The Expat Brat
Comedian and Theater Improviser, Salman Qureshi shares his outrageous takes on life, current news, sports and the showbiz life. An Eastern kid raised on Sesame Street, Salman shares his stories of life as a Third Culture Kid.
The Expat Brat
The Hawk Tuah Heard Around the World
Can a brief internet sensation eclipse years of dedicated artistic work? Join me, Salman Qureshi, as I unpack this provocative question by reflecting on the meteoric rise of Haley, an unexpected internet star, and its impact on seasoned artists. I delve into the allure of authenticity and the unpolished moments that captivate audiences, drawing parallels with Justin Bieber's calculated ascent and Steve Martin's distinctive comedic flair. The episode emphasizes the importance of putting your work out there and trusting the audience to find you.
Moving on to a more critical note, I share my thoughts on the recently released Eddie Murphy film (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F), which left me yearning for more creativity and suspense. The lackluster narrative and predictable villain played by Kevin Bacon spark a discussion about the pitfalls of artistic comfort. I also explore what could have been a game-changing move for Eddie Murphy—a return to stand-up comedy—and ponder the fear of failure that holds many artists back. Through a personal anecdote about fan feedback, I underscore the significance of risk-taking in the creative journey. Tune in for a candid and thought-provoking exploration of the highs and lows in the world of entertainment.
I grew up confused about my culture and identity and felt out of place most of the time, until I found comedy which forced me to be honest with myself and I realized mostly I'm just an expat brat. Welcome to my show. I'm Salman Qureshi. Alright, everyone, hawk 2. Alright, let's get this out of the way. If, at this point, you don't know what that meant, then you clearly don't spend enough out of the way. All right, if, at this point, you don't know what that meant, then you clearly don't spend enough time on the internet. Actually, you don't have to spend enough time on the internet. You just have to be like around the internet for like five seconds and you'll know what it means. And that's so interesting to me.
Speaker 1:This whole thing is just gone viral of this girl I think her real name is Haley and the whole thing that she for five seconds. She's on camera for five ten seconds where she says two lines, and now she's more famous than so many artists who have been working at their craft for years. Now. All right, listen, listen. I'm not against her being famous and going viral. I think too many people, too many artists and too many comics particularly. They're always like cribbing about someone else, having gone viral while they're working really hard on their craft and no one ever saw that. And it's always this sob story that you got to get over about. In fact, if anything, it's actually a really cool kind of thing to look at. You know, early on in the years ago I would really sit there and wonder what the hell happened, like, why does this stuff go viral? You're trying to figure it out and then I think for me, one of the things that stands out and every artist should probably think about it is the fact that what we love about these moments is it's funny, sure, but it's also just really. She's just like unheld back. She's honest, just like unheld back, she's just honest. It's refreshing. It doesn't look polished up, and we love that kind of stuff. That's the truth of it. We were just so tired of people marketing stuff at us so much that when we watch these moments, we're just captivated by it, and I think that's the deep down reason why it goes so viral.
Speaker 1:You can't manufacture this stuff. Well, you could, probably. Who knows. If you've heard the justin bieber story, then you know that this stuff can be manufactured. Actually, now that I speak out loud about it, if you don't know the story basically his dad or one of his producers, if I remember the story correctly. They basically planted him as playing in the garage, as an amateur kid and stuff like that, and so the video looked very homemade, but it was very designed to be like that. So, hey, I just canceled my own point, but it doesn't take away. Look, this is what I want artists to take away from this. All right, to stop cribbing about it. It's too many of you online whining and going why does this stuff go viral? You got to think about the fact.
Speaker 1:The next time you're putting out something, you got to remind yourself look, you don't know what people will love, and that's the beauty of art. That's the hardest thing as artists to get over is about just putting it out there and then you don't know how people will react. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. A lot of people might love it. No one might love it. You can't control that. It's out of your control. What you can do, what's in your control, is to do your bit. All right, that's all you can do. You do your bit and your bit as a comic or whatever other art form you're in. You know what Anything creative, anything you're doing out there. Well, even if it's a report in a boring corporate job where you have to give something back to your boss and you're worried about how that report will look, I tell all of the same people the same thing. Right, you guys, just put it out there. Once you're done with it, once you've worked hard at it, whatever you could look at, just put it out there without worrying about how, what the impact will be at that point, because it's out of your control, all right.
Speaker 1:So next time, when that little critic in your brain is like I don't think this joke will work or I don't know if this piece will be taken, well, put it out there and see, and you can always just, you know, just wipe it off and move on, all right. And if it goes viral for the wrong reasons, it's still going viral. You got what you wanted, right, which is what is it? What's the old saying? No bad, nothing's bad? Well, my God, I'm forgetting the line. Is it? No publicity is bad publicity, or, yeah, something like that? Right, you get what I'm talking about. So just put it out there, because, because when you look at certain artists like um, there's another story I love is about steve martin and uh, if you're aware of his stand-up comedy in the 70s, he kind of changed it quite a lot because he was so different.
