MINHAJ: ‘Never stopped fighting’

From Page A1 moonlighting as a comedian at open mics every night in San Francisco.

According to UC Davis’ alumni stories, Minhaj said that while he was a student at UC Davis, he found a way to bring all these bigger comedians from San Francisco to town. “It gave me a great opportunity to perform for people who would end up becoming a huge deal, people like W. Kamau Bell, Arj Barker, Ali Wong. Not only did the headliners agree to come and let me open for them, but people actually filled the lecture halls. And then someone wrote about it in The Aggie. I couldn’t believe it.”

He stuck with it, and Oct. 9, 2014, his life changed forever. He was the last correspondent hired by Jon Stewart to be on Stewart’s version “The Daily Show.” He had been doing stand-up for 10 years, one month, and nine days, he said at the class of 2015 graduation. “I wasn’t the funniest I was not the brightest; I was not the tallest I’m not the best-looking, all those things I’m not. But I never stopped fighting through the pick (a reference to not being picked for the basketball team).”

At UC Davis, he met his future wife Beena Patel and married her 10 years later.

The rest is history and his accomplishments are many. He was the featured speaker of the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Homecoming King, his first stand-up comedy special was released on Netflix in 2017 and won him his first Peabody Award. He hosted the Patriot Act for which he won his second Peabody Award.

This year’s UCD undergraduate graduation will be held for the first time at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

— Contact Monica Stark at monica@davisenterprise.net.