ramy stand up tour

Ramy Youssef Is the New Mr. Saturday Night

The comedian, director, and actor is wrapping up a global comedy tour and starring in the buzzy film Poor Things . He let us eavesdrop on a series of conversations with his friend and frequent collaborator Christopher Storer, creator of The Bear.

Ramy Youssef has spent the last several months of 2023 on a global stand-up tour, which is ending its U. S. leg just as he hits the big screen in one of the buzziest films of the year, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things . It’s a movie, and a performance, that will change the way people talk about him. In between stand-up dates, Esquire photographed the 32-year-old in New York, wearing this winter’s smartest overcoats. Then we asked his close friend and collaborator, The Bear creator Christopher Storer, to have a series of conversations with him and send us the recordings. Storer is a producer and director on Youssef’s award- winning Hulu show, Ramy , and Youssef is the only person other than Storer and his co-showrunner, Joanna Calo, who has directed an episode (episode 4, “Honeydew,” which takes place in Copenhagen) of The Bear , also on Hulu. Their first attempt at sending us a tape failed. Thankfully, these two very creative men persevered. What you’ll find here are two conversations that happened in Chicago in October—one in the back of an Uber, the other backstage at Youssef’s show—combined, edited, and condensed for clarity. —the Editors

Ramy Youssef: Hold it like you’re interviewing me. That’s it. The mic’s up here in the top.

Christopher Storer: What do I press?

RY: Nothing. It’s rolling right now.

CS: Hi, buddy. This is take two. Yesterday was a tech fail, or a Chris fail.

RY: You can’t get Chris to do a tech thing. He’s a great director, but he doesn’t touch any of the buttons.

CS: Sorry, Esquire. So, we’re in Chicago, in an Uber, on our way back from Ramy’s show.

RY: What did you think of it?

CS: I thought it was great, dude. Tell me about your routine before a show.

RY: I start in the hotel. I light my incense. Pray, breathe, call my parents. Always got to call the parents before the show.

CS: Do you really do that?

RY: You got to because you’re going to make fun of them at the show. You have to tell them, “Hey, I might say a few things tonight. Are you okay with it?” And then they’ll say, “Will you show it to us?” And then I say no. And then they say, “Okay, have fun.”

CS: I feel like I should apologize to chefs who have told me stories that end up somewhere in The Bear : “I’m sorry your trauma’s coming back up.”

RY: You got to apologize to chefs. I got to apologize to my family.

CS: You still eating too much candy?

RY: I just had a couple of gummies, but now I’m going to eat dinner. Gummies first, then dinner, then gummies. Actually, I pretty much weaned off gummies. They just had them backstage, but I don’t ask for them anymore. Now I got kiwis, which I know you find a little strange.

CS: I’ve grown to love them. But you eat the skin, which texturally is weird at first. . .

RY: Love the texture.

CS: . . . then it kind of grows on you. I found it to be similar to a pear. So, I saw Poor Things , which is excellent, and you are excellent in it. I had a surreal moment seeing you and Jerrod Carmichael and Chris Abbott, friends of mine, all in this thing, continuing to work together and around each other. There's something really beautiful and inspiring about that. As you're getting into directing more, has that shaped you as an actor? Are you looking at it more like a filmmaker in addition to as a comedian?

RY: Getting to do a lot of what we're doing together has been really cool. There was this period of two years where we were at Blue Bottle on Beverly talking about maybe this, maybe that. Even on the first season of Ramy, we were both begging the network to let us direct. It took so long for them to let us direct that by the time they said yes, we had missed the Directors Guild inauguration and the DGA had to hold that special Saturday class for us.

CS: We had to go sit in a room. . .

RY: It was just you and me. . .

CS: . . . for six hours, reading the guidelines to the Directors Guild of America. A very nice gentleman sat with us and taught us all the fundamentals of directing for television.

RY: We remembered none of it. And then on Monday we got to shoot. You had been directing stuff before, and I’d been directing small stuff, but in terms of narrative, it felt like we were learning it together.

CS: It’s definitely informed everything I’ve done since. The vibe that you created on Ramy was conducive to the best possible work. People would walk by and think it was a student film, in the same way that people, when they walked by The Bear, they were like, “Why are there ten people here?” This is how we learned to make things.

RY: We learned how to make it with that smaller family vibe.

CS: Say what you said on yesterday’s tape. Give me a nice compliment.

RY: No, you gave me a great compliment, which helped me a lot. I directed only one episode of the first season of Ramy. When we were shooting it, you were there and then you were gone for a few hours. I was running the set totally by myself. Then you came back and I was like, “Dude, I didn’t see you, and did you see this thing that I had set up?” And you said, “Oh, dude, I left because it was so clear you knew exactly what you were doing, and you’re killing it.” You saying that to me was actually the thing that made me feel like, “I can do this.”

CS: Well, dude, I remember a very specific moment when we were shooting the pilot of The Bear. It was the second or third shot, and I was looking over my shoulder being like, “Where the fuck is Ramy?” With everything we did on your show, I was like, “Hold on, I got to see what Ram thinks.” So I thought, Oh, I’m a little frightened that I’m by myself. But now I got Matty Matheson. Where are you in development for Matty’s feature film?

RY: Oh, the Matty Matheson feature film. You were very gracious to bring me in on the second season of The Bear, which was probably one of my favorite experiences because I wasn’t in it, which is very fun. That’s where I met Matty. And Matty has immediately engaged me on writing a film for him. I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I think every director has their . . .

CS: He’s your DiCaprio?

RY: Every director has their opus, their Killers of the Flower Moon. It’ll probably take me my whole career to find the right ending to this story with Matty. But I’m very excited about it.

CS: I look forward to the three-and-a-half-hour opus. What are you wearing during this tour? When you walked out tonight, you had on great Levi’s.

RY: These Levi’s are vintage, from the seventies. And then I’m wearing these dress shoes. I would only wear sneakers before, but I’ve been wearing more dress shoes. These are more adult.

CS: You’re more grown-up.

RY: These shoes are, what’s that brand called? Legacy? My . . .

CS: Our Legacy?

RY: Our Legacy. And then I’ve got a couple rings. One of them is my wedding ring.

CS: No shirt and tie on yet?

RY: I’m not on the shirt and tie. I don’t like looking too fancy onstage, because I don’t want the outfit to distract from what I’m trying to say. I want to feel like I’m dressed the way that I am when I’m at the diner with my friends. That’s really important for me with stand-up.

CS: Tell me about that watch.

RY: This is a late-eighties Cartier. It’s my prized possession. I had been looking for a small Cartier, and I had to hunt this down. I got it in London.

CS: Tell me why.

RY: It’s a women’s Cartier. I have small wrists.

CS: The band is beautiful.

RY: I know, it’s this green leather.

CS: Why Cartier?

RY: Bro, it’s my favorite face. And the women’s watch they make just works for me. It’s my shit. My other watch is also Cartier. It’s the only watch I wear.

CS: Are you a watch guy suddenly?

RY: I’m a Cartier guy.

CS: How are you feeling about the state of comedy right now?

RY: One thing that’s been nice about the shows is we do no phones, which is therapeutic on a level. Most of the shows don’t have an opener, so the audience has been sitting there for a half hour without their phones. It’s almost like they’ve been detoxing for a second. I come out to this raw energy. We’ve always joked that people have to put their shoes on when they come out to see you. They’re literally invested. It’s not passively at home watching. I feel grateful getting to do it. And right now there’s all this stuff that’s really hard to talk about, and it feels even harder to laugh about. And I always like a tightrope, in anything we’ve ever made together, and it feels like right now the rope is really, really tight. So of course there’s the part of me that’s always preparing to walk it and continue to walk it. That’s fun.

CS: One of the things I noticed tonight was how much people were interacting with you onstage. Obviously, we’re in a very difficult time. Everyone is looking at the news at all times, so there is a premium on anything life- affirming, which includes comedy. There was such a sense of comfort in the room—people were able to laugh and be part of a conversation. I thought it was really beautiful. How’d you feel about that show?

RY: Felt really good. Felt like good flow. And then the late show—the late show is always more fun. The weirdos come out to the late show.

CS: Is that true?

RY: Always.

CS: You prefer a late show?

RY: Got to. Everyone will tell you there’s nothing on earth like a Saturday, 10:00 P.M. show. That’s a portal to heaven.

CS: You got to earn that time slot, though.

RY: Of course. Saturday, 10:00 P.M. is not lightly bestowed. But once you get there, then you’re really making music.

Editor's note: The version of this story that appears in print omits their discussion of Poor Things , because the magazine went to press before the actor's strike had ended. It has been included in the digital version.

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• | VISITING PRESENTER

Ramy Youssef: More Feelings

Ramy Youssef is an award-winning Egyptian-American creator, actor, producer, director, and comedian who brings his unique voice and perspective to his storytelling. Youssef created, produces, directs and stars in the hit Hulu show  Ramy , inspired by his own experiences centering around a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. He won a Golden Globe in 2020 on behalf of  Ramy  in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.” In 2020, the Television Academy nominated Youssef for two Emmy Awards in the categories of “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series” on behalf of the second season of  Ramy . He also won the Peabody Award on behalf of the series. The third season of Youssef’s widely celebrated  Ramy  premiered on September 30, 2022. Youssef was also nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Writers Guild Award for his one-hour HBO comedy special  Ramy Youssef: Feelings  produced by A24. Youssef is a co-creator and executive producer of Netflix’s new series  Mo , a semi-autobiographical series inspired by Mo Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Houston. Mo recently debuted to critical acclaim and was produced with A24 and Youssef’s new production company, Cairo Cowboy. The show premiered in August of 2022. The series won the Gotham Award for “Best Breakthrough Series Under 40 Minutes,” and was recognized by AFI as one of their top television programs of the year. On the feature front, Youssef will star alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly anticipated film  Poor Things  for Searchlight, which will make its debut in 2023.