Speaker 1:It was uh, it was against what everyone else was talking about. So, you know, when it was going through this phase of a lot of politics and whatnot, he had like, uh, completely absurd, uh crazy, irrelevant stuff in his piece and he started using props and and whatnot and it was a whole different kind of joke, telling from the traditional stand-up stuff. And the story supposedly goes that you know, he, what he said something along the lines was I, I didn, was he didn't look for his audience, he didn't change his stuff for the audience, he just did his stuff and then his audience found him. So he talks about how he just grew because people who liked that told other people who liked it, and so his audience just kept building until he became this mega star.
Speaker 1:And I think it's hard to do. It's easier to say it's hard to do as artists to kind of go okay, I'm going to keep doing what I like, because we want instant gratification, we want people to immediately start loving our stuff. We want to. In today's terms, it's all about like I want to go viral immediately. In today's terms, it's all about like I want to go viral immediately, and I get why. It just opens a lot more doors, right? So if you're famous, if you're known, you're bound to be gigging more. It's easier to get booked, it's easier to fly around. The whole lifestyle seems so much better and you know it's what everybody as an artist wants is more freedom to do what they want instead of doing awful gigs and and and. If it's written for you, you'll get there, right? I'm not so over the top about like destiny and stuff. I think you gotta put out there. But at the same time, yeah, you gotta put it out there and see what happens.
Speaker 1:And if you become this next phenomena, this girl, uh, I think people are so much better at handling fame like she's. She's smart about it. Her friends rallied around her. Apparently her hats have already sold for like 65 000, not one hat like. They're going for like 30 to 50, depending on whether they're signed by her or not. Um, but it's cool.
Speaker 1:Know, people are remixing the stuff. It's fun. You got to look at the fun side of these things as well instead of just constantly being self-obsessed and worrying about how it came out for you. I find it silly. All right, it's not stuff I look out for, but when you see stuff like this happen, it's just, it's nice, it's cool, um, it's, it's lovely.
Speaker 1:How, uh, she's just kind of like doing it and and people are like flocking to her and, um, people are having fun. I've heard songs that are using it. She's kind of being remixed into things. People are using it as, as memes, um, and that's great, you know. Uh, at the same time, you know, maybe it's not what you need. It's great, you know. At the same time, you know, maybe it's not what you need. You think you need that, but it's not maybe what you need, because with her particular thing, there's a certain type of crowd that's being attracted to as well, and I don't know if that makes everyone happy or whether, 10 years down the line, you want to be known as the Hawk 2 person.
Speaker 1:Who knows how this plays out right? We've seen it happen to extra fame with Michael Jackson and stuff, and whoa, that did not play out right. Did it For no one? For nobody, not even himself, right? He must have had this crazy fun life for a long time. But man, towards the end, like people, forget his last five, 10 years, like where was he? He was like in Qatar, man, or Bahrain, sorry, in a tiny island, an insignificant island compared to the rest of the world in terms of people and money and whatever you know. So this guy, who was the biggest thing in the world, spent a lot of his life towards the end on this tiny island and that's really sad when you think about it, and I know he did horrible stuff, but, yeah, fame does that to you.
Speaker 1:Fame is a crazy ass thing. I'm not defending his life and his actions, but I think everyone at that level of fame will have some crazy come out. His was a certain thing. I think you or me or anyone, right, anyone in this world with that amount of power and fame and feeling of invincibility will have some crazy type of thing come out of our lives. And again, I don't know if anyone, even now, with a lot more knowledge about it, would be able to handle it right. So, yeah, just sit back and enjoy some of this. All right, it's quite fun to do so. Yeah, that's, that's a hawk two moment for me, all right. Um, it's great. Anyway, it's mango season. How bad can the world be right now? I mean, it's going, it's burning away. Every, every place you look at it's on fire with the heat and stuff. But I'm doing stuff that's indoors. And, and speaking of fame, I I I just checked out the new Beverly Hill Cops movie, eddie Murphy.
Speaker 1:I was kind of excited about it until I watched it and I was excited, but I also went in with very low expectations. Yeah, I really did, because I don't know the guy. You know it's funny how this is another dude too much fame. Right, it's funny how he shot to fame doing stuff that was so out there, crazy, risky, risque, whatever you want to call it. You know he was just a trailblazer and then since the 90s, his career just is weird. There's been up and down. There have been some good moments, some bad. He's a legend, not taken away. I still love Eddie, but he's a legend not taking away. I still love eddie, but uh, but is he so safe now? I don't mean his humor per se, it's his choices. They've just become so safe and it's a sad thing to see.
