Hasan Minhaj breaks down how he learned to be funny — starting with the Pixar philosophy that everything begins at “suck” and your job is to remove the suck. He explains how Jon Stewart taught him that the take comes first, not the joke, and walks through how he’d construct a bit around private equity and leverage buyouts. He also reflects on the jazz element of comedy — the organized chaos of unscripted riffing — as the next frontier he’s working to master.
Speakers: Hasan Minhaj (guest, comedian and former Daily Show correspondent), Sam Parr (host)
From Suck to Non-Suck: The Pixar Philosophy [00:00:00]
Sam: And how did you get good? Like, when did you go from suck to non-suck? Because I believe everybody starts suck — that’s the Pixar way. I don’t know if you’ve heard this before, but Pixar’s philosophy is: all movies start at suck. Our job is to remove the suck, so there’s non-suck left at the end.
Hasan: Yeah, yeah. I took that approach, man. The Daily Show changed my life, man. Seeing the way Jon Stewart worked — and that institution, both The Daily Show and SNL, love them or hate them, they’re comedy institutions. SNL for 50 years now, The Daily Show for 25. These are pedigree boot camps for understanding the process, for how to think about comedy.
Hasan: One of the things I realized — what Jon taught me and Trevor showed me — Jon really unlocked the code. It’s all about your take. What is your take, and can you back it up? It’s not even about being funny first. It’s: what is the take? What am I trying to say? What am I philosophically, artistically trying to say?
Constructing a Bit: The Private Equity Example [00:02:00]
Sam: Let me give an example. You had in the show last night — you met this private equity guy, and you were like, “What the hell is that?” He’s like, “Oh yeah, we do LBOs.” And you’re like, “Yeah, yeah, what is the leverage?” And as you get to the bottom of it, you’re like: so you use other people’s money to buy other people’s companies, and you ruin the people’s lives in them by firing them and gutting them, making them profitable, and then you flip it to somebody else?
Hasan: Yeah, and you’re like, I’m not cool with that. I think that’s a messed up way to win — it’s like vulture capitalism, just legal stealing.
Sam: Yeah, yeah. That was never your money either. It’s stealing. Well, it’s legal — but just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical, right? Bill Cosby got off legally. We all know what it is.
Hasan: And so that is where the joke starts. That’s my take on leverage buyouts and vulture funds. Then you start tagging it. You can do the Bill Cosby tag — he got off legally, but it’s not right, we all know it was unethical. Or the O.J. tag — the glove didn’t fit. Right, right. And then you start tagging, and the funny just starts flowing from there. You’re like, “that’s like this,” and then you just go.
Writing the Act: Putting Pen to Paper [00:03:30]
Sam: What are you doing — you’re sitting in a room with a few people, just spitballing, riffing, bantering, like that?
Hasan: Yeah, and then eventually you’ve got to put pen to paper. You’ve got to start writing. And when I watch Weekend Update, or when I see an Act One on The Daily Show, or any of those desk segments, I now see the matrix. I know how to construct a seven-and-a-half-minute piece. Last Week Tonight, Patriot Act — I know how to do a 27-minute piece. I know the beats and the flow.
Hasan: What was really cool is it gave me that central philosophy — how do I do this? The first 10, 11, 12 years of my career I was just trying to be funny. And then Jon, in 2014, really helped me unlock that: no, there needs to be an actual process and purpose to what you do. And I’m not saying that as a virtue thing — you just need to understand the game and how to heighten it comedically. Even stupid, silly jokes — even dick jokes — you need to understand the structure. That was the unlock for me. And then just reps, trying to get as good as possible.
The Jazz Element: Organized Chaos [00:05:00]
Hasan: My next thing that I’m working on the most is the jazz part of it. Like, just have fun. That’s always been one of my weaknesses. I’m a Kumon kid — I’m structured. I’m built around fear. And so there are these moments I try to have on stage where I’m just kind of unhinged. Like the first three or four minutes of the set when I’m literally just riffing.
Hasan: When I was making fun of the kids’ shorts — there was a kid in the front row with short shorts, eyes just up on the chair, and then looking back at the seats and seeing people come in late, and riffing off all of that. That’s pure jazz. Jazz has structure, but there’s also play. You can go back to it. It’s that organized chaos that I’m trying to start to tap into.