When big opportunities come your way, it’s hard to say no. Hasan Minhaj was already booked as one of the guest hosts for “The Daily Show” the week of February, 27th. Then the chance to host the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, March 4th came his way. Even with just one day to get from New York to Los Angeles and to prep in-between, it was something he couldn’t turn down.
Speaking to The Playlist earlier this week, Minhaj says, “When they asked me, I was like, ‘Timing’s not great, but I got to do it.’ The Film Independent Spirit Awards I think is one of the funnest awards shows out of the gamut of award shows that I’ve seen, in the sense that it’s really fun and silly and irreverent and wacky, and that part of it really intrigued me.”
If anyone could pull it off, it’s Minhaj. The Orange County native has been the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents Dinner, won two Peabody Awards (yes, two), and starred in an off-broadway one-man show, among other achievements, all before turning 38 years old. Oh, and he’s still hitting the basketball court as he participated in his third NBA All-Star Weekend celebrity game this past weekend.
Those topics, and the question of whether he’d be up for replacing Trevor Noah permanently at “The Daily Show,” were just some of the subjects discussed during our conversation earlier this week.
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The Playlist: I know you were just at the NBA All-Star weekend for the Celebrity Game. Was this your second or third time doing it?
Hasan Minhaj: This was my third time doing it.
I missed watching it live but the highlights made it look like it was one of the more physical competitive celebrity games in a long time.
The NBA celebrity game was more intense than the actual NBA All-Star game. It was so intense. I played with DK Metcalf. I don’t know if you’re a football fan, but DK Metcalf is one of the most naturally gifted, talented human beings on earth. And yeah, if you just go to ESPN, you can just see him sledgehammering on civilians. It’s pretty crazy.
He was going for hard physical blocked shots. I’m like, “Is this a flagrant? What’s going on?” Do you think the other people who got involved were surprised it was a tougher game than they thought?
There’s two camps in the game. There’s people that are playing for 10-day NBA contracts, and then there’s people that are trying to not blow out their ACLs. I was in the latter.
Is that weekend fun?
Oh, it’s a blast. Yeah. For me, as a kid who grew up watching the NBA every weekend, the NBA on NBC, growing up during the kind of MJ era, the NBA was probably the most defining sports organization in my life. And to me, it’s like my one weekend a year where I truly get to be a kid and just a fan. And getting to see and hang with all the players and the fans is just amazing. It’s surreal.
You’ve got a very busy couple of weeks because you are also hosting “The Daily Show” next week for four days and then hosting the Spirit Awards. Which did you agree to first and are you regretting doing both over six days?
Yeah, I think “The Daily Show” timing came in first, and then we booked the Independent Spirit Awards. But when they asked me, I was like, “Timing’s not great, but I got to do it.” The Film Independent Spirit Awards I think is one of the funnest awards shows out of the gamut of award shows that I’ve seen, in the sense that it’s really fun and silly and irreverent and wacky, and that part of it really intrigued me.
Have you ever been, by the way?
I’ve never been, but I’ve watched quite a lot of them from the previous years and they were all fantastic. They’re all so great, especially when I would watch the opening monologues.
What’s sort of amazing about it is very few people bomb the Spirit Awards, and I don’t know what it is. Because I’ve been there, and then I’ve watched the footage back, not inebriated, and it’s still funny.
So you tell me, why is everyone having such a good time and just goofing? Everyone’s in a good vibe.
I’ll be really honest, I’ve only seen two people bomb. I’ve gone for 15 performances in a row. Well, there was the virtual one, which was Melissa Villaseñor I think?
Yeah, Melissa.
Yeah, she killed it considering the constraints. But Steve Coogan? Utter bomb, just stunning. The room, everyone was excited for him. He bombed. And then last year’s hosts did not have the best run. But in general? I don’t know, it’s in the middle of the afternoon. It’s sunny. It shouldn’t work, but it does. You’re doing a show where you don’t have to worry about commercials, right?
No, not at all.
