As an Indian person, no. The only people that would genuinely enjoy that are older aunties, and even then, including my own aunties and mom, find it ridiculous. No one watches those cringy scenes and thinks, wow this is top tier television besides maybe a few people in India who don't watch any other movies, besides the cringey cheesy drams on TV that are available to them (maybe due to financial reasons?) and they're not able to actually go out and watch a Bollywood movie at the cinema. I can assure you that no millenial, especially Gen-z teenager watches Indian dramas and takes it seriously. We have a lot of amazing movies, and some even more thought-provoking and emotional, such as 3 Idiots or any movie with Irfan Khan. There are also amazing TV shows, one about r/pe actually and how the Indian police system is corrupt on Netflix. So, I would advise others to do their research. It's almost like comparing an old cheesy k-drama (I can name a lot that are super cringey) and putting an umbrella statement that all Korean movies are like that, even though movies such as Parasite exists. I think obviously only cringey scenes are going to go viral, because they're so EXTREME (and tbh I think they're like that on purpose) but do yourself a favour and watch some good Bollywood movies lol, there's a few on Netflix.
Thank God someone said this. Literally no one watches these. If anything the elderly in our families do because they're so bored but it's usually some sort of family drama serial where the mother in law is a complete villain (accurate) and just hating on the daughter in law & scheming ways to get her to leave the son lmao. Then again that's a lot of korean & Japanese dramas I watch too so must be a popular trope. Movies are definitely top tier in India closely followed by OTT series (Netflix, Hotstar, Prime, etc). TV serials are usually low tier in most countries. To answer David's question- we're more likely to watch say Bahubali and be like "this is fantastic; how did he die? Why did he die?" Lol. Maybe even a OTT series like Criminal Justice on Hotstar and have a whole convo dissecting how mindblowing it was plot wise and whatnot. Ain't nobody watching these TV serials doing all that. Only grandma's and grandpa's who need entertainment for 30 mins a day & that's genuinely the target audience lmao.
I disagree with David on his premise that people don't recognize what Hasan does as comedy. I don't think comedy is just one emotion, it's not just laughter. Maybe that's how David interprets comedy, where the entire thing HAS to be funny. The way I see Hasan is he wants the audience to relate to him emotionally while also being able to laugh at the vulnerability. This is just my interpretation but I think what David means when he says he's not funny is that he's not "ha ha" funny. Like I've seen things and I can understand why people laugh, it just doesn't make me laugh. So I can see the humor, but it's not enough to make me laugh. And then I'll describe that to somebody as being not funny, when that's not entirely accurate, it's just shorter to say.
Then he shouldn't be classified as a comic, you're describing a live one man performance, like a monolog or something. Maybe it's easier to be called a comic, because you have the shield of "comic" to fall back on when you do something the people don't like. Many comics can easily get away with lying their asses off for the sake of a joke. However, when Hasan can't, that means he's blurred the lines between comedy and life. Comics are not the philosophers, modern day social critics, and social changers they think they are; and comics like Hasan learn the hard way that blurring those lines result in stuff like this. Sometimes it's best to have completely distinct styles of comedy from television stuff, I think of Roy Wood Jr, he does his TV personality and then has his stand up personality, you can distinguish between the two and does almost the same thing, has cultural critiques but doesn't always make it all personal or tie it to something larger, he defuses tension with ridiculous callbacks that you can clearly understand as unreal or made up. Hasan probably needs to work on this ability to distinguish between the two things he's trying to do.
Was expecting an update on this when the response came out. I think Hasan bringing out the receipts in the manner he did really shed some light on how much the New Yorker spun his quotes! But, I do think some part of his stories especially the FBI one was a bit of a stretch...
It’s good to see our shadow leader Ryan on this podcast. Takes a lot to apologize sometimes. Very cool of you David. Love your content, it’s helped me so much with my anxiety.
I was a Hasan minhaj I enjoy his talk because it brings light to subjects you forget about but he brings it with jokes kinda of having your medicine with candy which is why i like daily shows and an old canadian show called the Mercer Report which does similar things digestible political . I was sad when the controversy came out and cant believe i believed things at face value when i tend to champion wait until hearing the other side. This whole thing is wild.
