Davis-Born Comedian Hasan Minhaj Uses Humor To Tackle Serious Topics
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A comedian from Davis is using humor to tackle serious topics.
Hasan Minhaj made a name for himself by offering his comedic take on a wide range of stories for his show Patriot Act. His work has earned him two Peabody awards and he often takes on heavy topics like drug pricing, censorship in China and student loans.
"Comedy is a really great art form in the sense that it's about building pressure through a premise and then releasing it through a punchline," said Minhaj. "If there's ever been tenser time for our country, I think now is that time."
On Sunday, he will take on another difficult topic — he appeared on CBS This Morning to talk about the fentanyl epidemic.
"Fentanyl is the third wave of the opioid epidemic, and we talk about Oxy, but this is a whole new beast," the comedian said. "I know people that have lost their lives to fentanyl and so it was one of those things where I really wanted to talk about it because we can't defeat this opioid epidemic until we get a grapple and a hold on fentanyl."
Minhaj is a Davis high school graduate, and you can watch his show Patriot Act on Netflix on Sundays.
