Homecoming King Turns King’s Jester: Hasan Minhaj’s New Netflix Special to Premier On October 4
- Filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, it features the Indian American comedian discussing some of his recent life events, as well as his thoughts on fertility, fatherhood, and freedom of speech.
Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj will return to Netflix next month with his latest standup special “The King’s Jester,” directed by Prashanth Venkataramanujam. This is the second special that Minhaj has produced and starred in for Netflix, and will premiere worldwide on the streaming platform on Oct. 4. Filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the special features Minhaj discussing some of his recent life events, as well as his thoughts on fertility, fatherhood, and freedom of speech.
Four years in the making, it delves into Minhaj’s family, fame, and friction between the two. He addresses experiences that he hasn’t discussed before, and are more tethered to developments following his first Netflix special “Homecoming King.”
There are punches at his strict upbringing, jokes about being a Muslim kid in America, and sharing personal anecdotes about the discrimination towards the Muslim community in the early 2000s. But what takes centerstage are his experiences as a father, and his ambitions and dreams for his daughter, as well as the struggles and challenges he and his wife Beena had when they were trying to conceive.
Minhaj shot into national fame with his stint on the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” and later with his stand-up special, “Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King,” which was based on his Off-Broadway one-man show.
“The King’s Jester,” which was on tour early this year, marked Minhaj’s comeback on the comedy circuit, his primary claim to fame. It also marked his return to his “storytelling roots four years after the global success of “Homecoming King,” which garnered rave reviews and won a 2018 Peabody Award.” His critically acclaimed political satire show, “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” ran on Netflix for six seasons, winning a Peabody, an Emmy, and a Television Academy Honor.
He also returned to acting and starred in the second season of Apple TV’s “The Morning Show,” where he plays UBA anchor Eric Normani. The series tells the story of what goes down behind the scenes of your favorite morning news show, alleging that “the smiling, folksy anchors who greet you every morning aren’t just faking their friendships; they’re backstabbing one another at every turn.”
He told Decider that his earlier shows — “The Daily Show” and Netflix’s “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” — prepared him for his role in the Apple TV series. “I’ve been playing a fake TV anchor for seven years, so this wasn’t a stretch for me.”
Additionally, he will voice the Riddler in “Batman Unburied,” a forthcoming scripted podcast from Spotify in partnership with Warner Bros. and DC Comics.
He is also producing and starring in “For the Culture,” a film he’s scripting for Amazon Studios along with long-time collaborator Venkataramanujam. The film will be the first venture of Minhaj’s newly-launched production company, 186KFilms. Minhaj will serve as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, with Venkataramanujam serving as Chief Content Officer and Tyler Babin as Chief Digital Officer.