hasan minhaj toronto

Hasan Minhaj was amazed by how beautiful people in Toronto are

Hasan Minhaj has fallen in love with Toronto, but it took some immense pressure from none other than blogTO to make it happen.

The comedian and television personality has been soaking in the experiences and culture of the city this summer with four sold-out shows at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in June for his one-man show, The King's Jester.

He returned this weekend to participate in the Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association (CCYAA) Celebrity Classic basketball game with headliner and former Toronto Raptor Jeremy Lin.


Minhaj — who became a household name with his Netflix series Patriot Act and his time as a correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah — spoke to reporters at the CCYAA Celebrity Classic, and blogTO was there to address… uh… the elephant in the room.

"You guys cyberbullied me into coming," joked Minhaj (I hope).

"Can we talk about that? Can we turn this on the journalism and Instagram community real quick? You guys put me in an emotional headlock and demanded that I came here."

Jokes aside, Minhaj had kind words about Toronto, ranking it as one of the best places to perform a comedy show among cities known for their comedy scenes, like New York and Los Angeles.

But he also had plenty to say about our diverse and attractive population, an opinion shared by former NBA star-turned analyst, famous Toronto-lover, and occasional movie genie Shaquille O'Neal.

"Everybody in the city is like... gorgeous and beautiful. When I was walking around I'm like 'oh my god,' everyone just looks like out of a fashion catalogue."

When Minhaj says we're beautiful, he isn't  just talking about aesthetics. He thinks that our interwoven fabric of cultures is beautiful on a different level, remarking how "Everyone's this beige mix of the future."

"They're like the love child of Drake and Bruno Mars. They're like 'you're the most beautiful Sudanese-Egyptian-Indian-Pakistani-Filipino person I've ever met in my life.'"

"It's really beautiful. It's the future."

Lead photo by

Kris Pangilinan


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