Show co-creator and portrait photographer Mandee Johnson assembled a lovely and exhaustive oral history of the comedy scene here in LA, accented by her signature polaroid portraiture of the hundreds and hundreds of performers that have stepped on The Super Serious Show stage. Contributors to this special oral history entitled Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy include Hasan Minhaj, Rory Scovel, Anthony Jeselnik, Karen Kilgariff, Baron Vaughn, Dave Anthony, Andy Kindler, Natalie Palamides, Kristen Schaal, Ron Funches, Reggie Watts, Rachel Bloom, Dana Gould, Eddie Pepitone, Cameron Esposito and dozens more.

If you’re as obsessive about comedy as we are, it’s definitely a must have for your coffee table (or whatever table you have). Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy is available for pre-order now and will be released on Aug. 18th from Andrews McMeel Publishing. Given how there are plenty of shipping delays for non-essential items these days in the U.S., best to put your order in now. Get more details and get your copy here.

Fun news alert: We have a BOOK!

Super Serious: An Oral History of Los Angeles Independent Stand-Up Comedy is available for pre-sale NOW!

Learn more: https://t.co/XRUUsXZ7Xq @mandeephoto @AndrewsMcMeel @_triangle_house #SuperSeriousShow #SuperSeriousBOOK pic.twitter.com/F9GZunTsYZ

— Super Serious Show (@seriousshow) July 14, 2020

Hasan Minhaj Stresses the Importance of Other Minorities Not Staying Silent About George Floyd

June 4, 2020

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When it comes to going on a rant, Hasan Minhaj is and has been one of comedy’s best. The passion and eloquence of which he puts on display is, honestly, inspiring.

So, in the wake of the protests following the murder of George Floyd, he utilized the platform of his show Patriot Act to make sure that other minorities, even within his Desi community do not stay silent or “sit this one out” because they think it’s not their fight. Taking this to heart, know that none of us should stay silent and not only be vocal and take action now, but continue to do so for the long haul to bring about permanent, necessary change.

Please watch it here.

White House Correspondents Dinner Rescheduled for Aug. 29th; Hasan Minhaj and Kenan Thompson Still Set to Host

April 14, 2020

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(via Deadline)

Originally, the annual White House Correspondents Dinner held by the White House Correspondents Association that usually has been a scathing comedy roast of the media and the current POTUS (except for last year) was going to be held in March. The COVID-19 pandemic of course made sure any such events of that magnitude would be postponed several months from then, if not outright cancelled.

This year’s WHCD was set to see a return of comedians being at the helm, namely both SNL‘s Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj of his own Netflix series, Patriot Act. Now that there has been a new date of Sun. Aug. 29th set by the WHCA for the event, we’re thrilled to see that both Thompson and Minhaj are also back on board to speak. The roast aspect of the evening definitely has taken a “scorch the earth” (as comedy roasts are supposed to be) under the Trump Administration (especially since Trump is too much of a thin-skinned to show up) and we can only ponder what it might be, possibly even more no-holds-barred, than it has ever been.

We’ll have to just wait and see if the Aug. 29th sticks and, if it does, what Thompson and Minhaj will exactly do.

White House Correspondents Dinner Returns to Having Comedians with Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj

February 18, 2020

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White House Correspondents Dinner Returns to Having Comedians with Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj

It would seem the shift to having a historian preside over the White House Correspondents Dinner didn’t really stick for a night that essentially celebrates our (supposed) American rights to free speech and freedom of the press.

Kenan Thompson will be set up as host and, as Trump is a vain coward and will never change and will very likely sit this one out once more as a vain coward only to tweet how unfunny it is (because he’s, again, a vain coward), Hasan Minhaj as the featured speaker, returning to the WHCD stage once more.

We’d imagine that Minhaj will scorch the earth as he hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner, but we are curious how Minhaj and Kenan Thompson will balance/focus both of their monologues. It’s historic as two comedians are essentially hosting the WHCD and will undoubtedly be double the amount of hate-tweeting from Trump.

In any case, we can be assured that all the jokes will be picked apart by news outlets when decorum in politics hasn’t been the standard for years now.

The stage for the White House Correspondents Dinner is set for April 25th.

Get a Bit of a Preview Goatface’s Special Before Its Premiere Tonight on Comedy Central

November 27, 2018

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Goatface, made up of Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, Fahim Anwar, and Aristotle Athiras, will indeed have their first comedy special premiere on Comedy Central tonight at 10PM.

For those jonesing for some really great sketch comedy on TV, this is your ticket (not to mention that you should have been following what Hasan, Asif, Fahim, and Aristotle have been doing for awhile now).

They’ve got these two sketches up that happen to be two of our favorites that we’ve seen from them. Enjoy and tune in tonight!

Goatface’s Comedy Central Special Finally Gets a Trailer

October 24, 2018

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Goatface Comedy, the sketch group that includes oh, you know, Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, Fahim Anwar, and Aristotle Athiras, is about to have a special on Comedy Central. It’s been a long time in the making, but it’ll be arriving just after Thanksgiving this year.

