Controversial NorCal comic Hasan Minhaj announces San Francisco shows

Comedian Hasan Minhaj is going on tour in early 2024 and will make three stops near his Northern California birthplace, including two at San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium on Feb. 9, 2024. But Minhaj’s reputation as comedy’s darling, and heir apparent to Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah at the Daily Show, has taken a hit in recent months. 

The tour announcement comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding alleged fabrications and embellishments in Minhaj’s standup.

Earlier this year in a profile in The New Yorker, journalist Clare Malone accused Minhaj, who grew up in Davis, Calif., of making up some stories in his 2022 special “The King’s Jester.” Among other points, Malone alleged that Minhaj misled viewers about incidents where he said he received powder he believed was anthrax and where he was slammed against a police vehicle by an FBI agent.

Minhaj responded to Malone’s piece with a 20-minute video statement. While he admitted to taking artistic license in telling what he calls “emotional truths,” Minhaj called the New Yorker article “needlessly misleading.”

As recently as this year, the comedian was considered the frontrunner to take over for Trevor Noah at the Daily Show. Minhaj had already hosted his own Netflix comedy news show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” and had filled in as a guest host for the Daily Show after Noah’s departure. But Vanity Fare reported in October of this year, a month after the New Yorker article published, that Minhaj was “out of the running” to host the Daily Show.

Minhaj’s two San Francisco performances are both scheduled for Friday, Feb. 9, with one show at 6:30 pm and one at 9:45 pm at the Masonic Auditorium. 

He’s also set to play a homecoming show in Sacramento, next to his hometown of Davis, at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 29.