Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month with The Daily Show as we look back at interviews from some of our favorite Arab American guests. Bassem Youssef joins Jon Stewart to compare notes on hosting a political comedy show, and how it's different doing it in Egypt. Ramy Youssef joins Trevor Noah to discuss how he made his hit show Ramy from his own perspective. Stand-up Mo Amer sits down with Trevor to talk comedy amid the stress of immigration. Musician French Montana joins Trevor to talk about working and contributing to a movement in Uganda. Scholar and author Reza Aslan joins Jon to talk Middle East politics and his latest book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: Who is Bassem Youssef and how does he compare political comedy in Egypt and the US?
Come and sit.
Hey. Wow, you've got live audience. Yes.
All right.
Now, you don't have an audience. Yeah, that's why I use puppets. You use puppets because you don't have an audience.
Yes. Are there any shows in Egypt that have an audience? No. Do they do live studio audience?
No. We are actually trying to do that next year. We're going to be the first Arab historical political show with live audience, which is huge because we don't actually have this kind of industry.
The television and the live audiences and things like that? Yes. How difficult is it to do a show like you're doing, a comedy show, when the stability of the country is still in question? Because it's difficult for me, and we're pretty stable. But I still get the hate with the people. They don't like me. What happens with you? Death threats.
Check. Check. We're not so different, you and I. Sometimes I get beaten. No, no, just kidding. It's actually, it's been quite a ride. And what we do is, has actually, we broke ground in the television programming. Because now people say, wow, he actually says what we want to say. And we're trying to be funny. We fail most of the time. But we try. Check. Yes. By the way, can I ask a question?
Can I ask a question? Yes, yes, yes. Last week, did you have Catherine Zeta-Jones here?
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Chapter 2: What inspired Ramy Youssef to create the show 'Ramy' and what impact has it had?
You're really good on it. It's smart. It's well executed. I just, I think the world of what you're doing down there And I couldn't be more pleased that you're here. Can you stick around? We'll throw a little bit more up on the web and have a nice talk. Bassem Youssef, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show. So earlier today, I spoke with actor and comedian Rami Youssef. His Hulu series, Rami, is the first Muslim American sitcom to receive an Emmy nomination.
It's 2020. They don't want a man like me anymore. Trump it up too much. He's too much a man, you know? The people are afraid. They want a man like you. A man who feels a little bit like a woman, but is still officially a man. Maybe transsexual, you know? This is good, which is why I want you to join me and become a small little partner in this store. It's your future.
Rami Youssef, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Good. It's too much distance, but I feel like we should have been closer. But what are we gonna do?
I think you're actually lucky that we're not closer because I'm such a big fan of the show that I would have been one of those nauseating fans who would have been asking you too many questions. I would have been all over you. Because, like, I remember when Rami first came out.
first came out, few people were talking about here, but I just stumbled across the show and I was like, I was running around preaching to people, you gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami. And now, I mean, it's widely accepted. Yeah, Rami is much, must watch viewing.
What has that journey been like for you from going, you know, creating a show about a Muslim millennial in New Jersey and the Muslim world as a comedy, you know, to now being a show that people just go like, yeah, yeah, this is normal. Because let's be honest, it wasn't normal like a few years ago when you decided to do this.
No, and it still really shocks me. Like there are definitely moments where people are talking about the show a lot. It's getting a lot of recognition. People are excited about it. And I'm like, guys, this is a show about like an Arab Muslim dude that watches too much porn. Like I can't believe that this many people are looking at it.
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Chapter 3: How does Ramy Youssef portray the Muslim-American experience in his show?
I think what I found special about the show, and this is probably what connects to so many people, is it's not just the story of an Arab Muslim kid growing up in New Jersey. It's also the story of a community that for so long has been seen through one lens.
Man, you take us into a world where we see human beings, we see the complexities of Islam, you know, we see the complexities of different generations and how they relate to the religion and then the cultures that come. Like, that's not an easy thing to do. Was there ever a part of you that was afraid to either tell the story incorrectly to an outside audience or piss off the inside audience.
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the-the tightrope walk that we're constantly walking with this show, because we-we haven't really had any chance at seeing ourselves on screen, um, in a story that doesn't involve explosives or national security. To your question about was I nervous, well, I'm really nervous, because I know that Muslims are such a vast group of people.
There are many communities.
People even say like, what does the Muslim community think about your show? And I'm like, it's not a pop band. Like there are a lot of different Muslim communities. Like it's not just this one thing.
this one thing and so um we you know kind of made the choice pretty early on that like we're not going to try and check all the boxes you know this isn't a census this isn't a totality of something that can't be encompassed really this is just the story um of this family and and we're really going to kind of humanize them by watching them deal with their problems in the way that everyone does
What makes the show successful for me is that it follows the golden rule of telling a story, and that is showing the human beings who exist within the story. What I loved was how, even in your story, you know, the rummy that you play, When he went to Egypt, he himself realized that he had stereotypes and connotations of his own family in Egypt in a way that he didn't even realize.
