Sactown Magazine - November-December 2022

Forever (530)

Davis native Hasan Minhaj wears his hometown pride on his sleeve—or sometimes on his sleeveless Kings jersey signed by ’90s-era point guard Bobby Hurley, which he proudly keeps in his New York office. The former Daily Show correspondent and Patriot Act host also filmed his first Netflix comedy special, Homecoming King, here at the Mondavi Center in 2017, and steadfastly refuses to part with his 530 Davis area code number. With his new one-man show, The King’s Jester, now streaming on Netflix, he talks to Sactown about honing his comedy chops at Laughs Unlimited and Punch Line, loving the new vibe of midtown Sacramento, feeling the lingering pain of the Kings’ crushing Western Conference Finals loss 20 years ago, and bringing that “I gotta make up for 2002” energy to NYC.

Q&A with Dr. Shani Buggs of UC Davis' Violence Prevention Research Program

Gun violence in the United States has become associated with polarized news cycles emerging from deadly mass shootings. But what causes those shootings? And what can we learn about gun violence from the nearly 99% of American firearm deaths that aren’t linked to mass shootings? Dr. Shani Buggs seeks to answer these questions and many others in her work with the Sacramento-based Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis, shedding new light on the ways that race, trauma, economic insecurity and intimate partner tragedies intersect with guns—and how violence can be stopped at the community level and beyond.

A Comedy Giant

Jimboy’s Tacos, Tower Records and Sunrise Mall. As Brian Posehn gets ready to take the stage at Punch Line and release a new special this December, the “forever nerdy” 6-foot-7 stand-up comic—who is also a proud metalhead and Dungeons & Dragons podcast host—shares tall tales (literally) from his childhood and how he got his comedy start right here in River City.