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SPECIAL NOTES This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of phones, smart watches, and accessories, will not be permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches, and accessories will be secured in individual Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their devices at all times, and can access them throughout the event only in designated Phone Use Areas within the venue. All devices will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the performance space. Anyone seen using a device (phone, smart watch, or accessories) during the performance will be escorted out of the venue.

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With His Latest Special, Ramy Youssef Gets Up Close and Personal

By Alex Jhamb Burns

Ramy Youssef is a firm believer— full stop . While many of his millennial peers have rejected faith in favor of science, he has only doubled down on his belief system. Don’t be mistaken; he’s also into things like talk therapy. (Youssef is a proud therapy-goer.) But his faith has gotten him through a lot. And right now it feels like there’s a lot to get through.

In More Feelings, his new stand-up special (it streams on Max this Saturday), Youssef doesn’t shy away from all the pain in the world. Filmed in his home state of New Jersey, the hour explores his emotions through anecdotes covering contemporary politics and inane personal dramas. In a slightly unusual twist, he also has his best friend and fellow comedian Steve Way open the special. (Fans of the Hulu series Ramy will not be disappointed.)

It isn’t an easy time to be an Arab American—not that it ever has been—but rather than avoid the discomfort of his daily experiences, Youssef freely quips about them. “Muslim dudes, we’re going back to being Dominican,” he says at one point in the special. “With everything going on, we’re like, ‘Hamas? No, no más.’” Indeed his mounting visibility (from his semi-autobiographical hit show, Ramy ; his collaboration with Mohammed Amer on the Netflix drama Mo ; and his supporting turn in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-nominated Poor Things ) has turned Youssef into one of Hollywood’s most prominent Muslim dudes—even into something of an unwitting spokesperson for Arabs in American pop culture.

Youssef didn’t choose this, but he acknowledges the weight of it. In the special he talks in explicit terms about Palestine, just as he has done for a while now; as he said in a Vanity Fair interview earlier this year, “The headlines are always late, and the art is always early.”

Vogue spoke with the comedian about the venue for his second special (a follow-up to 2019’s Feelings , filmed at the Chicago Cultural Center), his best friend Steve, and how he navigates writing jokes about touchy subjects.

Vogue : I’m curious: How did you choose the White Eagle Hall as your venue this time?

Ramy Youssef: There was something really fun [in] doing the last special away from home. It was nice to go to a city where I didn’t know anyone, but Chicago interestingly has this really large pocket of the Muslim American community. And it had the mix of an audience I love: the Chicago comedy fans and also people who had heard there would be a show, because at that time I really didn’t have anything out. This time it was nice to do something at home and something different. You know, the Chicago taping was very grand.

It was really grand.

I talked a lot with Chris [producer Christopher Storer] about lighting it up brightly so that you could see the crowd and show the diversity. This special is in many ways the opposite—it’s really intimate, and we don’t see the crowd that much, and we’re more with me. It has the casual feel of any night you would do stand-up, which is not this big theatrical production. It’s more of a conversation and getting the material off your chest.

You had your friend Steve, who plays Steve in Ramy , open for you. I haven’t seen a lot of specials where there’s an opener. Why was that important?

That was something that we talked about early on. I try to bring Steve wherever I can that works for him, in terms of wheelchair accessibility. When I got in the edit, it felt really cool to have this one particular piece and introduce some people to Steve who hadn’t seen him. And there’s probably nothing I like more than Steve making fun of me or cursing me out. That brings me a lot of joy, so it’s just a really fun way to open this. I really think the world of Steve.

Also, for anyone who is a fan of Ramy , seeing him open when you aren’t expecting it is so exciting.

It is the wildest reaction of the night. There’s something in this cheer for Steve that acknowledges the reality of how logistically crazy it is for him to be able to come. All of it’s just so surreal.

By Hannah Jackson

By Hannah Coates

By Christian Allaire

It was like seeing a rock star come on stage.

Everyone’s expecting to see me. It’s why they bought tickets. He gets the oh-shit reaction.

I’ve enjoyed many of your fits lately, so I have to ask about the outfit you put together for the show.

The jacket was made by Stòffa. I had this great conversation with Agyesh [designer Agyesh Madan] about how I like wearing oversized hoodies on stage. I like the feeling of not fully drowning in something but being almost cuddled by something. It makes me feel cozy and relaxed. I was basically talking to him about what the evolved version is of something that feels like a hoodie but isn’t, and he made that piece for me for the show. I really tried to make it feel as much like any show I would do [as possible], and sometimes I make a last-minute change. I rolled up to the venue with enough options to switch. And the jeans are this old vintage pair of Levi’s. I think they’re from the ’70s. I got those at a vintage store probably three years ago, and I genuinely wear them three or four days a week.

This special is very much in conversation with the current global political landscape. In it, you call yourself “the mayor of Muslim disaster,” in reference to the fact that as a Muslim American artist, there are certain expectations about you speaking to issues and tragedies within the Arab world.

I know my audience is wide, which I’m really grateful for in terms of who I reach. So it’s not like I’m just speaking to the various Muslim communities, I’m actually speaking to every community that I’m a part of. There’s a Hollywood contingency, but there’s also semi-hipsters. What’s happening right now in Palestine and Gaza obviously has been a priority for me, between themes that we’ve already explored in Ramy and Mo . It’s all a continuing exploration of trying to shed light and humanity and do it, hopefully, through a context that breaks through the talking heads in the news. Art can talk a lot, too, and that’s a contribution I hope to be a part of.

Are there other artists you look to who create things that inspire you or speak to our time?

I’ve been in touch with these kids who live in the West Bank, and they’re part of this collective called the Freedom Theatre in Jenin . Jenin has always been a really tough place, and it obviously has gotten much worse in the last few months. They just got nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and, man, they really inspire me. We cast these kids in our show in the third season, and they were amazing. We’re on a tight schedule, and we’re moving fast, and these guys don’t waste a take. They’re so good and so fearless, and the fact that they can focus on the art in the midst of everything is amazing. Even now I’ll message them and they’re like, “We’re writing” or “We’re trying to memorize some lines.” Those are my heroes.

There’s been a lot of reckoning in comedy over the past year or so about the idea of emotional truth. This would be murky for you, given that you play a fictionalized version of yourself on Ramy and people draw conclusions about you from that depiction. How do you feel about that debate, and how does your joke-writing process differ in stand-up versus in writing Ramy ?

I think people should be very aware of the term performer . It’s literally in the description. I don’t think it should matter what’s true and what’s not true, and it’s why I’ve named both specials Feelings . It’s just feelings . A lot of the conversations around truth speak to the lack of sincerity, the lack of truth, and the lack of facts we’re surrounded by, unfortunately. That obviously sucks. But for me [my stand-up] is about things that are very real to me and do have a lot of true elements. But then it gets simplified for the performance—it gets crystalized and turns into something that can be funny. That’s always been the process of comedy—how to find the pattern in a mess of things and then figure out how to simplify it all and make it funny.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

Vogue Daily

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HBO special spotlights Ramy Youssef’s edgy jokes, gently told

With his sharp observations, muslim comedian clearly aspires to find common ground..

Ramy Youssef performs in February during the taping of his comedy special “More Feelings.”

To call something “gently edgy” seems like something inspired by the classic George Carlin routine about words that don’t go together, e.g., “jumbo shrimp” and “military intelligence." But the term applies to the comedy in the HBO stand-up special “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings,” and it’s meant as a high compliment.

The Golden Globe-winning creator and director of the acclaimed Hulu series “Ramy” has such a warm and inviting and authentic presence, and his social and cultural and personal observations clearly come from a place of trying to find some common ground in this effed-up world — but his humor is also as sharp an Obsidian blade, and his punchlines often land with a terrific and cheerfully politically incorrect sting.

A Muslim son of Egyptian immigrants, Youssef says that on Oct. 7, “I get a call from a guy I know, [who says], ‘Yo bro, where you at with Hamas?’ Where am I at? ... You think any of us like what happened on October 7th? It’s AWFUL. We hate seeing people die. It’s inhumane. It made me cry. … Now I gotta prove to you that I’m not violent, like you think that’s what’s in my heart? You know me …

“Bro, I’m a Taliban guy.”

The joke lands because Youssef is poking fun at the mentality that has so many of us immediately questioning the motives and beliefs of anyone who is Muslim, and he’s talking about the pressures he feels as a high-profile Muslim celebrity. When Youssef contributed funds to earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey, he said his inbox was “getting cooked” by Muslims who wanted to know where he was when the floods happened in Pakistan. “I was like, I gotta cover everything? I gotta be the mayor of Muslim disaster?”

Filmed last month in Jersey City, New Jersey (if you caught Youssef’s show at the Vic Theatre in Chicago last summer, you’ll recognize much of the material) and directed by “The Bear” showrunner Christopher Storer with minimal camera movement and a total trust in Youssef’s quiet charisma, “More Feelings” has a steady stream of current events content, e.g., when Youssef notes that Joe Biden has “crazy substitute teacher energy." He also talks about how in America, “The South is 25 minutes from wherever you think isn’t the South.” Just as often, though, there’s a universality to the humor, as when Ramy talks about how his father would never really open up to him — but when they’d go to the Olive Garden, his dad would share his whole life story with the waiter.

Been there, experienced that.

Ramy Youssef is having one of those classic Show Business Moments when a talented young performer is catapulted to the next level in relatively rapid fashion. On the heels of “Ramy,” he directed the “Honeydew” episode of “The Bear,” which followed Lionel Boyce’s Marcus to Copenhagen, and he had a key role opposite Academy Award winner Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.” He will host “Saturday Night Live” on March 30.

It’s all heady stuff, and with great success comes great pressure, and in today’s world, endless trolling and sniping. Still, the Ramy Youssef we see in “More Feelings” is a genuine, brilliant and calming presence who makes us laugh a lot, think quite a bit and maybe even feel a little bit better about how we still have much in common despite all our differences, and we should hold onto that.

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‘those about to die’ unveils premiere date & teaser, ramy youssef working on new hbo stand-up special, ‘ramy youssef: more feelings,’ to air in march.

