THE LION TAMER

With Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj jabs pitch-perfect humour at some serious foes – and the crowd roars

- Sloane Crosley

HASAN MINHA J DID WELL AT SCHOOL . While this may seem like an arbitrary introduction to the 34-year-old host of Netflix's Patriot Act, one designed to make him cringe – it is – it’s also one of the most salient points about him.

FIRST OF ALL, he brings it up all the time. He brought it up when he was a correspondent for The Daily Show. He brought it up in his Peabody Award-winning stand-up special, Homecoming King (‘not good for an Indian kid!’). He brought it up on the inaugural episode of Patriot Act, a show that received an unprecedented 32-episode order before it aired. He’s in on the self-infantilising nature of the joke, of the ridiculousness of holding on to suburban disappointments, but therein lies the core of Hasan Minhaj. ‘When I was developing Homecoming King, we had some really heated conversations where my cocreator was like, “Dude, come on, your first love didn’t want to go to matric dance with you. Your spine isn’t getting shattered in the back of a police car.” But I pushed back. Why does the collateral damage always have to be death for the story to be valid? Why does our story have to be steeped in poverty or porn for it to matter?’

He continues down a familiar path, widening his eyes, which are already puppy-dog-like, even when he’s not being sarcastic.

‘Oh, my name’s Hasan Minhaj. I grew up in the gullies of Mumbai and never thought I’d make it to America,’ he mocks. ‘Like, we can’t get Lena Dunham freedom? We can’t just say “Dating’s hard”.’