When Applause Break expressed hope a couple weeks ago that the Hasan Minhaj news cycle would soon pass, we sincerely hoped that would be true.
We also knew better. Luckily we didn’t stop monitoring the stories.
The latest to call out against Minhaj is Bill Maher, who equated Minhaj with Jussie Smollett – the Chicago-based actor who faked an attack supposedly perpetrated by Donald Trump supporters.
Because the topic is once again fresh (there may be even more comments now that the writer’s strike is over and late night hosts are back to work) today’s Stand-Up Spotlight also includes a couple more takes on Minhaj and stretching the truth for the sake of a joke.
There’s also a comedy-centric look back at Netflix’s first inhouse production, and a look into what comedy legend Eddie Murphy is up to these days.
Funny, it seems, is all around us – even if world events seem to be conspiring against it.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – October 9, 2023
Maher torches Hasan Minhaj’s ’emotional truth’ after faking racism stories: ‘If Jussie Smollett did stand-up’
“Real Time” host Bill Maher closed his show Friday night by torching fellow comedian Hasan Minhaj over his so-called “emotional truth” after various stories he told about alleged racism he faced ended up being fake.
Minhaj, best known as a former correspondent for “The Daily Show,” was the subject of a damning profile published by The New Yorker where he was forced to admit that claims he made about bigotry he has faced as a Muslim American and a person of color in his stand-up comedy didn’t actually happen.
Of course standup comedians can bend the truth – just not like Hasan Minhaj did
“Sometimes truth and sometimes total BS.” That’s how Whoopi Goldberg defined standup comedy last week. “That’s what we do, we tell stories and we embellish them.” That’s one way of putting it. Goldberg was speaking in defence of her fellow standup Hasan Minhaj, a campaigning satirist who is among the frontrunners to succeed Trevor Noah as host of The Daily Show.
Minhaj was the subject of a New Yorker exposé that revealed several routines in his acclaimed Netflix specials Homecoming King and The King’s Jester – routines that detail his personal experience of racism and persecution – were based on lies.
Is “Truth” Required in Comedy? Why the Hasan Minhaj Drama Is Complicated
The line between lying and joking in comedy isn’t clear-cut.
Last week, I was watching John Mulaney’s Baby J special on Netflix, where he delves into his drug addiction, intervention, and subsequent trip to rehab. He tells a story about visiting a disreputable doctor who, Mulaney says, never gave out his last name and ended each visit by telling him to take his shirt off so he could administer a flu shot. I was laughing, but then a thought occurred to me that took me out of the experience: Did this really happen the way John describes or is he exaggerating for effect?
Remembering The Comedians Of Comedy, Netflix’s First True Original Production (A Quasi-Oral History)
If I asked you to name the first original production from Netflix, what would you say? An educated guess might bring you to “House of Cards” or “Lilyhammer,” and that’s a fair assessment. While the former was Netflix’s first piece of original programming produced specifically for the company’s streaming service (released in February of 2013), the latter technically has the honor of being Netflix’s first original streaming production (premiering on Netflix in February of 2012), even though it was only partially funded by Netflix and actually premiered in Norway first under the TV network NRK1.
What is Eddie Murphy doing now – why he stopped making movies
In the 1980s and 1990s, Eddie Murphy’s name was synonymous with comedy. From a dynamic debut at 19 on Saturday Night Live to commanding center stage in cinematic juggernauts like 48 Hrs, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America, Eddie’s star was ascendant. This quick-witted, edgy comedian swiftly cemented his status as a Hollywood powerhouse.