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Multihypenate Ramy Youssef will return to HBO for a new stand-up comedy special titled Ramy Youssef: More Feelings . Youssef will tape the special in front of a live audience at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 2 and 3 for a March debut on the cabler.

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The multihypenate made his feature debut last year in Yorgos Lanthimos’ critically-acclaimed Poor Things opposite Emma Stone, which has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

The special will be produced by Youssef’s Cairo Cowboy outfit and A24; written, performed and executive produced by Youssef, directed and executive produced by Christopher Storer, executive produced by A24 and Tyson Binder. It will debut on HBO and stream on Max.

Youssef founded his production company, Cairo Cowboy, with a mission to develop original film and television content centered on important narratives, and serve as an incubator of emerging Muslim talent. Cairo Cowboy is currently in production on the animated series, #1 Happy Family USA , which was ordered for two seasons under the company’s first-look deal with Amazon.

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Ramy Youssef on returning to standup at JFL and the intersection of Islam and comedy

“A lot of the comedy I did when I first started was, like, clean sets — halal standup. Muslims loved jokes about politics and religion, but if you talked about sex, they were uncomfortable. And then I would go to the comedy club and they loved material about politics and sex, but if you talked about religion, they were uncomfortable.”

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Sometimes I describe Ramy Youssef as the Muslim Lena Dunham. The two couldn’t be more different, but they do share a millennial affinity for auto-fiction, in that they both created shows based on people that, on the surface, would seem to easily align with their off-screen, offline personalities. Fiction is fiction, however, and Ramy Youssef is an entirely different beast from the awkward, fumbling and spiritually existential kid he portrays on Hulu’s hit comedy show Ramy . But just like the ways in which many young white women saw themselves in Hannah Horvath, many young Muslims found representation in Ramy Hassan. 

Youssef’s career, thus far, intersects Islam with comedy, and he is bringing this intersection to the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal this year.

My early experience of navigating the push and pull of ethnic and Western identities very much took place online, where I built a community of equally confused members. I asked Youssef whether this was his experience, too.

“I never engaged in the internet too much,” he says, “but I think, for me, a lot of the standup that I did when I first started would involve, like, halal sets of standup. I would be performing at fundraisers, like a charity raising money for (Palestinian Children Relief Fund), and with these shows, you’d have to do a clean set. And I’d be like, ‘Oh, cool, I’m performing in front of a bunch of Muslims here. I want to make them laugh and I want to connect.’ And it’d be really interesting because I’d be there, and I’d realize they love talking about politics and religion, but if you talked about sex, they were uncomfortable. And then I would go to the comedy club later and they loved talking about politics and sex, but if you talked about religion, they were uncomfortable.” He stifles a laugh at the absurdity. 

The point being that he’s eager to leave television and film sets, for a moment, to return to the stage. “What I do miss,” he says, “is that when I used to do comedy, it involved being in the room with people. And I think you lose something when you’re not in the room, you know? We can see each other and realize we’re human. It’s something I’m really looking forward to on this tour.”

From the success of his stand-up came television opportunities. In 2020 he won a Golden Globe for Ramy , and as the crowd applauded, he quipped and said, “I know none of you have seen my show.” He says this response was rooted more in awe, than anything, but did admit award shows were silly. Opportunities are wonderful but, “I don’t believe in gamifying art.” 

This is especially evident when we look at Ramy’s spin-off series released on Netflix in 2022: Mo . Youssef took a fan favourite character and extended the opportunity to fill yet another writers room with diversity and complexity. Mo tells the story of an immigrant in an interfaith and interracial relationship who’s desperate for American citizenship, and spends a lot of the series aghast at the ways white people abuse olive oil and hummus. It’s very funny, and as I point out to Youssef, more palatable than Ramy , a show who sees a character so desperate to be good , and who, as each season develops, only seems to be getting worse .

“With Ramy ,” Youssef says, “I think we’re tracking a bit of the death of ego. We’re really looking at the intimacy of a spiritual journey, and peeling those layers back and getting closer to the wound. I think that’s the space where we actually shift something and move. And what I think about Mo is that it’s almost the opposite. It’s a bit more outward — about a guy and his family and what they have to face in a system.”

As he prepares to share new stand-up material, I wonder whether fans can expect the work to stay political. Will the personal always be political for Ramy Youssef? “For sure, I think that’s always going to be intertwined with the material. For anyone who hasn’t seen me do standup since the first special, it will be really fun. Because it’s been four years, and I’ve been playing with a bunch of different types of versions of the new hour for probably a few years. I’m excited to really get it together. So, yes, definitely there’s the personal being political, but also a lot more personal in general.” 

This fall, fans will also get a chance to see another side of the actor in Yorgos Lanthimos’s next feature film, Poor Things . While he won’t be playing Ramy — he had to learn a British accent — and I still wonder if, like the rest of his work, there was a spiritual element that drew him to the role. “You know, Yorgos is his own universe. I think the spiritual draw for me was just getting to work with truly one of the greatest living directors. It was very fulfilling.” Youssef pauses. “I mean, it is funny, the character I play in the film might be the only character that believes in God, or claims that he believes in God, which is interesting.” ■

Ramy Youssef will be performing three Just for Laughs sets at the Gesù (1200 Bleury) from July 28–29 ($51–$59.25), and will speak at Faith in Comedy : In Conversation with Ramy Youssef at the DoubleTree by Hilton (1255 Jeanne-Mance, Inspiration Room) on July 29, 1 p.m., $33

This article was originally published in the  July  issue of Cult MTL.

For more Montreal comedy coverage, please visit the  Comedy  section.

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How Ramy Youssef Made the Great American Millennial-Muslim Comedy

By Gabriella Paiella

Gabriella Paiella

The afternoon before Ramadan starts, Ramy Youssef is sitting in a restaurant in downtown Manhattan, dressed in sweats and a black Nike snapback hat. He’s loading up on food: a hearty stack of lemon curd pancakes, a side of turkey sausage, ketchup he liberally seasons with pepper. The 28-year-old has just finished performing downstairs at the Comedy Cellar, where he started out in typical slacker-bro comedian style, bemoaning the fact that he doesn’t have a girlfriend with whom he can grab fro-yo. Then he segued into a bit about watching Surviving R. Kelly and feeling increasingly anxious that the documentary would reveal the R&B singer had converted to Islam. “I was just waiting for them to find the Quran,” he deadpanned. “Episode Five it was going to be like, ‘the R actually stands for Rahman.'”

A devout Muslim, Youssef is the sort of stand-up who seamlessly weaves together piety (“I believe in God. Like God, God. Not yoga.”) and obscenity (“I slipped in once without a condom for like a second — it felt so good, but the second I slipped in I had a fucking mortgage. My son needed braces.”), occasionally at the same time (“I remember the moment I really believed in God. This girl texted me two minutes after I jerked off to her Facebook photo”). It’s a mix evident in his first stand-up special, Feelings, which debuts on HBO on June 29th. And it’s definitely there in Ramy, his semi-autobiographical series about a Muslim-American named Ramy Hassan who’s living with his family in New Jersey and in the midst of a quarter-life crisis spurred on by a desire to better adhere to his faith. The first scripted TV comedy about the Muslim-American experience, it immediately became a critical darling, praised for being “quietly revolutionary” and “profound” after its premiere in April. ( Hulu has already announced it’s picking up the show for a second season.)

“You go into TV, especially if you haven’t made a season of something before, and you’re like, Am I going to get out on the other end of this thing still looking like me ?” he says. “And I think I do.”

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The thing about starring in show about an Arab Muslim millennial named Ramy when you’re also an Arab Muslim millennial named Ramy is that, publicly at least, you can end up being perceived as exactly like your character. TV Ramy is more than a little stunted and still lives at home with his parents (played by Hiam Abbass and Amr Waked). TV Ramy’s start-up gig never quite starts up, forcing him to go work for his racist uncle in the diamond district. TV Ramy is, admittedly, kind of a fuckboy. Thankfully, real-life Ramy has it way more together. “I try to put [the character] in a place where he’s a little more stuck than I feel,” Youssef explains. “I have a creative outlet to talk about things that are on my mind, and so it’s always very much, ‘What would it look like if I didn’t have that?’ We lead with his flaws. It would feel weird to make a show called Ramy, and have him be what a good guy — that’s a little sociopathic.”

Youssef was born in Queens to Egyptian immigrants — his dad managed the Plaza Hotel back when Donald Trump owned it — and raised in nearby Rutherford, New Jersey, where he grew up a fan of George Carlin and Allen Iverson’s 76ers. He initially enrolled at Rutgers for political science, with the vaguest of plans to become a lawyer, but dropped out at 20 to pursue a comedy career in Los Angeles. He was first cast in the Scott Baio-led Nickelodeon sitcom See Dad Run, then had a recurring role on the USA hacker drama Mr. Robot, alongside fellow Egyptian-American Rami Malek. (Side note: Perhaps nothing demonstrates the dearth of Middle Eastern actors on television quite like when I found out my 84-year-old Egyptian grandmother attempted to watch the entirely convoluted Mr. Robot because it was the only show on TV whose star was Egyptian.)

The idea for Ramy first took hold in 2012, when Youssef was praying in between takes of See Dad Run. Soon after, his friend Ari Katcher — who’d been encouraging him to develop the concept of a Muslim-American comedy — brought stand-up Jerrod Carmichael to a party at Youssef’s house. The two comics immediately struck up a friendship over the fact that they’re both religious (Carmichael is a Christian); they ended up discussing the show while hanging out at a roast of Justin Bieber and touring together in 2017. When Carmichael came on as an executive producer, they began pitching the show around with co-creators Katcher and Ryan Welch. After Hulu greenlit the project, they brought Transparent ‘s Bridget Bedard to work as showrunner. Per a Vulture article on the making of Ramy, every new writer hire was a woman, two of whom were Muslim. (Two stand-alone episodes respectively focusing on Ramy’s sister, played by May Calamawy, and his mother, were both directed by Palestinian-American director Cherien Dabis and are among the strongest of the series.)