Different strokes for different folks. I am not brown but I did find his style to be similar to his show. It is comedy. Your perspective is understandable.
Oooh I saw parts of his apology/explanation and as someone who isn’t in the industry at all or know anyone in the industry, it made sense to me but I was wondering what people in the world of comedy thought of it
I commented on the first video about Hassan. I said i don't find him very funny, but i watch his specials. I also said it sounded like a takedown piece. Turns out, that's exactly what it was. Also, dave chappels 8:46 wasn't very funny. but it was brilliant. Hassan ain't dave, but he does remind me of that style of comedy. Not gonna bust a gut laughing, but worth watching none the less. And you'll get a few giggles. Happy for the dude. Happy to see his success. Hope it continues.
As a fan of Hasan overall for his political satire stuff, I definitely agree with David’s assessment of the need to polish the punchlines and the stand up energy of this type of material if Hasan plans to continue to use it as a vehicle. Since I’ve never had any issue with him when interviewing or doing political commentary satire and think he is incredible, I would like to imagine guys like Jon Stewart and Obama would have smelled his bs and not engaged with him otherwise. Tldr: Hasan is good guy, preference based comedian, probably less than ideal execution on the standup comedy side for his specials but interesting storyteller
As a Hasan fan, I'd like to clarify that we find him funny. We understand the difference between him on the daily show and him on his specials. He is a comic and he is a comedic political pundant. He's not confused. Thanks.
This is the most rational & balanced view on the whole issue, while being funny. You guys did a great job criticizing him without dunking on him unnecessarily 👍
Good on David for apologizing. Still CRAZY for David to not be familiar with Hasan’s body of work, watch ONE Netflix special, then say Hasan ISN’T a “comic” and proceeds to explain how “people” don’t laugh at Hasan’s work. BRUH…
I didn’t say he ISNT A COMIC I explained that his delivery and how he portrays himself lends people to believe he is a political commentator with jokes. I said it like three times in the whole pod lol. ALSO you glazed passed the fact that I explained that I watched his specials before doing this podcast to gain context. SHAME !!! you’re just like the New Yorker!!!! Lol jk
I guess the joke/punchline for the homecoming bit is that Bethany married an Indian guy and that her family is no longer “racist”/“have come a long way”
My respect for David grew even bigger after this video. He could have easily just apologized on social media and called it a day but he did the right thing and did it on video. And I understand he should have to apologize cause he was only criticizing what he thought was true. We where all misled by the that hit peace. Love your videos always a awesome watch/listen
About the Antraax, he did bring receipts, not a picture of the letter, but he did show emails to netflix asking for security and friend and family asking if everything was ok, which can contribute to the idea that yes, stuf was happening on the background that would make them afraid. Also, I'd say Hasan is more of a storyteller than comedian, laughs happen from time to time, it's not the main thing about this shows, but truth be told, it's branding, when you say "ohhh I'm gonna go watch a special by a storyteller" THIS PHRASE doesn't exists, even tho there are a few of those out there, so comedy and standup gets a lot of things that are to 100% comedy per say, but can be funny or resonate with you in a personal matter
Just because you don't like his act doesn't mean he's not a comic, political comedy is still comedy. Once you've produced three comedy specials then you can critique his process, but clearly he has plenty of fans, myself included. He shouldn't be held to a different standard than every other comic just because he was on the Daily show.
I feel like comedy is super subjective. I mainly see all of Hasan’s stuff as comedy, but the that delineation between the styles is very different. I see Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Hasan Minhaj all as comedians first but ones who do have different sets that they do. However, I’d say that if it was even just seen as a one man show, unless he’s saying everything is 100% real, it doesn’t have a high requirement of truth, not compared to satirical political commentary or, say, actual journalism. I feel like the critiques and people’s opinions of Hasan are valid, but we’re currently holding him, and to a degree all comedians, to a higher standard of factual accuracy than we do movies and shows “based on a true story” which famously make changes way more extreme than this. And I also think it’s more than fair to say that the article, which is purporting to be factual journalism, is WAY more out of line.