Speaker 1:You know, I watched this movie and I thought there would be something in it. There must be some reason why he's gone after all these years, years. He's like I'm I'm gonna do this right, and so I watched it, but also, like was expecting some Hollywood tropes and stuff, and they didn't disappoint on that front. So if you want to just watch a casual action movie, it's not the worst thing in the world, and if you're a fan of Eddie Murphy, it's still. I don't know how I feel about it. I think you know it's still good.
Speaker 1:He's enigmatic, he's charming, but they just, they just the movie is just so. It's so dull. That's what it is. You know, there's, uh, there's like nothing in it that makes you go. Why did he, like I don't know, like come out of axel retirement, of playing this character, and go, yeah, let's make this one happen? I mean, I would have thought it would be a great script or some new angle or something that was so wonderful that it made him go. I want to do this movie again and it just seems more like um, maybe it's a paycheck thing. That's all it is then, which is fine. I don people for it. Hey, I would do a lot more for a lot less of a paycheck compared to what he gets.
Speaker 1:But it's still sad, you know, because look, the movie's like they're doing the same tropey shit that's going on in all these kind of movies that are being made after a 10, 20-year gap, and it's always one of the kids involved of the main character, a younger one maybe, to pass the torch on. That's what they're thinking. Uh, it's a little bit more diverse. So it's a daughter, not a son. You know they're. They're checking the boxes. There's one white actor in there as well. That's the boyfriend, um, maybe the son, and maybe the daughter and the new son-in-law. Maybe they'll take beverly hill cops to the next thing. Uh, who knows who knows right. And and maybe that's the plan if, if this gets well received.
Speaker 1:But the movie itself, like eddie, first of all, it's like his character has developed. That's the problem with it. He's actually developed into an older, slightly more mature guy, which which is you know, in terms of character development. I guess that's it's kind of spot on. But it's also this weird thing of like going well. I'm not interested in this boring character.
Speaker 1:I love this movie and the way the reason it stood out against all the other action movies and stuff was because Eddie Murphy was just this street smart and he still is kind of I don't know. You got to watch it right. Maybe I'm forgetting how good the previous three movies were. Right, it's been a while. I haven't re-watched them in ages and I don't know how well they might have aged, how well his stuff was. I kind of remember it as being pretty good and that's why it stood out.
Speaker 1:And instead, you know, this one is just like a dull guy. Sometimes he just looks slow and I'm like, of all the things he wanted to redo or do again, this is unless he wanted to like, really go tom cruise and and get fit and and do crazy stunts at 60. I don't see what the appeal was for him to do this. I really don't. How much did he get paid for this? That's what I want to know. And so the movie, the whole.
Speaker 1:The other problem is there's no story. The story is like if he was so electrifying as he was when he was younger in these kind of roles, then I think the story I wouldn't mind it as much, because he you know people like him just make you want to watch the film. But instead, yeah, you do need a story with this one and it's dull as hell. It's like run-of-the-mill stuff. It's a bit of action and there's no suspense or twist or anything of that. I thought maybe something like that might save the movie a little bit.
Speaker 1:But you immediately know, and this, this is, uh, this isn't a um, what do you call it? I don't need to do a disclaimer of like this is a reveal or whatever. You immediately know kevin bacon's character is the villain, right? It's so odd. Like I'm not saying it, like I was so smart, I guessed it. They just made it. So it is, and it's revealed in like five minutes of introducing his character. Anyway, it's confirmed, right. So I look at it and go. I really thought there's going to be a bigger twist at the end, but there isn't. It's just him and Eddie at it and they get through and so be it.
Speaker 1:I think there very engaging scene is when his daughter's about to be killed early on in the movie, and that was one kind of like freaky scene that made you go. Oh my God. Other than that, the whole movie just flew by and I was like it's over what? There's nothing else left and I just sat there and thought why did they do this? Why did everyone come out of retirement to do this script? You know, what would be more interesting is to just take a random person in the world, any random person, and read their internet history. Even that is generally quite entertaining anyway, so maybe it's a bad example. Read their choices of food delivery, look up their food delivery apps and look up at the restaurants that they've ordered and the dishes they've ordered. I think that would have been more interesting than this actual script and it's really sad to see this.
Speaker 1:I hope they don't make any more of these. I hope they don't go the route of, like the Terminator movies, where they went after the second one. They should have just stopped right but they went no, let's make a third one. And the third one's horrible. And they go no, no, no, we'll fix this, we'll make another one to fix this. That's crap. Then they bring in James Cameron himself and the original I can't remember the actress's name. Now they bring Sarah Connor back. You know they're like let's make this shit happen. They bring Arnold. They bring AI-generated stuff so he looks younger, and it's still crap. And I'm not surprised they're still trying to make one more and I just hope these kind of movies like Beverly Hills. I don't think they have the legs or the hope or the fan base to even have another go. Um, yeah, yeah, I, you know it's one of those films you go, it's not bad.
