Hasan Minhaj, the essential jokes from comedy's next big star
If you didn't know Hasan Minhaj's name before, you definitely knew it after last month's White House Correspondents' Dinner. The Daily Show correspondent made headlines for his ruthless jokes aimed at Donald Trump, even though the U.S. President himself was not present.
Today, Minhaj is releasing his very own comedy special on Netflix called Homecoming King where he tackles topics like dating, race and immigrants — all subjects he's been talking about for years. If you're not familiar with the work of Minhaj, we've broken down some of the comedian's best moments over the years. From his web series to his epic meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, these are the essential jokes by comedy's next big star.
The Truth with Hasan Minhaj
Before he joined Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Minhaj had a web series where he routinely called out racism in pop culture and rooted for representation everywhere. From taking down Ashton Kutcher's offensive PopChips commercial to praising Jeremy Lin, the "half basketball player, half communist robot," as Minhaj describes, Minhaj's short rants were a great combination of humour and social commentary.
2016 Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner
Minhaj had some practice before his big gig at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner. Just last year, he hosted the Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner where he commented on presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
'Congratulations, you didn't play yourself'
Spoofing a Complex interview with producer DJ Khaled, Minaj steps into Khaled's spacious sneaker closet while they go through his many, many shoes (and the elaborate names they have for each of them). Luckily, Minhaj didn't play himself.
Hasan Minhaj vs. Justin Trudeau
In one of Minhaj's most popular Daily Show segments, he takes on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an in-depth interview about welcoming Syrian refugees into the country. Minhaj even goes as far as dressing up in a "Canadian tuxedo," a.k.a. all denim, to meet with Trudeau. In between their discussions about politics, Minhaj snuck in a few fun questions and games too, such as this mini lightning round of "Sorry, Not Sorry."
Rapping for Common
Minhaj is a great comic but when it comes to rapping? Well, best to leave that to people like Common.
White House Correspondents' Dinner
This was the first time in 36 years years that a president had not attended the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, but that didn't stop Minaj from completely roasting Trump. And Minhaj didn't stop at just Trump; he also aimed his jokes at CNN, Kellyanne Conway and Vladimir Putin. Best of all is his analogy comparing the attacks on the media to the feeling of being a minority. Watch the full monologue below.
The victory lap
Minhaj returned to his day job at The Daily Show after the White House Correspondents' Dinner to gloat about his win over Trump. "I kicked power in the balls!" Minhaj says. "You've been trying to take down Trump for a year and a half; I did it in one night." Unfortunately for him, though, Trump is still the president.
— Melody Lau, q digital staff