Stand-up comedy is not for the faint of heart, as comedians need all the courage in the world to handle a fickle crowd, but apart from that, the audience might also need to steel themselves for some controversial takes. Sadly, it appears that for many Black people, comedian Hans Kim of Texas went a little too far after jokingly recommending that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) catch Black people to reduce crime.
The comedy event took place around February 3, specifically in the Kill Tony Show in Joe Rogan’s comedy club in Austin, Texas. Hans Kim was one of the comedians, and he started off his set with some timely jokes about ICE. After joking about Latinas, Kim went on to Black people, saying “My only problem with ICE is that they’re going after every minority group, except Black people.”
Kim added, “I mean you’re trying to reduce crime… You’re just giving them more room to breathe.” It appears the audience liked that bit, so Kim followed it up with, “But I understand, can you imagine the shape you have to be in to deport Black people?” which was quite a jab to ICE agents and their lack of training.
For some reason, Hans Kim turned off the comments on his TikTok video, though it appears he does this for all of his TikTok clips. On Hans Kim’s Instagram, however, he was initially showered with praise, with some of the most-liked comments commending him, “Ngl, this was edgy and hilarious 😂.”
Hans Kim’s Comedy Was Not for Everyone
Of course, Kim’s brand of stand-up comedy was not unanimously received, as you didn’t even have to scroll too far on his Instagram clip to see some commenters on the other end of the reception spectrum. One even complained that, “The black joke didn’t feel like a joke,” with another one criticizing Kim, “Pretty average material, and the clip concluded with the typical ‘everyone hates black people’ joke.”
Another commenter even accused Kim of some odd stuff, calling him “Asian Charlie Kirk.” Over on X and other social media platforms, however, Kim’s clip about ICE catching Black people wasn’t exactly well-received within the Black community. A rather irate X user even blasted Kim, “Does this dumb [expletive], not know that we are American? We’re not immigrants like his [expletive] parents we were born here.”
For many, Kim’s set was not a joke, leading to racially-charged arguments and debates on many comment sections online. “Racist jokes can be funny. This is not funny. At all,” claims one X user, while another laughed at Kim and likely even took him seriously, “They are so mad we cannot be deported. We are foundational!” People who claim to know Hans Kim in the comments had to step in to defend him, “He’s actually very respectful towards Black people and Black comedians in real life. Kill Tony is a show meant for raunchy comedy.”
