Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King

As a stand-up comedy special, “Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King” is very funny. But it is also much more than that: Minhaj tells a singular personal narrative that draws equally from comedy pioneer Richard Pryor and monologist Spalding Gray, while integrating projected images to make the piece truly an audiovisual accomplishment, anchored by Minhaj’s surplus of personal charm, boundless energy, and sincere humanity. Since his story wrestles with the struggles of immigration, encounters with stereotypes and raced expectations, and intergenerational acceptance, Minhaj ultimately uses comedy to invite empathy, caring, and understanding. As much as “Homecoming King” is “about” something, linking every joke about M. Night Shyamalan movies, people with spray tans who hate people of color, or pizza ads back to the essentially American story about Minhaj and his family, it never stops being funny. “Homecoming King” blends soulful intimacy and wry satire, equal parts profound, illuminating, delightful, personable, and witty. For this, we honor it with a Peabody Award.