American comedian and actor Hasan Minhaj will be visiting Penn. SPEC Connaissance, the branch of Special Events and Planning Committee responsible for bringing speakers to campus, originally announced that the comedian would be coming to Irvine Auditorium on April 3. They later announced on Mar. 28 that he would not be able to come "due to unexpected circumstances."
The event, titled "A Comedy Night with Hasan Minhaj," has been rescheduled to April 10. SPEC said in a Facebook post that students who bought tickets to the April 3 performance will not be able to refund them, but "are more than welcome to sell your tickets on your own or on our event page." They are, however, reopening student ticket sales on Locust Walk on Monday, April 2nd at 10am to adjust for possible fluctuations in attendance.
SPEC Connaissance Co-Director Natasha Allen (C'19) explained that although Minhaj had been confirmed to speak on April 3rd, when SPEC reached back out for a secondary confirmation, his team explained that he was no longer available for that date. They provided a list of dates to reschedule the event for, and SPEC decided on April 10th.
Minhaj currently serves as a Senior Correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, who spoke on campus last fall in a joint event put on by SPEC Connasissance and SPEC-Trum, the branch of SPEC that represents minorities on campus. Minhaj is also know for his acclaimed Netflix show Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King. Minhaj previously visited Penn in August 2014, as one of New Student Orientation's Comedy Night performers.
The event will be held in Irvine Auditorium at 8pm, instead of 7pm as was previously scheduled. As differentiated from speaker events in semesters past, Hasan Minhaj will be beginning the event with a 45–minute stand–up show followed by an audience question and answer session.
This comedy performance is a break from previous years, Natasha explained, and will also present an exciting opportunity for Minhaj to speak about his identities through humor.
"He is the son of immigrants, he is Muslim, and he is South Asian, so I don't think that that's something that Connaissance has explored in the few years that I've been here," SPEC Connaissance Co-Director Natasha Allen (C'19) explained.
The newly scheduled event on April 10th will also see the addition of a moderated discussion in between the stand–up show and Q&A session.
"For the new event we actually have a moderator, Fariha Khan, she's in the ASAM (Asian American Studies) department," Natasha explained.
Natasha, along with her Co-Directors Amaka Okonneh (C'19) and Shea Tarnow (C'19), was responsible for organizing Minhaj's visit to Penn. They offered to let Professor Khan moderate a discussion with Minhaj, after she expressed interest in meeting with him.
"I'm really excited to see how the Penn community reacts," Natasha said.
Tickets are $5 for Penn students and $30 for the general public, and will be sold until capacity is reached. Check out the Facebook event for more details!
