4:05

Hasan Minhaj Shares a Tip Anyone Can Use To Be Funnier

Name: Hasan Minhaj Shares a Tip Anyone Can Use To Be Funnier
Uploaded: 2022-07-05T21:32:21.882Z
Duration: 4 min 5 s
Description: Hasan Minhaj explains that the core of comedy is having a clear "take" (a philosophical/artistic point) before trying to be funny, learned from Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. He describes a process of starting with the take, then "tagging" (adding supporting jokes like Bill Cosby or OJ references), then writing. Later he focuses on the "jazz" part—structured improvisation and riffing on stage.

From My First Million · Published Jul 5, 2022 · Watch on YouTube

TL;DR

Hasan Minhaj explains that the core of comedy is having a clear "take" (a philosophical/artistic point) before trying to be funny, learned from Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. He describes a process of starting with the take, then "tagging" (adding supporting jokes like Bill Cosby or OJ references), then writing. Later he focuses on the "jazz" part—structured improvisation and riffing on stage.

Key insights

Pixar’s philosophy is "all movies start at suck"; the job is to remove the suck until nonsuck remains.
Comedy institutions like The Daily Show and SNL are "pedigree boot camps" for understanding the process of comedy.
Jon Stewart taught Minhaj that the priority is "what is your take and being able to back it up" — being funny is secondary.

Want the full analysis - every claim cited to the second it was said?

This page only shows a teaser. Sign up to chat with the complete, cited breakdown of "Hasan Minhaj Shares a Tip Anyone Can Use To Be Funnier".

Chat with this video