I wrote this in the other Hasan podcast so I'll just copy and paste my feeling towards him. "You guys definitely nailed it with the whole Hasan thing. Lying when making a joke is 100% cool because the goal is to make the audience laugh. The emotional stakes are very low, if you laugh or don't laugh. If you laugh at a real or fake story the amusement and joy is real. However if you lie to invoke other emotions like sympathy or compassion, the emotional stakes are way higher because that investment in those emotions are precious and when the information behind that story is false people feel they actually lost their emotional currency."
What are your thoughts of him piecing together a story to spread awareness which is based on truth? Like the FBI informant story DID spread awareness that Muslims were being surveilled on their own worship grounds by the FBI, which clearly race-motivated. This was based on his own experience and his friend's separate experience (who gave him permission to use his story), both of which actually happened. The "lie" here is that he combined both their experiences into a single story which was, again, based on truth, and did the purpose of spreading awareness, with the emotions of sympathy and compassion used to emphasise his point. Given that Muslims were and ARE unfairly targeted in America (factually confirmed that there are FBI informants on Muslim worship grounds), are they not deserving of sympathy or compassion?
@violett5418 I'm speaking on a more comedy fan point of view. If he told that story and made it funny, then props to him for turning a serious situation into a funny one. He can spread awareness in whatever way he wants, but if he wants to insert that subject matter in a comedy special, then I will judge it as a joke from a fans perspective. I don't care whether or not he talks about politics, his love life, or his family life. I especially don't care how much truth is in the joke. I just want the joke to be funny.
Can't believe this has to be stated. But yes you can blame the audience. If you watch comedy and think all the stories are true and get mad when you find out that the comedian, who is a writer, and like all writers, exaggerated, fabricated, borrowed, etc. then you are at least a little stupid.
I would say that Hasan does political comedy, where politics / issues are prioritized over comedy. Similar to Jon Stewart, John Oliver, etc. Comedy is only there to lighten the mood as serious & often emotionally draining topics are discussed. Its definitely different from Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias, etc type of comedy where comedy is the primary focus. Dave Chapelle's older work focused on comedy first. Nowadays I feel like his new work has comedy as a secondary focus while the main focus is to get ppl to agree with him on topics like transgender ppl. There are ppl out there that dont find his new work as funny including myself, which is obviously going to happen since comedy is no longer the primary focus.
I love Hasan Minhaj because his humor is just chill to me. I love the way you describe him, David. I laughed because I related so hard. I appreciate you your thoughts and opinions David. It really helps me understand and make sure when to take things with a grain of salt. Also David, you need to watch Jawan. You will laugh cry and cheer with chest. It’s really enjoyable from an entertainment standpoint. Love you David, from your Maryland Brain Fart ❤
I was in the Davis, CA show that ended up on Netflix and the audience was cracking up. It was clear that it wasn't 100% documentary accurate because we paid for a comedy show. I guess it has elements of a 'one man show' not a traditional comedy show but the audience found it funny. I went to laugh but also to experience his political take. If I wanted to laugh at just nothing in particular, I would have paid for another show.
Comedy has many faces, one of them being relatable or connecting truth. Another is finding the ridiculousness in the pain of an experience. I think he is funny in a different way than say Jim Carrey, whom I also find funny. The Dave Chappelle show did that, as well. Like, you watch and think, damn, hard truth. But also, funny maybe in a slapticky, over the top way. Hasan is funny in his razor sharpness. I guess we are learning that comedy is different and the same for a lot of people. Thank you for coming to my TEd talk. 😂
So......Hannah Gadsby had a bit in her infamous stand up special Nanette where she told a light hearted story about being confused for a man by a dude that saw her talking to his girlfriend and was confronted and then later on when the special gets more serious she goes back to that story and explains the actual truth of the story and how she was severely beaten up because of that encounter. She says she couldn't tell the true story at the start because her job is to entertain and make people laugh. But as she kept going on the tension of being a marginalized person having to tell stories to appease other people didn't sit right with her and she needs them to feel that tension as well which is why she now tells ituncomfortable Main point: Hannah Gadsby in her first stand up special did what took Hasan 2 specials and 1 controversy to do and that is admit he is trying to deliver a message that requires lying, only difference is we aren't made aware of it from him but from someone else that now makes the art seem like manipulation. He should've made it a necessary part of his stand up.
