Comedian and Actor Ramy Youssef Tells a Muslim American Story

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, we sit with comedian, actor, and director Ramy Youssef! At the top, he reflects on his experience during Ramadan (5:36) before diving into the third season of his Hulu show Ramy (7:49), a timely scene about the Israel-Palestine conflict (10:24), and the questions that shaped it (14:34). Then, we walk through his coming of age as a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim in New Jersey (17:16), his early forays into film (22:07), and the sketch inspired by a life-altering Bell’s palsy diagnosis (24:10).

On the back-half, we discuss Youssef's television debut in the sitcom See Dad Run (32:38), how he found his “essence” as a performer (34:12), and the politics of his stand-up comedy (37:02). To close, he describes the influences behind Ramy, from The Carmichael Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm (40:02), a philosophy that guides his work (48:27), and the future of the series (52:20).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm San by comedian actor and director Rami Yussif.
0:47.0	He's the creator and star of the titular Emmy nominated series Rami.
0:52.0	If you haven't seen the show, it's based on Rami's experiences
0:56.5	as a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey through a politically divided New Jersey neighborhood.
1:04.5	I should also add in case it wasn't clear by my overly serious description,
1:09.6	the show is really, really funny. You'll hear why in this conversation that I had with Rami
1:16.7	which covers the Israel Palestine episode in season 3, his Jersey upbringing and early forays into film, the politics of his stand-up
1:26.6	comedy, and how, as a first-generation Egyptian American, he's redefining what the American dream looks like.
1:34.6	I should also note at the top that we taped this talk a little before the Writers Strike
1:39.3	began on May 2nd.
1:41.7	We do allude to the strike in passing, but since the WGA went on the
1:46.1	offensive, many of its members of which Rami is one have suspended all press
1:51.7	appearances out of solidarity.
1:54.0	Later this summer, we will be doing an episode on the strike
1:58.0	and all that's at stake as writers fight for a fair, equitable deal with the AMPTP, which includes places like Netflix,
2:07.1	Amazon, Disney, and just about every other major studio in town. But until then, if you'd like to learn more about the working conditions
2:16.8	that writers like Rami are fighting for, we've included resources in our show notes at
2:22.4	talk easy pod.com. As for today I want to
2:26.8	recommend season 3 of Rami it's now available to stream on Hulu it's one of my
2:32.4	favorite shows of the last couple years and it was an
2:36.2	absolute joy and thrill to sit with the one and only. Rami Yussef. Ramayusif, a pleasure to meet you.
2:53.0	So good to meet you.
	...

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