“Hate” seems an odd choice for the name of a comedy show, but it makes perfect sense to “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” alum Shaun Majumder.
He makes a stop here in Greater Sudbury March 1 as part of his stand-up tour, which includes shows in Ontario, Alberta and in Majumder's native Newfoundland.
In December 2016, Majumder, whose mother is of European descent and father originally from West Bengal, starred in a satirical short on “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” entitled “Beige Power.”
It called for white supremacists to "embrace the beige" and accept that humans will all "look the same by the year 3000.”
Majumder — who as a biracial man identifies as “beige” himself — said he wrote the sketch in response to some of the context surrounding the election of U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016.
He said when he put out the video, “The Nazis went crazy” and took it as him creating propaganda to “promote white genocide.”
“It was just nuts,” he said. “I couldn't believe it. The comedian in me thought 'I've got to talk about this.'
“I started writing material around it, and the more I wrote, the more I started seeing more stories about hate.
“And now Donald Trump was elected, there seemed to be this new energy around people feeling more open to be able to speak about it.”
Of course, Majumder has a lot more time to write these days.
In August 2018, Majumder, who was with “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” for about 15 years, and even won a Gemini for his work on the series in 2006, was not hired back as a cast member on the long-running CBC comedy show, which cited creative differences.
But it gives him time to do stand-up comedy, which he's always loved — “it's so fun,” he said — and he's also developing TV show ideas to pitch to networks.
“This is great,” Majumder said.
“It's opened up everything in front of me for a new chapter to begin, kind of scratching and clawing from the bottom. Well, not really scratching and clawing, but in your mind, it is, because there's no guarantees in this industry.”
His show covers everything from Trump to Canadian racism — Majumder said anti-immigrant sentiment is even on the rise in Newfoundland, which is normally known as welcoming.
It features him singing, showing video and looking at some of the nasty tweets he received in the wake of the “Beige Power” piece.
“I even Skype with myself to find out what really happened on 22 Minutes,” he said. “So yeah, it's a different kind of show, and it's fun, but even throughout all of it, you're left with a feeling of optimism, and it's positive.”
The Sudbury show begins at 8 p.m. Friday, March 1 at Laurentian University's Fraser Auditorium.
Tickets to the show cost $61 each, and are available through the Sudbury Theatre Centre box office. Visit sudburytheatre.com.
