Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester: Clout-chasing, offending Saudis and comedy that's high on Adderall

Hasan Minhaj’s The King’s Jester is a masterclass on anecdotal comedy. There are plenty of moments in the 1 hour special which will leave you feeling like the Adderall has finally kicked in – especially when Minhaj narrates how he confronted former advisor to President of the United States, Jared Kushner, at the Time 100 gala for not leveraging his relationship with the Saudi crown prince to free Loujain al-Hathloul.

Loujain is a Saudi activist who was jailed for protesting to lift the ban on women driving cars in the Arab nation. She was also the honouree at the Time 100 gala which was attended by both Minhaj and Kushner. Another such moment of Adderall-induced joy comes when Minhaj reveals why he named his Netflix show Patriot Act – which, in a way, helped him reclaim the very law which was used to racially profile his community after the 9/11 attack. When Minhaj narrates how he managed to get back at the honcho of a fund company involved in leveraged buyouts (who, for some strange reason, also had a house next to Jeffrey Epstein) – all using some strategically placed billboards – you will feel like applauding Minhaj’s determination to fight the corrupt system.

Minhaj, however, doesn’t wax poetic about himself but also holds himself accountable. Much of that accountability is sought by his wife Beena, who calls out Minhaj for doing the right things ‘only when the cameras are around’. Minhaj, by admitting that he calls out the ‘bad guys’ only when he is being watched, acknowledges his tendency to clout-chase. In an age where likes and retweets matter more than human lives, like the rest of us, Minhaj, too, experiences happy highs when he sees himself trending on Twitter – siimilar to the high he gets when he pops an Adderall. Behind Minhaj, we see a huge screen which, like a powerpoint presentation, shows how the comedian soon became the top Twitter trend after his visit to the Saudi embassy.

Social media likes and the subsequent validation became Minhaj’s driving force which made him call out the bigotry of the right-wing. This was until tragedy hit home. Minhaj shares a graphic incident where he received mail with Anthrax powder in it – some of which he inadvertently dropped on his daughter. After a series of conversations with Beena, Minhaj decided to draw a line. He resolved to go only so far in his hunt for the bad guys that he doesn’t harm his wife or his daughter. The vulnerability with which Minhaj narrates the incident is what makes his style of storytelling so effective. You can truly feel his frustration which makes him want to clap back at the right wing which is out to get his wife and kid.

Minhaj’s King’s Jester is also being compared to Ricky Gervais’s SuperNature which dropped earlier this year. While Gervais’s jokes in SuperNature are top-notch, Minhaj is a far superior storyteller than Gervais. Hasan effortlessly glides through one life-altering event after another. At some points in the special, you might feel cathartic – especially when Minhaj talks about growing up as a Muslim boy in the post-9/11 world. At times, your emotions will get the best of you. But you will never be disinterested, thanks to Minhaj’s strong hold on the audience. The tension, anxiety and the joy of the audience at Brooklyn Academy of Music is palpable. At times, you will find yourself hanging on to every single word Minhaj utters – especially when he narrates how Eric, a federal agent, infiltrated and forced a false confession out of him. This is perhaps The King’s Jester’s biggest win. At no point Minhaj’s sets seem disjointed – there are connectors and sufficient callbacks that makes the entire special seem like a coherent act. But also, each set piece in the special is unique and memorable for different reasons.

What’s also worth addressing is how Minhaj manages to elicit laughs out of some carefully crafted 9/11 jokes. In an age where we see Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle push the envelope and rebel against the hyper-sensitivity of the left-liberals and the cancel culture, Minhaj shows how jokes on 9/11 can be crafted in a way that it offends neither the left nor the right. In the post-pandemic America where political fault lines are only getting deeper and partisanship is at an all-time high, The King’s Jester is proof that jokes on a terror attack can be delivered without alienating the viewers or being perceived as overtly political.

In the special, Minhaj lays bare his life for all to see, observe and dissect. He goes as far as sharing how he struggled to conceive a baby with his wife Beena. Recounting the experience can indeed be very emasculating for any man, much less a comic. Minhaj’s masculinity is more sentimental than dispassionate. He emerges as an antidote to the hyper-masculine Gervais and Chapelle – which ironically are on the same streaming platform as Minhaj.

The King’s Jester, is indeed, the perfect follow-up to Minhaj’s 2017 special The Homecoming King where the comic addressed struggles us Desis have come to know too well. It has the right balance of laughter, emotion and vulnerability. It is funny enough to appeal to casual Netflix viewers and thought-provoking enough for those seeking serious political discourse. More than anything, it is honest enough to make us introspect where we draw the line in our hunt to get back at our political adversaries.

Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester is streaming now on Netflix.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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