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Overall, the show’s refusal to go in the most obvious, expected route — Ramy’s extended family are Trump fans, a flashback episode reveals that 9/11 happened while he was trying to masturbate for the first time in his middle school bathroom — ultimately lends it a feeling of deep authenticity. (The ample “ habibi’s ” dropped into every other sentence also help.) Most importantly, it’s enormously funny, with even the most poignant moments stretching out like a rubber band then suddenly snapping back with a joke. Take the conversation where Ramy’s father chastises his son for sleeping with a married woman; he gives a heartfelt, nostalgia-laden monologue about what he sacrificed when he left his family behind in Egypt before ending on the note, “at least you’re not gay.”

Youssef is thrilled that he got his full vision into Ramy — as he puts it, “this shit isn’t diluted.” That said, there were some battles he lost. He had hoped the very first scene would show him doing wudu, a ritual cleansing before prayer, in a mosque. “Testing made the audiences feel like it was a show about terrorism,” he says, “because they’re open in a mosque speaking Arabic.” Whether you think Ramy leans more heavily on the obscenity or the piety depends on your perspective. The show’s first season includes several sex scenes, including a fumbled backseat choke-out in the pilot (though, deliberately, there’s no nudity). “People who are part of any of the various Muslim communities that have a sensitivity to discussing sex, they watch this show and they’re like, This is all sex, ” he continues. “People who don’t have that sensitivity watch the show and they’re like, All this dude does is pray. ” (For the record: There are more prayer scenes than sex scenes. Youssef has tallied it up.)

The success of  Ramy ‘s first season has sparked conversations about representation and responsibility, which he welcomes, though Youssef’s ultimate goal was telling a nuanced story about one particular character and his family — and to make it funny. He loves comedy that has purpose — “It’s important to make sure I’m always thinking about, ‘Why am I telling this joke?'” — but he also wants to be realistic. “I think that comedy’s in a place right now where it’s getting a little confused,” Youssef says. “Sometimes people sit more on the purpose than on the laugh. It’s got to be laugh-driven. Anytime someone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, comedy’s changing things,’ I feel really averse to that kind of sentiment, because that puts an unfair weight on it.

“My friend Patrisse Cullors, she’s one of the founders of Black Lives Matter,” he continues, “I couldn’t call her and be like, ‘Hey, you guys take a week off, this writers’ room is so hilarious, we’re going to change [things]. Don’t worry, we got it covered.’ Hopefully my work helps set up people to be a little more open-minded to that work that’s being done, but that’s not change.”

After brunch, Youssef is planning to head out to his parents’ house in Jersey, where he’ll sleep over and wake up at 4:00 a.m. to eat suhoor before the first day of fasting. A couple of days later, he’ll fly out to Los Angeles, where the Ramy writers’ room is based, to start up on season two of the show. And then there’s the upcoming premiere of Feelings, which will introduce his stand-up to a much larger audience. Though Youssef has been performing for 10 years, there are barely any videos of his material on the internet, an intentional choice on his part. “There’s just a little bit of a shock with things going public,” he admits. “I feel like it sounds dumb to say when you’re a performer, and you go out of your way to make a TV show. What I really like about stand-up is there’s 100 people in a room, and you can just feel the pulse. It’s very human.

“Then once something just goes on screen,” Youssef adds, “there’s just a little bit of that humanity that was lost. Not everyone’s going to get your intentions. But hopefully more do than don’t.”

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Prepare for shock and guffaws when Ramy Youssef gets in his Feelings

If you’ve finished the first season Ramy and are already hankering for more of Ramy Youssef’s elliptical, serenely irreverent humor, the actor-comedian has you covered with Feelings , his first HBO stand-up special. Directed by Christopher Storer, Feelings grew out of Youssef’s pitch for his Hulu series, which offers a poignantly ribald look at the life of a Muslim millennial, and is itself informed by his stand-up, because Youssef’s work is nothing if not interconnected. Feelings is a great companion piece for Ramy —at times, it feels like an extended bonus episode—but it’s also a thoughtful, increasingly bold introduction to Youssef’s brand of circuitous, sharp-witted comedy.

Youssef’s persona is equal parts questioning and horny, and he doesn’t hold back on the queries or the pining (which, as in his half-hour series, eventually becomes consanguineous) throughout Feelings ’ 56-minute runtime. Viewers who are accustomed to his endearingly meandering style of storytelling will handle the slightly lackluster opening stretch better than the uninitiated. Early on, Youssef’s musings about power imbalances and famous accused abusers who have mostly evaded ( until recently , we hope) any real consequences feel like they’re straining for timeliness, as if they were written for a five-minute gig on a late-night show—all that’s missing from this ruminating is a “did you hear about?” or two.

But Youssef’s laidback charm sees him through a somewhat rough start, and it’s not long before he’s eliciting gasps and big laughs from the crowd at the Chicago Cultural Center, where Feelings was filmed earlier this year. That would be right around the time Youssef gets to talking about the commander in chief/despot-in-the-making Donald Trump. But while jeering at the sitting president has become a staple for (most) comedic forays, there’s nothing obligatory or even trite about the way Feelings broaches that topic. True to compassionate form, Youssef starts the first of several digressions into Trump not by simply lobbing insults or referencing the constitutional and humanitarian crises that spring up in the president’s wake, but by opening up about his family’s connection to that failed businessman , a story he’s reflected upon in greater detail on Ramy .

It’s one of many moments, along with expressing a desire to take the term “kissing cousins” much more literally, in which Feelings feels of a piece with his series (which, again, makes sense given that Youssef has said the special consists of a chunk of his Ramy audition tape). But the comedian also takes advantage of the looser structure of Feelings , which allows him to cover more territory than a half-hour episode of TV—he can be even more free-associating in his delivery, ambling from some introspection about how, as a Muslim, his belief in God is interpreted as more of a threat than the religious fundamentalism that’s made its way into the highest levels of American government, to a riff on porn preferences (he likes to think the people having sex on screen are in love).

As laughter erupts over Youssef’s subsequent description of just how pragmatic his approach to sex is, the interconnectedness of all these seemingly disparate anecdotes and observations emerges. The bits about Islam and porn are ultimately shown to be about perception and the expression of belief (yes, really). Youssef goes on many tangents throughout Feelings , and he shines in all of them, whether he’s on a more whimsical riff, like wondering what comes with the canine label of “man’s best friend,” or making pointed jokes about what it’s like to date white women as a Muslim American man. Storer’s direction follows the comedian’s sauntering cue—the cameras are never static, alternately circling their subject or panning out to show the audience, which includes many Muslims. And, just as Youssef ties together the many threads he’s unraveled, the camera steadily makes its way back to the circular stage to punctuate an already sharp joke, like the observation that one person isn’t responsible for bigotry in this country; he’s just become the avatar for it.

Genial as he is, Youssef still deals in many uncomfortable truths, the kind he notes that his “woke” audience might be unprepared to confront, like just how shaky their “tolerance” really is. As he told Seth Meyers on Late Night earlier this week, even the people who spout their progressive bona fides on the street seek to modify the term Muslim by placing a “moderate” before it. If you’re a follower of Islam, acceptance is conditional: “Nobody wants you to be that Muslim,” Youssef points out, late in the hour. “They just want you to have a good hummus recipe.” In sharing his preteen perception of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, the comedian underscores just how easily acceptance is revoked. Again, the camerawork follows suit, closing in on Youssef so that he’s essentially locking eyes with the viewer at home when he shares these revelations.

Although Youssef has the only microphone, there’s a conversational element to Feelings. He remains in the center of the venue (whose architecture recalls that of a mosque), open to admiration and criticism—a sense of vulnerability runs throughout. His observations about the fraught world around him are accompanied by confessions about how he’s internalized some of that prejudice, leading to a jaw-dropping denouement that’s bound to dominate Monday’s watercooler chats. Feelings is quite complementary to Ramy’ s exploration of identity and dating, but it’s also its own vital discussion.

Ramy Youssef: More Feelings

Premiere: march 23, 2024 — 10/9c.

Stand-up Special

Ramy Youssef reflects on a divided world, charitable giving, the presidential election, and more.

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2024 stand-up special.

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Ramy Youssef is having a moment. He’s hosting  Saturday Night Live   for the first time next weekend, coming off a trip to the Oscars in support of his co-starring role in the award-winning  Poor Things . And he returns to his native New Jersey for a terrific stand-up comedy special, his second for HBO , filmed in Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall. He addresses a diverse audience with droll yet barbed observations about keeping his cool as a Muslim American during a divisive election year. Riffs include getting backlash while doing appearances for charity (including a concert with Taylor Swift in the audience), and he’s especially enthralling as he delivers a long and rewarding anecdote about plagiarizing a book report on Gandhi.

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Ramy Youssef’s Big Year: Poor Things , The Bear , Taylor Swift, and More

By Kara Warner

Ramy Youssef is having another big year.

To lay it all out: The actor-comedian-writer-director is part of the buzzy best-picture conversation with his role in Poor Things , a.k.a. his first real part in a feature film; he’s a first-time DGA nominee for directing the Copenhagen-set episode of The Bear; he’s juggling cocreator/EP duties on the Emmy-nominated Ramy and Peabody-winning Mo ; and he also, for good measure, has a blossoming friendship with Taylor Swift.

Youssef humbly clarifies that not all of these things have happened simultaneously, only conversations about them have. “We shot Poor Things [in 2021], then I headed over to Mo, then started ’22 shooting [season three of] Ramy, and then the following year I did The Bear, ” he tells Vanity Fair. “Everything kind of came out very similarly in time, but it was a bit more spaced out.”

The bilingual multihyphenate’s star has been on the rise for several years, beginning in 2019 when he wrote and executive produced his first comedy special for HBO and starred in the acclaimed Hulu series Ramy, on which he also served as a writer and director; the latter earned him a Golden Globe win and two Emmy nominations as well. ( Ramy is semi-autobiographical, starring Youssef as a son of Egyptian immigrants who’s navigating life in New Jersey as a Muslim American.) Outside of his TV and film work, Youssef has used his platform to speak out about the Israel-Hamas war and raise funds for the humanitarian aid organization Anera —for which he ended up in the headlines with his new pal Swift. We caught up with Youssef to hear more about his journey in Hollywood thus far, his perspective as a first-generation Egyptian American storyteller and performer, and how he’s wrapping his head around his rapidly rising profile.

