During a panel discussion on faith and comedy at the Just For Laughs festival on Saturday, Ramy Youssef spoke about his Egyptian-born father predicting the Hollywood actors’ strike when he offered advice on early careers.
Youssef, who portrays his Muslim faith with devotion and defiance in his Hulu series. rami, told the comedy festival audience that his Egyptian-born father discouraged him early on from becoming an artist and entertainer because he would have to support his family one day. “He would always say, ‘This is a beautiful hobby for you. Grow the hobby. But I clearly remember him saying, ‘One day, real life will start,’” he recounted.
The current shutdown of the industry as Hollywood actors on the pickets seek fair wages, including streamers’ residuals, has that warning from his traditional accountant father ringing in his head. “Now we are on strike and, well, here it is! The moment my father was talking about. My father told everyone that this would happen. Enjoy the latest Montreal,” Youssef told the ComedyPRO conference audience.
Just For Laughs’ comedian panels often have the feel of a group therapy session. Youssef and fellow creator and comedian Jasmeet Singh Raina, who is about to release his Canadian comedy Late Bloomer, about a YouTube content creator balancing newfound internet fame and dating his devoted Sikh parents and relatives, did not offer an exception.
on hulu rami, In which Youssef created, produces, directs and stars, he plays a devout Muslim caught between his faith and the need to fit in as a twenty-something in a politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. Youssef won a Golden Globe in 2020 and that same year he was nominated for two Emmy Awards for the second season of Rami. He also won a Peabody Award for the series.
Youssef’s personal journey of devotion and defiance as seen in his writing and performance in rami has connected with television audiences. In Montreal, Youssef got personal about growing up as the first-generation son of Egyptian immigrants and struggling to reconcile his family roots in the Muslim faith with the Hollywood fame with which he is less comfortable.
“I had this big thing when we were shooting the first season of the show, and we shot the scene where he was praying. I was like, should I be doing this? This is weird. This is what I do on my personal time. Did I just sell this to the Disney Corporation? she recounted her.
Such as rami was about to debut, Youssef recalled feeling great guilt and shame, especially since his American Muslim community at a local mosque likely felt betrayed by his depiction of their faith on the Hulu sitcom. “I like to go to the mosque. I love the community. And I knew a lot of people wouldn’t like it rami And can I go back? he remembered that at one point he asked himself.
That fear reached its climax a month later rami debuted and Youssef was in prayer one day in his mosque. “I saw these two old Arab guys in the back, and he’s in the middle of the service, and they look at me, they point at me and I see their anger. I see the way they’re looking. This is my nightmare! Now we finish a sentence, and I’m still on my knees, and they’re coming! And I look at these two guys and they’re like, ‘Can we take a picture?’ And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Youssef recalled.
Put your faith on TV as part of rami has had Youssef wrestling with the part of Islam that offers him solace and a sitcom hit that underpins his comedic flair. For Raina, that part of the brand comes in part from the turban or headdress she wears as a member of the Sikh faith and which is a signature accessory for her TV character in her upcoming sitcom Crave.
“I can’t even stop wearing it, because it’s just part of my brand. From a marketing perspective, it would be very reckless for me,” Raina joked. Also on television, Youssef co-created and executive produces Netflix Montha series inspired by the life of a Palestinian refugee growing up in Houston.
On the main front, Youssef will appear alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ poor things for reflector.