Speaker 1:You know, what I'm really angry about, though, is eddie murphy saying, like there was this rumor was it around 2020, around the covid time, just after or before, I don't know? And he there were rumors that he'd been hitting a few stand-up clubs drop-ins and, potentially, was working on a special. Now, see that? That is risky. That is the kind of stuff I want to see. That's the kind of thing that we would make me go damn, eddie's really putting his neck out, you know, because stand-up oh, to try to match those two first specials would be such a big risk, but that's what would make it really great, and I think he's scared of it. He is because he said something along the lines of he made some other shit up about how, once you've achieved this, then going back to stand up is like going back to basics of something, the way you framed it.
Speaker 1:He made it sound like it's beneath him now to have to go back down to doing stand-up, and I and I just so strongly disagree with that because I think that, like I said, that would have been the risky move. That would have been the place where he'd grow again as an artist and and probably acquired new fans as well, right and? And there's so much material he'd have. So, unless he's hiding it and he's actually going to surprise us very soon with it I don't. I think he's kind of backed off from that idea. It just tells me he's this old dude who's scared of failing now and that's not fun. That's not eddie murphy and that's the sad bit that he he not making that choice. I wish he would and I hope.
Speaker 1:When I watch these guys I just go. I'm never going to be at their fame level or anything, but I just hope as an artist, just as an artist, I don't fall into that trap, but I get it. I'm sympathetic to it because I was actually like looking at my own stuff sometimes and I know I've always stalled and their fame is so much more right. So disclaimer again, like I'm not comparing myself in whatsoever. In fact, I was very humbled recently on an Instagram post. Someone added me and messaged me after a show and said, hey, watching you was really great, it had such a profound impact, some shit like that. And then went I've never heard of you, but this was great. I've been doing comedy for more than a decade over a decade closer to 15 years or something and I'm still listening to this stuff. So so I'm not comparing myself to Eddie Murphy in that sense, but I do get.
Speaker 1:I do get that comfort level as an artist, because every time I do have a night like that or I have a few great shows, this part of me wants to fall back into safety, wants to kind of go. I don't want to do too many gigs and fail in front of people again. How do I stay here In modern times? That's the biggest threat to you as an artist. And I still get that feeling in the back of my head, uh, in my brain, this voice just kind of going hey, listen, um, you know, this is just back off. Do your best stuff and and maybe don't go to the same places too often what are you going to do? People will be disappointed.
Speaker 1:They see you again you don't want to disappoint your five fans, who do know you. They don't really remember your name, but they know you. So when you're at his level of fame, I suppose that voice might get stronger, and that's a shame. So I just kind of you know, I look at these stories and kind of remind myself like I got to not become so safe in whatever I do do, artistically at least. Uh, maybe life as well. You know, you have to find this balance of, like doing stuff and then taking some risk to grow, uh, and it's tricky as you get older and more comfortable with some luxuries and stuff and you're like, why do I need to rock the boat so I get it, but I don't want to become dull, you know uh. So yeah, it's a good reminder. I mean, I see too many. Otherwise you become like these old artists and some of you might not know, uh, or may have heard of this bollywood guy, for example, amitabh bach, huge star from India. I was a big fan of him as well. But the more he ages and this is my thing with, like all older people, clint Eastwood, everybody I think at some point you got to put them away from the limelight for their own sake, so that people remember them fondly, right? We just had another older dude what's his name? The Sandman guy, neil Gaiman, with all the stuff. Okay, that's horrible, he deserves to be outed.
Speaker 1:I just look at this stuff and I go, oh man, at some point we should have packed them away. There are enough of those examples. But what age is that? When's the right time? I just don't know.
Speaker 1:But with this guy, particularly this Indian actor, my problem with him is he's gone so far. Right, you know, he's just become this weird spokesman for the whole new Indian whole thing of like extremism and stuff. And it's really sad because you know he has fans, or had fans all over the world who loved his stuff. But now I can't stand him talking about some things he goes off on about language and this and that, and this is after his dad's, a poet. And I just look at this guy and I'm like man, some of your best dialogues were written by other religious, by writers that were from other religions and use Urdu over Hindi and stuff, and those are things you remember foremost, the dialogues you delivered, and that's that.
Speaker 1:It's just pack these guys away, man, and God help me if I ever go down that route. So that's the price of fame. At some point, the Hawk 2 lady help me if I ever go down that route. So that's the price of fame At some point. The Hawk 2 lady is hope she doesn't become a prude and go the other way either. That's fame, that's fame people. Anywho, this has been fun. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'll catch you in the next one. Till then, take care.
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