Laughter Fills Wang Theater as Comedians Hasan Minhaj and Sameer Naseem Give an Enthralling Performance
By Tahir Ali
Boston, MA
It was a lovely evening in Boston, especially in December. The crowd on Tremont Street wrapping around the Wang Theater, was really building up fast. It was the night that world-famous comedian Hasan Minhaj, and our own Sameer Naseem were in town to perform. We - Labiba Ali, Uzma Ali, Sara Khan, Zain Qureshi, Henna Qureshi and yours truly -were equally thrilled and slightly cold standing in line outside the Theater to get in. We eventually got in, got our tickets and met our neighbors - Farooq, Yasmeen, Sarah Ansari and Irshad.
It was a phone-free event; hence everyone's phones were secured in pouches. Sure enough, no recording device other than your own brain was allowed in this event.
From where we were seated the Wang Theater appeared jampacked, and for good reason. Both shows that night at the 3,600-seat theater were fully sold out. The curtains lifted on time with two opening acts, Sameer Naseem’s was one of them. As he introduced himself as a former Bostanian, the theater roared with applause. "My mother always wanted me to be on stage as a comedian. Well, her dream came true, but judging by the number of people who came here because they know her, my mom should be here instead of me."
Sameer's humor was observational and delivered through storytelling, speckled with punchlines. He joked about his recent visit to the DMV and narrated one of his experiences when he brought his wife to the doctor for an ultrasound. The doctors were listening to the baby's heartbeat in the delivery room, and the nurse said out loud, "I can hear two heartbeats!" He replied, "Oh no, my kid has two hearts?" "No, it's twins," the nurse replied as he nearly fainted.
When Hasan Minhaj came up on the stage, I couldn't get a chance to see or hear him, not because I was in the nose-bleed section, but because of the standing ovation Hasan received, and the person standing in front of me was neither short nor transparent. People paid a few thousand dollars just to sit in the front row. Hasan acknowledged those sitting in that row, in his own witty and humorous way. It was quite obvious he wanted the audience to participate and fully engaged, and sometimes would even joke along with them. He revealed a unique experience when in one of his shows a call came from the WH to inform him that there would be a member of the first family, attending. Then he described the scene in his own way, that soon thereafter 'Men-in-Black' were all over the aisles and Ashley Biden was escorted in.
Hasan Minhaj has his pulse on politics, current affairs, show biz and just about everything under the sun. I found Hasan not only witty but a highly intelligent person. The way he was carrying on with his amusing anecdotes and the reaction from the audience showed that they were getting their money’s worth. He threw just about everything at the audience, AI, bit-coin, etc. AI wasn't replacing us but killing us.
Hasan went on for over an hour, wittingly jumping seamlessly from one topic to another while he left the audiences laughing in stiches.
After the show a handful of fans met Hasan Minhas and Sameer, backstage. We tagged along; courtesy of Khalid and Homaira Naseem, the proud parents of Sameer.
Hasan Minhaj’s parents hailed from UP in India. He is a writer, and has acted in a few films too. I asked him whether Ashley Biden was really here in the first show or was that just a joke at the expense of MIB. He responded that he was talking about the show in Philadelphia, and that's where she really attended.
I found Hasan very accommodating, respectful and a down-to-earth person. As we gathered around to have photo sessions with him, I mentioned that I had known Sameer and his family since Sameer was a toddler, and now I had to pay over $200 just to see him. We all laughed as the cameras clicked. Sara Khan took a video of that moment.
Someone backstage remarked jokingly of course, that there wasn't much difference between you and Hasan. Your parents are from UP, India. You both do stage performances (I sing); both are in movies ( I am in: The Fighter, Here Comes the Boom, Equalizer - just to name a few) and you both make people laugh. Amused by his remarks I went along and replied that there is a slight difference: he is laughing to the bank, I am just laughing.