Vanity Fair: When did you first have an inkling you wanted to be in this wild business?   Ramy Youssef: The idea of being able to do this professionally took a really long time to sink in for me. I always knew I wanted to make things. I started with making music videos and short films and learned how to video edit, but I thought it was just all going to be kind of this beautiful hobby. The idea of it being a real [career] was not an aspiration, just because I couldn’t imagine it.

Writing, directing, and starring in a hit show is a pretty remarkable feat in this business. Was there a particularly formative working experience you had along the way, outside of early TV work?

My father managed hotels, and the times that I would go with him to work and kind of see his style of working with people—it’s very show businessy. My dad had this combination of being firm and honest, but also incredibly diplomatic. He just seemed to love what he did, but was managing so many people. And I think that style, seeing that and understanding that, is the most formative thing that I could think of for the way that running a set works.  How many languages do you speak, by the way? I speak Arabic and English. My mother also speaks French, and actually my grandfather was an interpreter for the United Nations. That’s what kind of brought my mother’s family to America. That was his job for decades—everything that happened in the United Nations, my grandfather was there interpreting into Arabic, into French, and vice versa. I feel shame I didn’t pick up [French].

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Ramy Youssef in Poor Things

Was there a moment where you knew you were on the right path?

I was really lucky to move to LA with an acting job [on the Nick at Nite sitcom See Dad Run ], but when it ended, I think I thought that because I had acted in one thing, that would kind of open the doors to other acting. And then you quickly realize that you’re always auditioning, whether you’re auditioning or not.

The thing that made me feel the most excited was finding my voice in stand-up. What I like about Hollywood is there’s this thing that’s unreliable about it in the way that life is too…if you can make the agreement [with yourself] that being here is going to be unstable, it actually is so beautiful because you’re really grateful for anything when it works. When I found stand-up, I thought, Okay, it doesn’t matter what’s going on. I can build an hour of stand-up and I can connect with people, and that doesn’t need a budget or too much approval from anyone, other than building an audience organically. So that was when I transitioned from doing sketch comedy and making short films to saying, Okay, I want to just build out my voice onstage. Seeing that grow made me feel like I could stay here and do this.

Jumping ahead a bit, it’s pretty amazing that Poor Things is your first film. How did it happen?

My manager had called and said, “Hey, there might be a couple scenes for you in a Yorgos [Lanthimos] film.” She was really excited to give me that call because she knew how much I loved Yorgos. And so I met with him, and he told me he had watched my show and watched my stand-up. We talked a lot about tone and comedy—we probably talked for an hour and a half or two hours—and by the end of the conversation, he said, “This is what I’m working on next. There’s this part that I think you would be great at, and so why don’t you read it and let me know what you think?” And I immediately said to him, “Dude, I don’t need to read it. I’ll be there.” And he was like, “Well, we’ll have to see the schedule because I know you’re filming your show.” And I was like, “Dude, f--k my show. Let’s do this.” When I got the script, I loved how funny it was and I kind of understood, based on the conversation we had had around tone and comedy, that this is what he was going for, he [and writer] Tony McNamara . I felt, Oh, they’re going for an even bigger comedy. It’s still going to be Yorgos-[style]—crazy and messy and weird—but it’s also going to be really funny. 

Youssef in Poor Things

Your character, Max, has this wide-eyed, lovable quality about him that we don’t know if we can totally trust or not. Was there any part of him that you really loved getting to do? Max was an opportunity for me to do something I hadn’t done before, to build a character that truly has nothing to do with me. He has an accent. He has all these fascinations. The piece of him that I really loved, though, was that he puts himself in these situations that are inherently kind of challenging, and he somehow tries to be sincere within them. He’s incredibly curious, and he is also drawn to the things that would spike his curiosity the most, and I think for the right reasons. Building that character, there’s a real fine line [there]—he could have been weird and creepy. I think I understood that when I read it and I thought, Oh, this is why Yorgos wants me to do this, because there is a tightrope walk here. One thing I’ve also enjoyed about watching you and your Poor Things cast is how affectionate everyone is. Is there one element of that that has been particularly fun? It’s kind of a magical group. Everyone comes from such a different life experience. And then we were all together in Budapest for months on end [filming]. We had three weeks of rehearsal, really getting to know one another. And then I think we are all just fans of each other, and we all bring something incredibly different to the table…It’s that intangible thing that you can’t fully describe. But I think we all feel this thing of, we would like to be always in each other’s lives, and that’s hard to get.

Ramy Youssef and Willem Dafoe

Along with all of the current awards love for Poor Things, you also received your first DGA nomination for your episode of The Bear, “Honeydew.” Was there any cooking or food-related thing that you took away from that experience?   On my first scouting trip, I basically just took all my work meetings from Copenhagen, and then because of the time difference, walked around during the day. I like to scout stuff with a film camera, so I was just walking around listening to music, and I probably took 300 pictures and then picked out the frames that I then shared with our DP, Adam Newport-Berra, and our location manager in Copenhagen. Looking at the script, there was something written in an apartment, but I’d be walking and I’d see all these houseboats and then kind of hit up [co-showrunner] Chris Storer and sent him a photo of a houseboat I took. I said, “What if we did it like that? And he said, “Oh, dude, f--k yeah, we gotta do that.”

I think the thing that I probably took the most from eating out every night—and then also me and Lionel [Boyce] , we did one day of staging at Noma , which was really cool. You see how much of an art food is, how much thought goes into it, so much craft goes into it. I was really impressed and blown away by the level of discipline that it takes. One of the mornings, I went to Hart Bakery in Copenhagen and worked the early shift with them from 4 a.m. It’s such a system. Anything that I tend to appreciate in life that feels fun and spontaneous is actually incredibly systematic, whether it be a movie or whether it be a cinnamon roll. Do you think you’ll get to direct an episode in season three?

I think Chris is allowing me to do more; we’re figuring out schedule stuff, but I’m excited. That’s one of those things where it’s an opportunity to go hang out with my friends for two weeks. A lot of that cast I’ve known for years and then a bunch are new friends. Seeing them win , it felt like I won, actually.

Will Poulter and Lionel Boyce in The Bear episode “Honeydew,” directed by Ramy Youssef

Speaking of new friends, the first time I saw your name linked with Taylor Swift’s was when she attended one of your comedy shows . What’s that been like for you?

She’s so cool and so funny. We met organically through Emma [Stone] , and then kind of hit it off and hung out a bit…. I’m not used to that, and I couldn’t have anticipated it or even thought that [it would end up as a headline]. But then I think the funny thing, too, is even stuff at the Globes, there’s this really funny thing of seeing how things that feel incredibly friendly and small and kind of intimate then suddenly are headlines. She’s really smart, and it’s kind of wild how genuine and normal, I guess is the word to say, [she is] for someone who’s a global star. And I think, too, the piece of this that has been really exciting, even kind of going out to all these awards things, even meeting someone like Taylor…when you’re making art, you kind of hope that people connect with it, and there is this extra layer when your fellow artists connect with it, because it’s this thing where it’s like, Wow, the fact that we like each other’s art is incredibly bonding.  You’ve been sharing your voice and your perspective through your work, but you’ve also been using your platform to shine light on things like the Israel-Hamas war. What has that been like for you?

We’re constantly surrounded by failures of the human existence—we’re surrounded by successes, and then we’re surrounded by these massive failures and injustices. This moment that we’re in right now, when we see what’s happening in Palestine, what’s happening in Gaza—the third season of my show [ Ramy ] took me there, the creation of the show Mo took me there, my stand-up. Even if you look back at things I’ve posted, I spoke about a very formative stand-up comedy experience for me that happened in 2014 or 2015, when I first got to go and perform stand-up in Palestine. So I think what’s really interesting is, there’s nothing topical about this for me…. When you look at what’s on the conscious mind of artists, it tends to be what’s subconsciously boiling underneath what society’s currently looking at. And so you kind of get these pieces of work that almost look like they’re timely, but they’re not because they’re timeless, because it’s been there the whole time. So the fact that we have already done so much art that directly deals with Palestine, and now Palestine is in the headlines, isn’t really an accident because the headlines are always late and the art is always early. The good art is always early. The bad art is responsive to the headlines. In continuing the work of wanting to point to the human condition, looking at not just representation of Muslims—which I never really claim—it is more like I’m interested in the things that emotionally touch me, and it’s often Muslims; it's often and has already been Palestine, and I think now the headlines kind of catch up to that, and it makes me feel like, Okay, we’re going to need everyone in order to solve the many injustices happening around the world. It’s not just government, it’s also artists, anyone who can just kind of learn. And so to be part of that, it feels like the bare minimum that I could do. You’ve posted about supporting the humanitarian aid organization Anera , donating the proceeds of your stand-up tour to them. Can you talk a little about what they’re doing? They’re an organization that’s been around for a really long time, helping refugees and helping in these critical situations. They have really strong relationships. They’re probably one of only two or three organizations that actually have people in Gaza and then people right outside, trying to deal with what is an incredibly limited, fu--ed-up pipeline…. They’re positioned to help people get their necessities, and then they will be crucial in whatever rebuilding looks like. Poor Things is now playing in theaters, seasons one through three of Ramy are available on Hulu, and season one of Mo is available on Netflix.

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Ramy Youssef

Jul 21, 2023 7:00 PM

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Barrymore Theatre 2090 Atwood Ave. , Madison , Wisconsin 53704

May 18, 2023

A close-up of Ramy Youssef.

