The upcoming Hasan Minhaj comedy show on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum is more than just laughs as some students relate to Minhaj’s culture and heritage. 

Friends Rehael Mufti, a senior business administration student, and Janani Thoguluva, a senior data analytics student, plan to attend the concert together. 

“I’m gonna go with my friends, my roommate, and my other friends,” Thoguluva said. “I’m really excited for the show.” 

She said she relates to his jokes because Minhaj is Indian and he makes a lot of jokes about that and that his jokes are relatable to the South Asian community. Minhaj is her favorite comedian, she said. Thoguluva is from India, both of her parents were raised in India while she was raised in the United States. 

Mufti is from Pakistan and said she relates to a lot of Minhaj’s comedy even though she is not Indian. She is also Muslim and said that Minhaj has a lot of funny jokes related to being Muslim.

“Him just talking about a South Asian person living in a white country. There’s a lot of things I’m like, OK, yeah, you’re right. And the way he talks about it is pretty funny. The way it makes a joke out of the things, instead of it being super serious,” she said. 

Mufti has been a fan of Minhaj for a few years and has a couple of family members who have seen him live and have said he is, “really good live.” She has been planning to go to the show since it was first announced. 

Russ Driver, director at Beasley Coliseum, said he got an email from a first-generation Pakistani student about the show and how Hasan has been influential in the ethnic community. 

Driver said that after the headline act, which will be about 20 minutes, Hasan’s act will be about an hour long. 

“[Being a] comedian, it’s a taxing thing to go on stage by yourself. There’s no one else to blame. If something goes wrong, I mean, so it’s pretty stressful,” he said. 

Driver said that sales for the concert were as expected. Negotiations for Minhaj to come to WSU started in the summer of 2022. The reason Minhaj was chosen to come to WSU was because “he’s really popular online,” and it is a good show for college-aged students, he said.

When it comes to the show’s finances, the idea is to have ticket sales pay for the artist and make a profit, he said. The settlement for the show is not finalized until the box office closes, so Driver works on the settlement during the show. 

Freshman communications major Grace Kurtenbach is planning to go to the concert with her mom. 

“I think it’s a fun thing to do on parents weekend. My mom’s actually a really big fan. So she’s coming up and I want to spend time with my parents and go see something entertaining,” Kurtenbach said. 

She said her mom has been a fan of Minhaj for a long time. Kurtenbach and her mom would often watch Minhaj on Netflix together at home. She has been planning to go to the comedy show for about four months. 

Freshman Lia Wong said she bought tickets to go to the show the week before spring break because she saw him on “The Daily Show” and loves his comedy. 

“I love his comedy. I listen to him all the time. I’ve watched all of his Netflix specials and everything he’s done on Comedy Central, and his show on Netflix called Patriot Act. I watched all of those. So that’s what made me want to buy the ticket,” Wong said. 

She said she loves that Hasan brings comedic relief to serious things that are happening around the world. One act she enjoyed was when he talked about fast fashion and how big companies make clothes cheaply and it’s unethical. 

Driver said Minhaj is not on tour and rather this is a “one-off” show. All of the material for the show is going to be new. Tickets are still available for those who are interested in going to the show.