We have a pretty damn good feeling about it (just binge through years of past sketches and you’ll see what we’re talking about) and if you’ve been missing the days of Key & Peele, you might want to mark down Tues., Nov. 27th when the Goatface Comedy special premieres.

For now, get a lovely taste of what’s to come here.

Here’s Your First Look at Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

October 4, 2018

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Or, you could call this your first look at government surveillance watching Hasan do his upcoming weekly Netflix show.

In any case, if the (slightly?) fictionalized watching of Hasan Minhaj doing his topical comedy series is a new angle, which might play well in the arena occupied by Trevor Noah, John Oliver, and Samantha Bee.

We’ll be excited to see what Hasan has cooked up and if Netflix will have finally figured out how they want to do a weekly comedy show where they can’t release all the episodes at once.

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj starts streaming Oct. 28, then releases new episodes every Sunday after that.

Hasan Minhaj’s Weekly Netflix Show Will Be Called “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” and Premiere Oct. 28th

August 9, 2018

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Hasan Minhaj’s Weekly Netflix Show Will Be Called “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” and Premiere Oct. 28th

It’s been a long time in the works, but we think a weekly show helmed by Hasan Minhaj is well worth the wait (he’s the correspondent that should have been bumped up to hosting The Daily Show after Jon Stewart left).

The satirical title is only making us want to skip the weekend before Halloween, when the show premieres, even more.

This first promo cleverly urges “Follow us.

@hasanminhaj is used to it.” To keep tabs on it, you might indeed want to follow Hasan’s show @patriotact.

July 17, 2018

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Hasan Minhaj is set to go on a big ol’ North American tour starting this August. Called Before The Storm, Minhaj will actually be kicking off his tour in LA with three shows at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in DTLA.

The three shows are as follows:
Saturday, August 11th 8PM & 10:30PM
and
Sunday, August 12th 8PM

Tickets are $30-$75 and you should get them sooner rather than later as we can imagine that these will sell out.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, screenings, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Hasan Minhaj Will Be Hosting This Year’s Peabody Award in Addition to Getting Nominated for His Netflix Special “Homecoming King”

April 12, 2018

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Hasan Minhaj Will Be Hosting This Year’s Peabody Award in Addition to Getting Nominated for His Netflix Special “Homecoming King”

“Honored to be hosting the @PeabodyAwards…oh, and ‘Homecoming King’ got nominated! ?????? https://t.co/ZfbOHWCSdi”

–@hasanminhaj

Congratulations to the well-deserving Hasan Minhaj for the prestigious gig and the nomination. We look forward to the ceremony as it’ll double as a great spotlight for Minhaj and a nice warm-up for his weekly Netflix show.

Netflix Orders Hasan Minhaj Weekly Talk Show for 32 Episodes

March 1, 2018

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Netflix Orders Hasan Minhaj Weekly Talk Show for 32 Episodes

First off, though we think it’s long overdue, we’re so glad to finally see that Hasan Minhaj has his own show. We honestly thought that Minhaj was going to get the gig of hosting of The Daily Show if Comedy Central was going to promote internally because of how passionate and magnetic his persona is.

So, as far as late night/talk shows go, Netflix now has/will have series from David Letterman, Joel McHale, Michelle Wolf, and Hasan Minhaj. That’s a hell of a line-up that stacks up pretty well against any other network’s late night/talk show roster.

Please Watch Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King, Now Streaming on Netflix

May 24, 2017

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With Homecoming King as a special, Hasan Minhaj offers up an hour that’s equal parts heartfelt, innovative, clever, crucially relevant, slick, and expertly executed.

Along with killing it in hosting the WHCD this year, we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up getting his own show very soon.

“Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King” Gets First Trailer as Netflix Stand-Up Special

May 11, 2017

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2017 might just be Hasan Minhaj’s year. In addition to his stellar WHCD performance, he has an hour special coming out.

From solo show to The Moth to Off-Broadway to touring around the country, Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King has been not only a great hour of comedy, but an incredibly relevant story that he has gotten to share.

Now, Homecoming King will be presented as a comedy special on Netflix very soon, starting Tuesday May 23rd.

Watch the trailer here.

With Trump Planning to Be Absent, Hasan Minhaj Will Host This Year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner

April 11, 2017

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With Trump Planning to Be Absent, Hasan Minhaj Will Host This Year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner

We love that Hasan Minhaj will be the host for this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner. Not only is he a great Daily Show correspondent, but he hosted last year’s RTCA Dinner and took no prisoners with both his jokes and his message.

Even though Trump isn’t attending, Hasan will very likely make the most of the evening and, perhaps, a very historic roast of what might be one of the most despised Presidents in U.S. History.

The 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner is set for April 29th.

Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King Will Now Be a Netflix Special

January 30, 2017

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Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming King Will Now Be a Netflix Special

From The Moth to Off-Broadway to touring around the country, Hasan Minhaj’s amazing Homecoming King show will be a comedy special on Netflix.

Not only does Hasan spin this particular thread of his life into a very funny tale, but it also features an interracial romance that couldn’t be more timely. There is no premiere date, but we hope that it will stream very soon at Netflix.

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