Hasan Minhaj walks Sam and Shaan through his full three-hour pre-show ritual: exercise to get out of his head and into his body, dressing like he’s putting on armor, meditation, prayer, espresso, and loosening up with the venue staff. He also talks about watching tape of himself to break bad habits, and how he deliberately adds new material every show to build up variations over years.
Speakers: Hasan Minhaj (guest, comedian/performer), Sam Parr (host), Shaan Puri (host)
The Three-Hour Warm-Up System [00:00:00]
Sam: What’s the system you’ve developed to get on stage and have that switch flipped? Because when you came on, within two seconds it was like — this guy’s in a state of mind. He’s in a state, as we say, of like, he’s here to perform. He knows what he’s here to do. There’s no tiptoeing into it. So I was wondering — what do you do the five, ten minutes before, or an hour before? What’s your warm-up routine?
Hasan: I think you’re ready three hours before. What I do is I like to do some form of exercise. I try to get out of my workout — or you’re just trying to break a sweat? What are you trying to do?
Sam: On tour, it’s just about body maintenance?
Hasan: Yeah, just body maintenance. I’ll do running, I’ll do some pull-ups, some core stuff — just stuff to get my body going and start breaking a sweat. And what I love about right around minute 30 to 45 is I’ll get out of my head and into my body.
So much of life right now — getting out of your head. And it’s funny, I called you randomly — I appreciate you picking up the phone the other day, we had a long conversation, we can get into that later — but so much of what you do and what you put out in the world, I call it like tech-Twitter talk, it’s all in your head. Intellectual, all just heady, anxiety-inducing stuff. Ethereum’s up, Solana’s this — it’s all head shit, right? It’s not a body-feeling thing. Grounding yourself. Two feet on the ground. I’m here in this moment, what do I do?
And so much of performance — to be great at it — the best Chappelle, the best performers, they’re not in their head, they’re in their body. They’re really there. Somebody screams, somebody says something, somebody heckles — they’re in their body. When you watch Steph Curry play, when I watch Devin Booker play, these guys are so in their body. Luca is the best at this. He’s in flow. And Luca is like a kid, and kids do this well.
Shaan: Kids do this pretty naturally.
Hasan: I love that. The older you get, the more heady you get — you gotta fight that. So that’s a great way to get out of my head and get into my body.
Dressing Like Armor [00:05:30]
Hasan: Then I’ll eat something, take a shower, and put on the outfit. For me it’s like a stage uniform. From the watch to the jacket to the pants — putting it on feels like putting on armor. I wanted it to feel like a show. There’s a level of confidence you have when you move into a room and you’re like, “Hey, from my heels all the way up to my head, I’m wearing my armor. I’m coming correct.” You just carry yourself with a little bop. You’re like, no — I feel better about myself, I’m not slouching, there’s no stains on my stuff.
You know what I mean? Like, the moment I saw you today, you walked in wearing your tech pants — I could tell you washed them a few times, but there’s some stains on the back side, you know what I’m saying?
Sam: Yeah.
Hasan: But that feeling of like, no man, when I’m coming in here I’m gonna be fresher than Shaan — that already gives me a feeling of confidence. I know what I’m doing. And by the way, the opener Marcella — Marcella was just dressed to the nines. It’s a feeling.
Meditation and Prayer [00:09:00]
Hasan: Then I get to the show. I finish eating. I’ll meditate — 10 to 15 minutes, just to again get out of my head and drop into my body. Something simple, like Headspace. I’m not getting too crazy about it. And what I love about Headspace specifically is so much of it is just basic breathing, establishing a level of intention.
I’ll meditate, then I’ll pray. For me, prayer is really important because it’s got to be about something bigger than just myself and my corporeal being. I’m like, what am I doing this for? And establishing an intention. For me the intention is: love. Let me give joy to people. I want the seed of everything I’m doing to come from that — not petty energy, angry energy, “I’m gonna prove you wrong” energy. I’m in the laughter business. I’m here to make you feel joy. Establishing that warm feeling before I go on.
Final 30 Minutes: Staff, Notes, New Material [00:13:00]
Hasan: I get to the venue about an hour before. I have a double shot of espresso. I let my bowels do what they do — you always get those jitters, you gotta pee, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Then about 30 to 45 minutes before, I like to be loose just with the staff. Let them know — hey, what’s up, how are you? Door guy, security guy, openers. You know what I mean?
Shaan: Another way to get out of your head, by the way.
Hasan: Yeah. Be with others, be there.
Sam: They’re serving others in a way.
Hasan: Yeah. And then about a half hour before, I’ll go to my green room. I usually write it down — just on hotel notepad paper. “Hey, what are a couple new tags I’m working on tonight?” Just move the ball forward a little. Remind myself, yo, I’m gonna do this.
For example, last night — one of the things I talk about in act one of the show is fertility. A new joke I did was, “You know what it’s like being infertile as a man? I felt like Woody in Toy Story when his arm got ripped off.” That was just one line. I was like, hey, make sure you do the Woody Toy Story line. And every show I try to add a few of these extra moments. You add that up over the course of a year, two years, three years, you start to see what works and what doesn’t work. I’ll have a thousand, three thousand different variations of that.
Getting on Stage: Pure Play [00:17:30]
Hasan: And then I get on stage. By the time I get on stage, there’s just this feeling of — now it’s just pure play. Whatever happens, happens.
When I’m on stage, what I try to do is — when I’m opening in front of my crowd, they’re really hot. One of the things I try to remember is: don’t yell, don’t scream. Try to actually bring them to you. Set the tempo of the game. Don’t get too excited or too hot — you can whip them up, but then sit down at the stool, bring them to you. Make the room feel like it’s coming to you.
Watching Tape [00:19:30]
Sam: Do you ever watch film of yourself?
Hasan: Yeah, I watch tape all the time. And so I see bad habits.
Sam: It’s kind of brutal, huh?
Hasan: Yeah. But it’s cool, actually. Those moments where you’re like — it’s very painful for your ego, but there’s a lot of growth in that. The only way to break through and get to the next level is that part.