the branding issue section, I agree, and I realized that was probably what came off as as it weird and slightly letdown to me when I watched the specials. I love Hasan's Patriot Act series a lot more than I enjoyed his touring specials, the latter I bought tickets to after I watched Patriot Act. Now that I reflect on this based on what you said, it was probably because that factual line was a lot clearer in the series, where facts and opinions were both done well and clear, and then throwing humor and sarcasm into the mist would be a joyful twist. For the comedy specials though, with personal stories instead of political news, it somehow came off as almost too much of preaching, that it felt a bit too staged, like movies that make characters die unnecessarily hoping to force people cry. that being said, it could still be explained as an "artistic choice", and I could disklike it but it wasn't really wrong, especially when the gist of it was all true. The way New Yorker spins the story, however, just defeats the whole purpose of journalism. Ryan put it right: They were supposed to be the real fact checkers. Hasan has that wiggle room, but they don't. It's okay to leave details out, but not in a way that creates a completely different narrative far off the rail.
and that fake agent thing totally glided past me as well. I watched the entire response video but did not realize he never got harassed by the way he said he did.
I also felt Trevor's new comedy special (I wish you would) wasn't as funny as the first few... he sounded kinda bitter to me in it. your opinions on the reasons did bring new perspectives to me 🤔
I am so glad that he cleared it up. i didn't know that comedians had to make jokes about real dhit. I thought it aas all fake. But I do find him funny.
The drama side, i know nothing about nor do i care look it up. Simply put, the guy isn't funny. Someone like John stewart can make jokes while phasing in and out serious topics to make you laugh and think. I think he's trying to do that, but he's hitting much more on the "feel bad for me" mentally that's been growing for past few years and that's not comedy. Comedy to me as always been, let's try to laugh at our terrible situation together, instead of a 1 sided therapy session.
I think they think of him as political commentators not a stand up comedian because of the cultural difference between which is considered as comedy itself according to people.
Apology was goated but I think what constitutes as comedy for you is narrow minded as purely a tongue in cheek joke. People have been embellishing stories for a laugh or a lesson for a million years, I think it’s just rly not that deep when you have all these receipts clearly there was a method to the madness
I appreciate the pod. But ima say this you are better off just accepting his entire story cuz let’s be real if she made up/ messed that much in the first half you can’t really trust the rest. And it’s good that he had receipts for a lot of it but honestly if he had receipts for literally everything that’s almost too convenient. Idk could go both ways. I do find him funny though
Comedy is not always just punch lines, it’s a story that takes you on roller coaster, cause eventually through all that emotion, you’re gonna have a huge laugh based of those emotions you felt, and that’s a top notch comedian there
Bruh. You literally described what a punchline is! But if you're just telling 'woe is me' kind of stories that we're suppose to feel bad for you, I mean, shit that's sad and all but that's not comedy. Why are you trauma dumping on your audience?
I’m West Indian and we know that’s a dumb ahh scene. We aren’t ignorant ppl. And I’ve seen my share of Chinese movies. Korean movies. And Japanese movies. Trust me. You have no room to really drag Indians for a scene like that. 🤣 yall shit just don’t get noticed by channels like this. Yall just as wild as Bollywood. But if you were genuinely asking, no Indians don’t see that and think, this is the apex of movies. Also, the other guy who spoke about symbolism. It’s not always something symbolic or a reference to Hinduism or religion. Many times it’s just random and poor graphics. American movies obviously graphically have dominant cgi in movies and story lines. Indian movies are usually romantic comedies, sad af, or cheesy action movies. That’s basically the 3 most popular types you will always see.
Wow! That journalist did him diiirtyyy!!! The fact that Hassan gave them all the receipts and they chose to not use any of it seems very intentional. I do agree that he shouldn't have lied about the informant situation or the anthrax. He easily could've said those stories just as they happened and add a few jokes. Overall, I still like him and I still don't see him as a typical comedian.
