On Oct. 4, 2022, five years after his Netflix debut with “Homecoming King” (2017), comedian and TV host Hasan Minhaj returns to Netflix once again with his newest stand-up special: “The King’s Jester.”
In a recent interview with Character Media, Minhaj describes “Homecoming King” as his own underdog story, with an overarching purpose to introduce the world to Brown America. He sees “The King’s Jester” as the continuation of his first special. “It’s about what I believe in and why I believe what I believe in regards to what made me a comedian—how far the line is for me?” he said.
A homage to Shakespeare’s adage about court jesters in “King Lear,” the new special contains themes Minhaj is excited to share with audiences. “It still has that idea of being lower status … we’re barely above magicians and clowns, but we still serve as this thing in society where we can tell the truth but there is a line,” he said. “There was so much imagery in all of that, this idea of the line [while] poking and needling people in power. Understanding [and] interrogating myself on what my line should be, ‘The King’s Jester’ just felt like this perfect way to encapsulate it and have it serve as the next chapter after ‘Homecoming.’”
Minhaj also revealed that his wife, Beena Patel, served as a co-writer on the special, saying, “She goes, ‘Write your ideas and perform them. Please do them at venues with 100 people or less, get the joke in working order and then present it to me. We can chat about it, I can tweak it, I can edit it, before you take it out to theaters and definitely before you record a special.’”
The comedian emphasized the creative partnership between him and his wife as an integral part of his personal creative process: “That’s a part now of my comedy writing and performing journey, I don’t just speak for myself, I’m part of a family, I’m part of a unit,” he said. “Hopefully, I make them proud.”
We’re excited for Minhaj to return to the screen with his incisive and hilarious social commentary. Watch the full interview above, and stream “The King’s Jester” now on Netflix!