Emmy-nominated actor and comedian Ramy Youssef won a Golden Globe for Best Actor playing himself in the hit Hulu show Ramy , based on his experiences as an Egyptian American Muslim living in New Jersey. This summer, Youssef is on a stand-up tour around the States.

media release:  This is a Reserved Seat Show. All ticketing is through Ticketmaster. Doors at 6PM | Show at 7PM

This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of phones, smart watches and accessories, will not be permitted in the performance space.

Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches and accessories will be secured in individual Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their devices at all times, and can access them throughout the event only in designated Phone Use Areas within the venue. All devices will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the performance space.

Anyone seen using a device (phone, smart watch or accessories) during the performance will be escorted out of the venue.

Ramy Youssef is an award-winning Egyptian American creator, actor, producer, director, and comedian who brings his unique voice and perspective to his storytelling. Youssef created, produces, directs and stars in the hit Hulu show “Ramy,” inspired by his own experiences centering around a first-generation

Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. He won a Golden Globe® in 2020 on behalf of “Ramy” in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.” In 2020, the Television Academy nominated Youssef for two

Emmy Awards® in the categories of “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series” on behalf of the second season of “Ramy.” He also won the Peabody Award on behalf of the series. The third season of Youssef’s widely celebrated “Ramy” premiered on

September 30th, 2022.

Youssef was also nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Writers Guild Award for his one-hour HBO comedy special “Ramy Youssef: Feelings” produced by A24.

Youssef is a co-creator and executive producer of Netflix’s new series “Mo,” a semi-autobiographical series inspired by Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Houston. “Mo” recently debuted to critical acclaim and was produced with A24 and Youssef’s new production company, Cairo Cowboy. The show premiered in August of 2022. The series won the Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Series Under 40 Minutes, and was recognized by AFI as one of their Top Television Programs of the year.

On the feature front, Youssef will also star alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly anticipated film POOR THINGS for Searchlight, which will make its debut in 2023.

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Today award-winning Egyptian American creator, actor, producer, and comedian Ramy Youssef announced a run of stand-up tour dates this summer. Ramy will be touring across North America with 25 dates including a stop at City National Grove of Anaheim on Thursday, August 4, at 7PM .

Tickets for the City National Grove of Anaheim performance can be purchased at Ticketmaster .

Ramy Youssef is an award-winning Egyptian American creator, actor, producer, director, and comedian who brings his unique voice and perspective to his storytelling. Youssef created, produces, directs and stars in the hit Hulu show “Ramy,” inspired by his own experiences centering around a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. He won a Golden Globe® in 2020 on behalf of “Ramy” in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.” In 2020, the Television Academy nominated Youssef for two Emmy Awards® in the categories of “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series” on behalf of the second season of “Ramy.” He also won the Peabody Award on behalf of the series. The third season of Youssef’s widely celebrated “Ramy” premiered on September 30th, 2022. Youssef was also nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Writers Guild Award for his one-hour HBO comedy special “Ramy Youssef: Feelings” produced by A24. Youssef is a co-creator and executive producer of Netflix’s new series “Mo,” a semi-autobiographical series inspired by Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Houston. “Mo” recently debuted to critical acclaim and was produced with A24 and Youssef’s new production company, Cairo Cowboy. The show premiered in August of 2022. The series won the Gotham Award for Best Breakthrough Series Under 40 Minutes, and was recognized by AFI as one of their Top Television Programs of the year. On the feature front, Youssef will also star alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly anticipated film POOR THINGS for Searchlight, which will make its debut in 2023.

This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of phones, smart watches and accessories, will not be permitted in the performance space.

Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches and accessories will be secured in individual Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their devices at all times, and can access them throughout the event only in designated Phone Use Areas within the venue. All devices will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the performance space.

Anyone seen using a device (phone, smart watch or accessories) during the performance will be escorted out of the venue.

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Comedian Ramy Youssef Donating 100% of Tour Proceeds to Gaza Relief

Fans who purchase tickets to one of ramy youssef's 12 upcoming shows will help raise money for anera, which provides assistance to vulnerable communities.

Ramy Youssef is hoping to make a difference through his comedy.

On Wednesday, the stand-up comic and actor announced that proceeds from his upcoming shows will go directly to an organization helping innocent people affected by the Israel-Hamas war .

"100 percent of the proceeds for the remainder of the ramy youssef: more feelings standup tour will be donated to ANERA," he wrote on Instagram , "providing humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza."

Youssef proceeded to list 12 upcoming shows happening between Nov. 30 and Feb. 2 in cities including Washington D.C., San Francisco, Calif., and Brooklyn, New York.

After sharing the news, Bella Hadid shared the post on her Instagram Story writing, "I love you my friend." Gigi Hadid also commented writing, "Legend."

According to its website , ANERA's mission is to provide humanitarian assistance and sustainable development to advance the well-being of refugees and other vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.

Established in 1968, ANERA states it has no political or religious affiliation and "envisions a Middle East where people live with dignity, purpose and opportunity." 

This isn't the first time Youssef has used his platform to address the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel. In addition to calling for a ceasefire , the comedian has tried to find the words to share how he is feeling.  

"This past week has broken the heart of all in my life — Muslim, Jewish, Christian, atheist," he wrote on Instagram Oct. 13. "We fully condemn the death of civilians. We always have. And now we are witnessing the latest inhumane chapter of a story that desperately needs to end. It serves no one."

Youssef continued, "The people of Gaza do not deserve to pay the price for our failings. If Gaza is erased, history will see we stood by. That we failed to find our humanity."

Ramy Youssef Tickets

Buy ramy youssef tickets.

See this Golden Globw-winning actor take the stage with Ramy Youssef tickets from TicketSmarter. Youssef is an American stand-up comedian, actor and director who is perhaps best known for his role on the Hulu series Ramy . He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a Peabody for his performance in 2020.

Youssef made his acting debut in See Dad Run , a sitcom on Nick at Night. In 2019, he debuted Ramy , which follows a millennial Muslim man who is a first-generation American. Following the success and critical acclaim of its first season, Youssef starred in his first HBO stand-up special titled Ramy Youssef: Feelings . He also signed a television production deal with A24.

Get ready to laugh with Ramy Youssef tickets. Throughout his career, Youssef has been celebrated for both his acting and his writing within the comedy genre. On Ramy , for example, he serves as lead creator, writer, director and executive producer in addition to his role as lead actor, and has garnered nominations for several high-profile awards. Some of those include Critics’ Choice Television Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and NAACP Image Awards for his on Ramy . 

Ramy Youssef Ticket Prices

The price of Ramy Youssef tickets may vary between each performance. Ramy Youssef ticket prices are based on the capacity of the venue, ticket inventory and the number of tickets you’re looking to purchase. Prices are generally pretty reasonable unless you are looking for VIP seating next to the stage.

How much are Ramy Youssef tickets?

Tickets to one of Ramy Youssef comedy shows can range in price for each venue and the location of your seats. Ramy Youssef live tickets typically start around the $50 range but depending on the performance and venue can exceed $500 per ticket. Secure seats that fit your budget today with TicketSmarter.

Ramy Youssef Tour Dates & Show Schedule

Ramy Youssef continues to be one of the busiest comedians in the entertainment industry. Ramy Youssef tour dates across most of the United States and some Canadian venues on the tour schedule every year. You may be able to catch a performance at hit theaters like the Terry Fator Theatre at the Mirage in Las Vegas or the Funny Bone Comedy Club in Columbus. Make you are there every year for the New York Comedy Festival . Don’t miss your chance to see a great stand-up comedy show in your city. Use the event calendar above today to see what is available near you.

When do Ramy Youssef tickets go on sale?

Ramy Youssef tour tickets go on sale around three to six months before a tour is announced. Fans can purchase comedy show tickets after cities, venues, dates and times are announced. Use the event calendar above to be the first to secure seats when a new date is released.

Ramy Youssef Seating Chart

The seating arrangement for a Ramy Youssef show varies between each venue. Most performances are at small theaters and arenas. These usually have the capacity to seat under 1,000 to 3,000 audience members. Premium views of the stage can be found in the main floor orchestra sections. Great views are also available in the balcony section overlooking the stage. Or, be there for the Boston Comedy Festival . Discover which layout your venue is using with the interactive seating chart above.

Spend the evening laughing from the comfort of your own seat when you see Ramy Youssef perform live.

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Watch Ramy Youssef's SNL Monologue and Sketches from March 30

Youssef delivered a eight-minute standup monologue that was both funny and stirring ahead of a fresh Please Don't Destroy short and more hilarious sketches. 

As we've seen earlier in Season 49 with hosts like Nate Bargatze and Ayo Edibiri , a  Saturday Night Live   monologue from a seasoned stand-up performer is always a treat—and Host Ramy Youssef 's monologue was no exception on March 30. The Poor Things  actor and  More Feelings  comedian delivered an opener that was more than eight minutes long, in a set that addressed his faith, the 2024 presidential election, and the Israel-Hamas war .

How to Watch

Watch Saturday Night Live  Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on  NBC and next day on  Peacock .  

"This is an incredibly spiritual weekend," Youssef said. "We're in the holy month of Ramadan. Tomorrow is Easter. And yesterday, Beyoncé released a new album There's just so many religions celebrating all at once."

The Emmy-nominated Egyptian-American actor's monologue closed with a call for the release of the 134 hostages still believed to be held by Hamas, and a ceasefire in the war that's killed 576 Israeli soldiers and at least 30,000 Palestinian people per NBC News .

The evening got far sillier from there, however, from the first sketch of the night, "Couple Goals," to the faux ad for "Ozempic for Ramadan" and a Please Don't Destroy short featuring Musical Guest Travis Scott.

Watch Ramy Youssef's SNL  monologue from March 30, plus all of the night's hilarious sketches below. 

RELATED:  Everything to Know About Ramy Youssef's Award-Winning Career

SNL  March 30 Cold Open: "Easter Cold Open"

What first appears to be a scene depicting Jesus Christ's Resurrection, with Mary and two other women named Mary grieving at the tomb, turns out to be a commercial for the very real Bible that former president Donald Trump is currently selling to raise funds.

"It can be yours for the high, high price of $60. But I'm not doing this for the money," Trump (James Austin Johnson) tells the camera. "I'm doing this for the glory of God, and for pandering, and mostly for money."

