Perhaps it’s the fact the ceremony traditionally takes place in a tent on a beach. Maybe it’s the early afternoon brunch setting where an abundance of spirits are flowing. Or, maybe it’s the irreverent history of the awards themselves, but the Film Independent Spirit Awards has a legacy beyond recognizing the best in groundbreaking cinema, yes a legacy of landing some of the best awards show hosts in the history of awards shows. This year, Hasan Minhaj will hope to live up to the comedic standard set by his predecessors as he hosts the 2023 edition of the show.
In a statement, John Welsh, president of Film Independent, remarked, “With his unparalleled ability to bring both humor and perception to the issues around us, Hasan Minhaj is the ideal host to help us celebrate these independent artists. We can’t wait to see what surprises he has in store for the Spirit Awards on March 4th.”
Best known for his award-winning series “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” the former “Daily Show with Jon Stewart” correspondent was the guest speaker at the 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner and has appeared in such film and TV projects as “The Spy Who Dumped Me” and “The Morning Show.” His latest standup comedy special, “Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester“ debuted on Netflix this past October.
Minhaj will follow last year’s hosts, Megan Mullaly and Nick Offerman, who, in a bit of a surprise, effectively bombed in the Spirits’ return to an in-person event in 2022 (hey, it happens). That’s a rare occurrence (although Steve Coogan is also on that short list) as the Spirits have traditionally killed it over the decades with Melissa Villaseñor, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani, Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell, Patton Oswalt, Andy Samberg, Rainn Wilson, Joel McHale, Sarah Silverman, Samuel L. Jackson, Queen Latifah, and John Waters, among others, at the helm. In fact, there have been far too many Spirit ceremonies to recall where the collective discourse afterward was “If only they were hosting the Oscars tomorrow.”
The Spirit Awards now purposefully are held on a separate weekend than the Academy Awards. This year’s ceremony should be dominated by A24’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” which leads all films with eight nominations.
The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards will air on Film Independent’s YouTube channel beginning at 2 PM PT on Saturday, March 4.