So in theory, it should be totally freeing. Do you feel that going into it?
Yeah. I don’t feel pressure at all. I feel like it’s going to be so fun. And the giveaway was every year I’ve seen it, when they do the cutaways and the bits with the audience, the audience is in on it. They’re like, “Sure, you can roast me. I have no problem with that.”
Yeah, no one there I feel like is taking it super seriously whatsoever. And if they are, they probably shouldn’t be there, even though it’s a prestigious award. But you’ve got “The Daily Show,” you have to prep for that, are you doing your Spirit Award stuff early? What’s the plan?
Yeah, I’m doing both in tandem right now. So it’s like half my day is “Daily Show” stuff, half my day is this stuff, which is really, it’s just, it’s fun.
Have they told you how much time you have to actually do bits?
There is a breakdown of the show, but what’s really cool is because we don’t have those traditional commercial breaks, the flexibility of: do you want the monologue to go longer, do you want these interstitials to be shorter? We get to determine how we want to shape and curate the whole thing, which is great. Trust me as a person who, again, I came up on “The Daily Show,” half hour, seven and a half minute act one, eight-minute act two. I’m so used to playing to and writing to the commercial break that having this freedom is awesome.
Is there a goal this year to make sure the show isn’t three hours or three and a half or four hours because there are no commercials?
I guess the goal will be, I’m not going to light anybody like it’s a comedy club. But I think if the flow is good, if the vibe is right, if people feel good, like, “Hey, let’s just go with the flow.” I don’t think anybody likes bombing. So, I feel pretty confident we’ll run up a relatively tight ship.
Do you sing? Could there be a musical number? Will you have an Aubrey Plaza or Ariana De DeBose moment?
I know that Aubrey Plaza did a musical number. I can’t top that, so I’m going to lean into my strengths. Yeah, so we may use screens and we may use props.
Have you watched any of the nominated films? Do you even feel like that’s necessary?
No. I’ve watched the nominated films. And there are really good ones. What’s really cool is, it’s not just films. It’s TV shows as well and just the sheer gamut of genre-defying, genre-pushing work between “Abbott Elementary,” which is obviously on a network, “The Bear,” which is incredible, “Mo,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Tar”. There are just so many different types of film and TV projects, it’s just so cool. It really does feel like a celebration. It’s not confined even to one type or style of film or TV show.
I know you don’t want to spoil anything. Have you been able to recruit any of the nominees to record anything with you? Or is it too tight with you being in New York first?
We’re still really early and we’re putting out the asks right now, so we’ll see who’s game and who’s not. But I think everyone’s going to say yes.
I hope they say yes. Before I let you go, I just wanted to ask, I know you’ve been part of “The Daily Show” before and so many people have been guest-hosting the past few weeks. Do you know if this a real audition? Or are they looking for someone outside of all these people?
I feel like what the show is doing brilliantly is showing the possibilities of what is possible behind that desk and really invigorating excitement behind the brand. Leslie [Jones] did an amazing job. She made it her own. Wanda [Sykes] did as well, Chelsea [Handler], Sarah [Silverman], D.L. [Hugley], and now I’m coming in. So, it’ll just be really great to see how, as people continue to do their guest weeks, what’s possible behind the desk. And the one thing I will say that’s been really cool to see is you don’t know what you’re going to get because every week it’s changing. So you certainly have that tune-in factor. You’re like, “I don’t know what Leslie Jones is going to do. Wait, what’s Hasan going to do on Monday?” I don’t know. We’ll see.
But is it a gig that you would consider taking if they offered it full-time?
I think it’s a conversation worth having. It’s certainly been one of the most defining parts of my career. But I’ll say this, I love that institution so much, I just want to see it do great. Sincerely, when I was there and Jon was the host, you pour your all into it, when Trevor was the host and we worked together, you pour your all into it. This next iteration of it is going to be great, and I’m here to help in any way that I possibly can. I mean that sincerely.
The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, March 4 at 2 PM and broadcast live on Film Independent’s YouTube channel.