Ramy Youssef monologue

Watch above.

"Couple Goals"

The latest SNL faux game show is a  Newlywed Game -style competition in which a husband (Ramy Youssef) reveals his deep fear of being falsely accused of murdering his wife if she has an accident—to a degree that his wife (Ego Nwodim) officially finds alarming. 

"Please Don't Destroy - We Got Too High (ft. Travis Scott"

In which absolutely everyone but Travis Scott loses their chill.

"Immigrant Dad Talk Show"

Marcello Hernández and Ramy Youssef are adorable as Joaquin Antonio and Hahmed Ahmed Mahmoud, two American immigrant fathers who share the common experience of having "children—the good ones, and the sons as well." This sketch has the added bonus of teasing what  Hernández and Youssef might look like in 20-30 years. 

"Ozempic for Ramadan"

The parody commercial imagines an extremely niche market for the appetite-suppressing drug: People fasting during Ramadan.

"Team Captain"

Youssef plays a basketball team captain who's trying to keep his team together after the coach (Kenan Thompson) has horrified them all with a series of now-viral photos and videos they can't forget.

"Murder Detective"

If  CSI  and  Law and Order   taught us anything about a crime procedural, it's that there's always a guy making murder scene-related puns. One cop (Andrew Dismukes) badly wants to be that guy. 

"Tiny Desk Concert"

A band (Youssef, Chloe Troast and James Austin Johnson) playing an NPR Tiny Desk Concert keeps getting disrupted by an odd intern (Bowen Yang) who just wants them to keep the ruckus down. Are we the only ones who wanted to hear the Youssef-fronted band jam for a sec?  

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"The whole world is wet – and we’re dry”: Why Ramy Youssef's feelings and prayers on "SNL" matter

On a recent "saturday night live" the comic supported palestine in a way that god-fearing america can't argue with, by melanie mcfarland.

Presuming you’re familiar with Ramy Youssef , which the comedian himself doesn’t take for granted , you may have recognized his eight-minute “Saturday Night Live ” monologue’s consistency with his other work.

It held a specific tether to his latest stand-up special “More Feelings,” for one. The bulk of his gentle material is lifted directly from that hour, albeit with a few tweaks and edits, like his anecdote about a visit to upstate New York when he found himself in MAGA country.

His mother called him on the phone, and instead of replying to her greeting of “ As-salaam alaykum ” with the standard, “ Wa alaikum assalam ,” he says, “I was like, ‘Mother, peace be upon you, you know – and the prophet. You know which prophet. The best one. The last one.’”

But the leavening agent that made space for his tension-dissolving jokes offered a wider embrace encircling both the religious and the secular. “This is an incredibly spiritual weekend,” Youssef points out, listing a trinity relatable to the broadest possible audience. “We’re in the holy month of Ramadan. Tomorrow is Easter. And yesterday, Beyoncé released a new album. ”

America’s rifts are raw and frightening, but Youssef, a devout Muslim, knows that many of its people are praying folk like he is. His faith fortifies his material, especially his bits covering his efforts to merge his beliefs into his busy life as a comic and a guy raised in New Jersey.

His March 30 "SNL" appearance capitalized on our understanding of prayer as a force of good to voice his public support for Gazans besieged by Israel’s military strikes.

Youssef says he’s one of the few among his friends that prays. “Like, I'm friends with a lot of sinners. Disgusting people. And they call me when they're in trouble,” he jokes. One he calls Brian asked him to pray that he’ll get his dog back from his ex-girlfriend. He assures him he will. Not long after, another worried friend named Ahmed begged him to pray for his suffering family in Gaza who are missing and endangered.

In a nation that claims to be guided by prayer, who can find fault with an honestly expressed entreaty to God?

“So that night, I go to pray. And my prayers are complicated. I’ve got a lot to fit in,” he says. “I’m like, ‘God, please, please help Ahmed’s family. Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence.”

Then comes the line that made the audience erupt in raucous applause. “Please free the people of Palestine. Please,” he says, pausing to let the cheers subside before adding, “And please free the hostages. All the hostages. Please.”

“Saturday Night Live” has a fraught, lengthy history with stars making political statements, making Youssef’s plea significant both in its directness and its overwhelmingly positive reception.

As Salon contributor Dean Obeidallah notes in a CNN column  from Monday,

Hearing someone on national network television say the words “Free Palestine” — and having the audience spontaneously burst into applause — is not something I’ve seen before. It’s something I wish my late father, a Palestinian immigrant to the US, had been alive to see.

Obeidallah goes on to posit that wrapping that statement in a joke rooted in honesty helped it land solidly — and on a pad softened by the punchline, “And while you’re at it, you know, free Mr. Bojangles. I mean he is, he’s a beautiful dog. I’m praying for that dog.”

Youssef may have been kidding about Mr. Bojangles. Not the prayers. He means that part, which may be why his statement resounded. In a nation that claims to be guided by prayer, who can find fault with an honestly expressed entreaty to God?

Youssef’s moment ever so loosely bookends Pete Davidson’s season opener, which aired seven days after Hamas militants crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed nearly 1,200 people, taking around 250 hostages. An estimated 96 people are still being held in Gaza, including some Americans, according to Israeli government data shared in  The Washington Post.

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Davidson’s cold open was saturated in humility, confessing that he recognized he wasn’t necessarily the best person for a most difficult job.

Then he demurred. “In a lot of ways, I am a good person to talk about it because when I was seven years old, my dad was killed in a terrorist attack. So I know something about what that's like,” Davidson says, citing the images of suffering Israeli children and Palestinian children shown on the news.

“No one in this world should be forced to suffer like that, you know,” he says, “especially not kids.”

Six months later nearly 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s asymmetrical retaliation, with women and children comprising around two-thirds of the dead, according to Gaza Health Ministry statistics  reported by the AP .

The American public’s support for Israel spiked as bombs began falling. Anyone calling out the atrocity of targeting unarmed civilians trapped in a small area of land risked being branded an antisemite. That remained true even for people calling for a ceasefire.

Youssef was unafraid to use that term on the Oscars red carpet , where he appeared with the rest of the “ Poor Things ” cast.

“We’re calling for [an] immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We’re calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine,” he told to Variety. “It’s a universal message of, ‘Let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war.’ No one has ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea.”

The sad truth is that America has long numbed to the obscenity of children dying by gun violence. If that weren’t the case, this country would have gone in a very different direction in the gun control debate following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School . Instead, politicians have gotten comfortable with absolving themselves in the wake of atrocities with empty offerings of “thoughts and prayers.” 

In contrast, Youssef’s divine plea is unquestionably legitimate, recognizing the power of where many are situated emotionally and ethically. He wasn't afraid to be awkward and kind while exercising an expert’s timing, a critical mastery for any comedian.

Do not misinterpret what that means. Youssef’s “SNL” statement moved us, but to deem it to be the "correct" approach would be morally incorrect. That implies there are right and wrong ways to stand up for the oppressed on a major broadcast platform, which is akin to demanding of suffering people that their non-violent protest be undertaken "the right way."  

The difference rests in how uncomfortable and inconvenienced those who aren’t protesting are made by those demonstrations, along with whether the people doing the marching are serving the dominant power structure.

Director Jonathan Glazer’s Academy Awards acceptance speech for “ The Zone of Interest ” went toe-to-toe with such a giant. In the weeks following Hamas' attack, a number of stars were dropped from projects or fired by their agencies for publicly voicing their support for the Palestinians.

Glazer took a bolder leap, taking fire based on a selective interpretation of this Oscar night statement: “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all are victims of this dehumanization. How do we resist?”

Although this was an awkward way of rejecting a government’s weaponization of his religion and identity to justify waging war on a noncombatant population, many were horrified. Some 450 stars and executives signed an open letter condemning Glazer, including Debra Messing and Eli Roth.

More recently, fellow director Ken Loach and screenwriter Tony Kushner stepped forward to support him, perhaps emboldened by knowing the public’s support for Israel’s aggression in Gaza is plummeting .

Youssef never swayed in his call for a ceasefire or supporting Palestinians, having donated all the proceeds from the latter months of his recent tour to American Near East Refugee Aid’s assistance efforts in Gaza.

Tuesday’s Israeli military strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers underlines what dangerous, necessary work that is. Other organizations paused their aid efforts following that tragedy, leaving Gazans to fend for themselves in a humanitarian catastrophe.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter , Crash Course.

In “More Feelings” Youssef half-seriously admits that he doesn’t like performing for charity, because as soon as he picks one he gets “cooked” by other Muslims for failing to support the “right” causes in the “right” way. One man blasted him for neglecting to contribute to relief efforts after the 2023 floods in Pakistan.

“He really got to me. I started thinking, like, where was I when the floods happened in Pakistan? I was dry,” he says, which got a laugh.

Then he changes this insight into metaphor. “Like, I think that everyone here was,” he tells his audience, “and that’s the problem. It’s hard to care about a flood when you’re dry, right? The whole world is wet . . . and we’re dry.”

At the end of “More Feelings,” he reaffirms how serious he is about praying in dark times, no matter what religion you are. “Just pray however you pray . . . you don’t understand how much I don’t care,” he says. “Last week I was on a Zoom with three witches. I was just like, ‘Ladies, let’s go, we need some spells, like . . . potions for Palestine, whatever you’ve got, we need it.’”

On a “Saturday Night Live” scheduled during a uniquely holy weekend Youssef decided to walk out into that storm armed with his faith, a sense of humor, and a wholeheartedly American prayer for the freedom of those in dire need.

It did not fall on uncaring ears. Nor was it shouted down. For those feeling helpless and lost on dry land in that moment, that was a sufficiently spiritual answer. 

about this topic

• In 2023, nobody knows how to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2013, Anthony Bourdain did
• Islamophobia isn't going away: But why?
• Anti-war Jews face personal cost in U.S.