I feel about Hassan the same way I feel about John Leguizamo. If you watch his stand up performances, they are very TED Talk related. It’s a lot of stories with long moments of silence with the occasional laughter. He can be very funny, but I can never watch his shows in their entirety.
You guys did a great job breaking down this whole situation; apologizing for the misguided criticism, as well as holding him accountable for the bits that were really unnecessary lies. Unlike those tools at Flagrant, my God could you smell the jealousy and hatred for Hasan. It was almost as if they were waiting for the slightest crack to pounce on him, especially that rat Akaash. They were clearly wrong in the first report but doubled down after Hasan's apology video. I used to enjoy their show but after the Whitney and Shane's episode and now this; They will ride Logan's dick all day long (who is an actual scammer) but throw so much hate and disingenuous criticism towards a fellow comedian smh, those guys are just unbearable to watch now. Regardless of my rant, its nice to see level headed pod-casters/comedians like you guys still in the space. Cheers!
Drew Gooden made a video where he looked for the worst Halloween movies he could find and there's one that was actually sold in Blockbuster. There's a scene where you can hear the guy say cut lol
it was a hit piece . On one of the most popular Muslim comedians , after the September 11 anniversary ... gee what a coincidence . And then right before what happened in Israel ? Coincidence again ? David, Minhaj tells stories just like you how do you not understand ? That " journalist " basically attacked his personal life / stand up bits ? Why ? With Minhaj having to do his explanation video , that's ruining the joke . ALSO , how do you not realize , that his stand up is different than his political stuff ?
19:47 I disagree with you David. All storytellers lie. They embellish leave out details mix up details, no story not even a diary or autobiography is 100% true. Our memories aren’t even 100% accurate! Sometimes you change around details for GREATER EMOTIONAL IMPACT which comics do like you said ie more laughs, but EVERY storyteller does. For Hassan the heart of the story was true ie he was rejected due to racism and that’s what matters!
Also “racial storytelling” isn’t political for gods sake. It’s not comedic but it’s emotional. So you don’t have to tell the story the most accurate way possible.
On the topic of calling his specials "comedy," i think it's because the entire comedy realm is so much broader than it used to be and "comedy" is kind of just like the umbrella genre it falls under when a lot of modern comedy specials really might more accurately be described as storytelling, commentary, or even just like.. mental health awareness? I do kinda wish there was a different category for it though bc sometimes I just wanna laugh 😭
Are we happy now?! Hasan Minhaj WAS tapped to become the next permanent host of the Daily Show because fans LOVED him, but everything fell apart after that hit job. Why do human beings relish in DESTROYING careers?!?!
6:25 LMAO David said “chutiya!” I can die happy now. My view on the FBI story is this: he says he was “physically harassed” (to what extent, I don’t know, but I’ll take him at his word), so I won’t go so far as to say he outright lied, but he did embellish that shit way too much. I didn’t think the anthrax embellishments were over the line. The real thing was close enough to the story he told.
I think Hasan Minhaj was trying to make jokes. It just wasn't that funny. But the original starting point is to be funny. I think I am just reiterating what Patrice Oneal once said on a news program. The funny starts out the same but the end result was not there. So you saying that it's a Ted talk may be an accurate description but it was not originally set out to be that. Since the purpose was a comedy special instead of a ted talk, would making up stories be acceptable then?
For good political/race/social comedy, besides Dave and Hasan (since you're not a fan of Hasan), see "J.B. Ball | Social Intercourse | It's My Privilege, (like 15 min)" John Oliver of Last Week Tonight, he also does standup, Hari Kondabolu, Roy Wood Jr, Maz Jobrani, Seth Meyers
No one in India really watches this and thinks its realistic. I think I would equate it to the soap operas in the US. Like people being reborn or brains being transplanted etc. The younger generations, especially those that live in urban areas do not tend to watch shows like that unless they have no other options available.
Hasan Minhaj used race to promote his career. His whole apology just shows how desperate he is to gain some respect. You should get the response from the actual 3rd parties.
19:07 alright I promise this last....I can literally summarize any stand-up spacial exactly in the same manner and fashion that he just did for Hasan....