To take it to Egypt and then have, like, an Egyptian family who are fans of Donald Trump, and all of America's going, Donald Trump's the worst president, and here you have Arabs somewhere in the world saying, this guy's the best guy, even though he wants to ban all Muslims. Why was that so important for you to do?
I remember being in the back of a cab in Cairo in 2015 and this guy just being like, he's a strong man. And I was like, whoa, all right. I think we're just used to dictators and he just kind of matches the vibe. But he's not what we need. We know he's not. And I think most of us feel that on a certain, you know, with a certain clarity.
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Chapter 4: Who is Steve in the show 'Ramy' and why is his character important?
Congratulations on everything, and thank you so much for joining us on the show.
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Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is a comedian whose Netflix stand-up special is called The Vagabond.
My first name is Mohammed.
Oh, quit playing, baby. No, really. What's your first name? I'm like, that is my first name. She's like, oh, you ain't gonna get your citizenship, baby. Please hold. I was like, what the just happened to me? This lady puts me on hold, and the hold music was never gonna get it, never gonna get it, never. And then she picked up the phone real quick and goes, woo woo woo.
And hangs up and was like, oh shit. Please welcome Mo Amr.
Welcome to the show. Oh, thank you for having me. You know, a lot of the time they say that the best comedy comes from the biggest tragedies, and in many ways your life could be considered by some as being a rolling series of tragedies that you've turned into comedy and you've turned into success. A little bit of your story would shock most people out there. You are...
someone who came to America as a refugee.
Correct. From Kuwait, correct? I was born in Kuwait. I left Kuwait after the first Gulf War. Right. So I had to call the prequel. I went to a really nice private British English school in Kuwait, and then we migrated to Houston, Texas. That's a culture shock. That's a culture shock, and they put me in ESL class.
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Chapter 5: What is Mo Amer's refugee story and how does it influence his comedy?
Yeah, I do. I'm a comedian. Comedian. I'm like, am I being roasted right now? What's happening? Finally, his buddy walks in, his partner. He's like, And he goes, And that's what got me off was Bill Cosby. I mean, not literally. Not literally. That's what I got.
So now, you have this really interesting journey. Growing up in America takes 20 years to become a resident.
A citizen.
A citizen, yeah, sorry, a citizen, right? And here's the thing that I've always wondered from your perspective. You know, do you ever find yourself in a space where because you speak about things that are happening in the U.S., people are like, hey, you should just be grateful to be in the U.S. Don't talk about anything that might be going wrong in the U.S. because the U.S. has welcomed you in.
Yeah, um, nah. I mean, look, as an Arab-American, Muslim, Palestinian on top of it, you know, someone who's fled war. I was nine years old, so I didn't really know much. It's not like, hey, Mom, are you sure about Houston? You just had to go. You know what I mean? And I'm a very proud Houstonian, and I grew up in Anglia, which is a really multicultural neighborhood.
But the thing is, is that growing up that way, I was always, you know, told to not talk about politics, not say anything, because they're going to send us back. Wow. That was the whole thing. Shh, don't say anything. They're gonna send you back, you know? Make sure you don't talk about pot.
I was like, you know, all this stuff that's been festering inside for so many years, that's why when I started stand-up comedy, it was the perfect outlet for me to allow me to express everything that was happening to me. And also, you know, releasing the special and seeing...
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Chapter 6: How does immigration and refugee status shape Arab American comedians’ perspectives?
Chapter 7: What challenges do Arab American comedians face in the entertainment industry?
Come and sit.
Hey. Wow, you've got live audience. Yes.
All right.
Now, you don't have an audience. Yeah, that's why I use puppets. You use puppets because you don't have an audience.
Yes. Are there any shows in Egypt that have an audience? No. Do they do live studio audience?
No. We are actually trying to do that next year. We're going to be the first Arab historical political show with live audience, which is huge because we don't actually have this kind of industry.
The television and the live audiences and things like that? Yes. How difficult is it to do a show like you're doing, a comedy show, when the stability of the country is still in question? Because it's difficult for me, and we're pretty stable. But I still get the hate with the people. They don't like me. What happens with you? Death threats.
Check. Check. We're not so different, you and I. Sometimes I get beaten. No, no, just kidding. It's actually, it's been quite a ride. And what we do is, has actually, we broke ground in the television programming. Because now people say, wow, he actually says what we want to say. And we're trying to be funny. We fail most of the time. But we try. Check. Yes. By the way, can I ask a question?
Can I ask a question? Yes, yes, yes. Last week, did you have Catherine Zeta-Jones here?
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