Two Saturdays ago my boyfriend and I rode an Uber across a very crowded 405 to see the spectacle I’d been planning to see for the last three months. Hasan Minhaj, an increasingly famous Indian-American comedian with multiple specials on Netflix, hosted a two-day, 14,000-person, sold-out show at Microsoft Theater a few weekends ago. Little did I know how this experience would shape how I thought of and portrayed my own identity as a second-generation queer Indian American.
Despite there being a huge line, limited cell phone service and a very shady Uber encounter, the anxiety from the day melted away as we took our seats and the show began. The 7,000-person audience was hit with a bonanza of graphics and sounds akin to any high-stakes concert as the King himself took to the stage. The next two hours were filled with what can only be described as an extremely emotionally charged storyline packed into a comedy shtick. There were multiple moments throughout where the waterworks took full force out of laughter and mirth as much as genuine empathy. Hasan shared as much about the hilariously relatable parts of his life as the struggles he had to overcome as a rising celebrity. From deep topics involving family, targeted hate and even a chase from a foreign embassy, I learned more about the life of the up-and-coming star than I had ever known before. Experiencing the show for myself gave me a moment to reflect on parts of my own life that have been shaped by my identity and the overall unexpected turns that life offers.
As good as the laughs from the show were, I think the biggest takeaway was the way Hasan could package even his deepest struggles into a comedic line meant to leave the audience shaking from laughter. Using comedy as a vehicle for expressing things that are often hard to talk about is something I’ve done my whole life, yet somehow in the past, I’ve thought of it more as a coping mechanism in awkward situations rather than a tool for empowerment.
Coming back from experiencing the show also shed some light on how I could use comedy in my own life to express the struggles I’ve faced with my identity that others haven’t necessarily experienced. As a person of color who just came out as bisexual at the beginning of the year, it’s been a tough personal journey coming out to the important people in my life. I think leveraging my inclination to lean towards comedy to ease awkward or difficult situations could allow for this process to be a bit easier going forward. After all, comedy is meant to bring people’s guards down before packing a memorable punch. What better way to tell my story and make it something memorable?