Melanie McFarland is Salon's award-winning senior culture critic. Follow her on Twitter: @McTelevision

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Ramy Youssef: More Feelings

• The Regent Theater, 448 S. Main St., downtown L.A.

The Egyptian American writer, performer and comedian brings his perspective and brand of storytelling to the Regent for two nights. Youssef created, produces, directs and stars in the hit Hulu show Ramy , inspired by his own experiences with his immigrant family and his spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood.

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Ramy Youssef shares his prayers in ‘Saturday Night Live’ monologue, Travis Scott performs

On March 30, “Saturday Night Live” was hosted by stand-up comedian and “Poor Things” actor Ramy Youssef. Rapper Travis Scott was the musical guest for the night.

Click the video embeds below to watch some of the highlights from Saturday night’s show.

See some of the sketches

Musical performances

Intuit Dome Books Bruno Mars for Two-Night Grand Opening, as Venue Looks to Stand Out Amid L.A. Concert Arena Scene

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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With the Los Angeles area’s still-under-construction Intuit Dome set to start hosting the Clippers in October, a lot of attention has been trained on what kind of reviews the 17,700-capacity arena will get as a sports venue this fall. But music fans will get a big jump on feeling the new facility out, as pop superstar Bruno Mars was announced Friday morning as the attraction for the dome’s grand opening, with back-to-back concerts set for Aug. 15-16.

Tickets for the Mars shows go on sale next Thursday at 10 a.m. PT through Ticketmaster.

“We had a list of criteria that we came up with that we thought, if you can have anybody, what would you want?” Zucker tells Variety . “And at the top of the list was: global icon with a local connection. So that was really important to us. Bruno moved to Inglewood as a teenager, and so he has a connection with the community, which we thought was very important.

“We wanted also a performer who was a showperson, someone who would really effectively help us bring the building to life. And there’s so many unique things about the building — the halo scoreboard, the interactivity with the crowd, our LED lights that are built into the seats, the various different things that just haven’t existed in other buildings before — and we wanted to make sure that we had a performer who would take advantage of all of those things. And I think lastly, we wanted something special — someone who wasn’t necessarily out on tour, doing something that would be iconic and unique and worthy of all of the love and attention and care that’s been put into this building. Another piece of it that really resonated with us was that in the conversations, he immediately took to the idea and was excited about the prospect of being a part of it.”

“I would estimate we’ll end up with 20 to 25 shows just in the couple of months between August 15 and when the Clippers start playing in October. So there’s gonna be a lot of music in the building,” Zucker says. It won’t end when the Clippers start, as musicians will still be able to make use of the arena during the Clippers’ away-game stretches.

Variety took a hardhat tour of the Inglewood site last weekend, and can speak to the fact that there’ll be a lot of depth to Mars’ performance. The Intuit Dome has three floors that extend below ground level, and four above — similar to the nearby SoFi Stadium — due to being in the flight path of LAX, where a cap is put on building heights. A peek from the back row suggests that the arena may live up to the sense of increased “intimacy” that reps have been promising, belying its size. (One tout on the new arena is that the average seat is about 45 feet closer to the stage or court than Crypto.com Arena, which it’ll be in competition with for bookings, thanks to the serious rake of the seats.)

The audio capabilities were designed by the same team that did the re-do of the Forum as a. concert-only facility. But sometimes it’s the little things — as in 18,000 or so tiny points of light — that set a facility apart.

“You know the LED wristbands that a lot of especially pop and EDM performers tend to utilize in their shows? We did something very unique with the building. We had an opportunity very early on to make a decision to run power to every single seat in the building. Then there’s a lot of other things that you can do along with it, other than just having a space to charge your phone, which you can do at every seat. But so long as we had powered the seats, we thought, why don’t we put an LED in the armrest of every single seat? And so it gives all of these musicians the opportunity to be able to build that LED accent into their shows, which we know will create a great experience.”  

Zucker also oversees the practically adjacent Forum, which Steve Ballmer bought when he deigned to bring the Clippers to Inglewood. Are there enough bookings to go around between Intuit Dome, the Forum and Crypto.com downtown?

“Everybody’s touring, so there’s a lot of inventory, and when we did our due diligence actually before we built it,” Zucker says, “we’ve always felt like this market is under-resourced in terms of arena spaces. There’s just a lot of demand for music in Los Angeles.”

Intuit Dome and the Forum would obviously be in fierce competition coming up, if Ballmer didn’t own them both. How will the bookings pan out — will artists prefer the shiny new thing to play with, or the familiarity of the refurbished?

Both? Yes, says Zucker — just as a handful of artists have managed to do shows at both the Forum and Crypto (like Lauryn Hill, recently), she says there are those who want to do both the Forum and Intuit now.

“One of the things that works out well with that is that they could break down a show, drive a mile down the road and just rebuild it, and they’ll be ready to go for their next date. So there’s some efficiencies that come with that as well. … We’re still like at our infancy in the booking piece of it, so we’d have to circle back in six months and I can let you know more. But we’re seeing both — we’re seeing people who are holding different points in their tour schedule in the different buildings, and we’re seeing people who are saying: ‘We’re gonna do four or five shows in market. And we know we’re gonna need an off day for voice rest anyway, so we may as well change it up and do different buildings.’ We’re big on making people happy, so, look, we’ve got two extraordinary buildings, and I think they’ve got two incredible choices. So, whatever works for that particular artist works for us too.”

One advantage Intuit may have over the Forum (or the other competitors in the area) may be some of the creature comforts that have been built in for crews as well as fans. Truck drivers often don’t have a chance to do their laundry easily on the road, for example, so Intuit Dome has built-in laundry facilities for visiting crews backstage – not unlike how, on the basketball side, referees have been given their own locker room. Having six loading bays for visiting tours also means tours can load in and out as much as 30% faster, reps say.

As for the advantages average concertgoers will see when the venue opens, it’s not all about razzle-dazzle LED lights, or even fully no-contact/no-checkout concession stands. One of the biggest amenities is due to shortened seatbakes that go along with that steeper rake in the stands: no knees bumping against the backs of seats for tall people.

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Solar eclipse glasses are needed for safety, but they sure are confusing. What to know.

Editor's note: An updated cloud forecast for the April 2024 total solar eclipse is in. Read the latest eclipse forecast and news as of Wednesday, April 3 .

You can't control the weather or the traffic , but one thing you can do right now ahead of the total solar eclipse is to get yourself a pair of special eclipse glasses , so you can safely view the cosmic spectacle.

The total eclipse will cross over a dozen states as it traverses from Texas to Maine on the afternoon of April 8.  Millions of people are expected to travel  to see it.

Astronomers and other experts say that eclipse watchers should wear  specialized eyewear  crafted to  protect your sensitive retinas  from permanent damage. And that means eclipse glasses .

Fortunately, solar eclipse glasses are still readily available  from plenty of vendors across the internet. Unfortunately, there's fears of fake glasses , and sometimes testing your glasses at home is the best way to know if they're safe.

Here's  what to know  about eclipse glasses and where you can get a pair of your own.

Where to find solar eclipse glasses

As the eclipse approaches, many places like local libraries, astronomical observatories, schools and other public agencies are providing proper eyewear, often for free.

Or you can just order them on the internet: Many eclipse websites like GreatAmericanEclipse.com and NationalEclipse.com sell a variety of eyewear products, along with plenty of other gadgets one may need to see the eclipse.

Of course,  Amazon  and plenty of other online retailers are also selling solar eclipse glasses in bulk, meaning you'll have plenty to share with your friends and family. American Paper Optics, the nation's largest supplier of eclipse glasses, even offers  express shipping  across the country.

More: You'll need eye protection for the solar eclipse. Here's what to know about safety glasses

Watch out for fake glasses

With online platforms like Amazon listing thousands of eclipse viewers, fears of fake or counterfeit glasses have grown.

"We do see glasses coming from China that have printing on them that say they're made in the U.S. or that they are made by one of the American manufacturers," Rick Fienberg, the project manager of the American Astronomical Society's solar eclipse task force, told USA TODAY.

When in doubt, buyers should refer back to the list of  official sellers and manufacturers maintained by the AAS , which communicates directly with sellers and manufacturers and checks test reports.

The list includes well-known North American manufacturers like American Paper Optics, as well as several large grocery and retail chains in the U.S. like Walmart, Lowe's and Kroger.

More: How to safely watch the total solar eclipse: You will need glasses

Real, but rare, examples of eye damage

Doctors and a rare set of eclipse watchers have warned  about watching the eclipse without adequate eclipse glasses or with the naked eye that has resulted in rare cases of eye damage. The damage occurs because people's natural response to squint when looking at direct sunlight does not get triggered when a partial eclipse happens.

Such was the case with one Staten Island woman who  watched the 2017 eclipse using faulty glasses that caused severe retinal damage. Doctors from Mount Sinai's New York Eye and Ear Infirmary chronicled this luckily rare case in  JAMA Ophthalmology , a medical journal. The woman told doctors that she had  gazed at the moon passing in front of the sun  through what she  thought were protective glasses . The damage on her left retina, the area at the back of the eye where the brain receives images, looked like the shape of a partial  eclipse .

"It's a very focused beam of high-energy light from the sun itself,” Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the Mount Sinai infirmary who treated the woman, told USA TODAY. “It can actually destroy parts of the retina, and certainly destroy it in the shape of an eclipse.”

How can you test eclipse glasses?

NASA shared an easy method to check eclipse glasses at home.

Buyers should put on their glasses and look at a bright light, like a flashlight. If the light is "extremely dim," or doesn't appear at all, the glasses are safe, Susannah Darling, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in an instructional video. Viewers should be able to see the filament of the lightbulb, not the glow surrounding the bulb.

Get free glasses

With safety in mind, there are ways to get free solar eclipse glasses .

The online eye retailer Warby Parker is offering members of the public a pair of ISO-certified glasses starting Monday. Warby Parker retail locations nationwide, find one  here.

But there are plenty of other retailers giving out free glasses that range from Smoothie King to the protein bar Perfect Snacks, which will give out glasses alongside a chocolate brownie flavor.