“Don’t think of this as a Netflix show compromising… Think of this as a Youtube video, overachieving” is what host Hasan Minhaj said opening the 6th volume of his political-satire show: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Yes, entitled after the 2001 Act signed into law by President Bush).
The Netflix show postponed its “usual” production: Minhaj standing on an LED stage, with a crowd of people cheering on his wit as emmy-winning graphics flew across the screen; and instead developing it into “Quarantine Edition”. We see Minhaj stand in front of a greenscreen with his usual charisma, as if nothing’s changed. In contrast to the usual liveliness of the audience, it is a bit peculiar when there aren’t any reactions to his punchlines. I find myself laughing and then looking around my environment… is this odd?
Yes, the lack of the usual party is odd… but at least it did not resort to the artificial crowd-laughter.
In Episode three of Volume 6, he blatantly slams Trump and explains how America has reached 31% of the world’s covid cases. Minhaj uses statistics to enumerate how their president was unable to act efficiently. It may seem like it comes from a purely oppositional stance, but he plays his cards supported with facts, logic, and science. It’s not the kind of information that condemns but one that broadly opens up the conversation. The fact that Hasan Minhaj can still humorously deliver the same tone of conviction and aphorism is how he expands the spectrum of patriotism.
9.5/10: Unlike Ellen, George Bush is not his friend
