LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Fresh off his awards season high after attending the Oscars with his fellow 鈥淧oor Things鈥 stars 鈥 and presenting 鈥 Ramy Youssef is heading back into more familiar territory. The actor and comedian, known for the critically acclaimed Hulu series 鈥淩amy,鈥 will premiere his latest stand-up special Saturday on HBO and Max.
In keeping with much of his previous work, 鈥淩amy Youssef: More Feelings鈥 doesn鈥檛 shy away from fraught topics, including religion, the and the ongoing war between . Although Youssef says he is 鈥渃onstantly interrogating鈥 whether tackling these subjects through comedy is a good use of his time, he thinks there is enough reason to keep doing it 鈥 for now. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: This special felt very timely. I wondered how soon after Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza began that you started working on it.
YOUSSEF: I think actually what鈥檚 really interesting about the special is that it appears more topical than it is. There鈥檚 definitely jokes in there that were written in the last few months, and there鈥檚 some of them that were even written a few days before. But I think that the bedrock of a lot of the stories that you would think I was writing in terms of a response to what was happening, I had been actually workshopping for years. I think that there鈥檚 a lot of focus on Oct. 7, rightfully so, because it was obviously a horrific day. And Oct. 6 was horrific, you know?
I think that鈥檚 kind of the point I鈥檓 making in terms of like this not being topical material. I think there actually is some press from that first week of October that talks about it being the deadliest year ever for children anywhere, in regards to Palestinian children. So, you know, this is something that鈥檚 heavy. And I think in terms of trying to find light and trying to find commonality between people, which I think is the goal of the special and kind of the goal of what I鈥檝e always done.
AP: I could see some people being reluctant to broach such taboo topics through comedy. Is it a way for you to process things?
YOUSSEF: Yeah. I think for me personally it鈥檚 a processing thing. It鈥檚 a place again to kind of create an alternative space that is kind of without logic. Obviously, I kind of go out of my way to be pretty dumb when I鈥檓 doing stand-up. I think there鈥檚 something in just figuring out, you know, is there a pocket here to let the air out somehow in terms of it being healing? It might be. It could also not be. It also could be part of the problem. I actually have no idea, to be honest with you.
And I think I鈥檓 constantly interrogating myself of like, is this helpful? And I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever really know. But I do know that there鈥檚 a feeling that I get when I do a live show and people kind of walk out and the things that I get from the people who I meet and I get to shake their hand, or the people who write where they kind of feel, like we鈥檝e kind of recharged a little bit. But yeah, no tangible answers or solutions or anything like that. Just maybe, a bit of a recharge, hopefully.
AP: Do you think the fear of it being hurtful is that it minimizes serious things?
YOUSSEF: Yeah. It could. It could be, maybe I should be doing something else with my time. You know, all these things are possible.
AP: It鈥檚 like the joke that he鈥檚 healing the world with comedy.
YOUSSEF: It鈥檚 interesting because I think I鈥檇 had that conversation with Bo about that actually like many years ago, just kind of around the topic of, at the very least, like when we鈥檙e doing what we鈥檙e doing, that we should be interrogating ourselves.
AP: You don't shy away from making jokes about faith. I wondered if you have felt like people are kind of holding their breath when you do that or if it鈥檚 like a welcome topic.
YOUSSEF: I think there was a bit of a breath-holding when I first started talking about my spiritual inclinations on stage. And I think that鈥檚 what made me realize it was really ripe for something in comedy. I would say atheism or a certain mocking of religion is almost like a baseline feature of a comedy set, as much as like going on a date is, you know? God鈥檚 a punch line. Jesus is a punch line. It鈥檚 funny, like when you鈥檙e raised as a Muslim, it鈥檚 like you never make fun of Jesus, you know, which would probably surprise people too, right?
I鈥檓 obviously not a puritan in any sense. I mean the whole point is that I totally get the culture that I sit in. But I just kind of like to analyze it from a different way. And so it doesn鈥檛 come from any sort of, truly there鈥檚 no holier than thou. It鈥檚 more, you know, watch me kind of drown in the act of trying to be holy. You know, I鈥檓 failing and I鈥檒l let you in on my failures. But I think I realized, pretty early on that there was a type of a gasp that made it fun to explore because it is so clear to me that it wasn鈥檛 being explored with any sort of sincerity.
AP: That鈥檚 fascinating. Do you kind of relish making people squirm a little bit?
YOUSSEF: Probably, yeah. But again, not to be sensational. It鈥檚 not like ambulance chasing. It鈥檚 just kind of this feeling of this is how I feel and I wonder what it would look like if we felt it together and then kind of did something with that feeling, you know? So let鈥檚 bring that up and then kind of look at it and then toss it away and kind of get into something else.
AP: You also talk a lot about politics in the special. Did somebody from campaign really reach out to you in 2020?
YOUSSEF: Yeah, we had a Zoom. I mean they鈥檙e very nice people, by the way. Like, they鈥檙e really good. And I think, you know, obviously in the special, it鈥檚 kind of fun to play with those situations. We鈥檙e in a really interesting predicament where it鈥檚 kind of like, 鈥淗ey are you sure you want to complain about Biden? Because Trump is worse.鈥 And then it鈥檚 kind of like OK, you know that鈥檚 kind of that鈥檚 like textbook abuse, right? You know, don鈥檛 say anything because then it鈥檚 going to get worse. And you say, 鈥淥K, I thought we鈥檙e in a democracy. Aren鈥檛 we supposed to kind of question it and poke at it?鈥
And then I鈥檓 feeling an interesting thing where we鈥檙e kind of voicing, you know, what I think is an incredibly fair argument and also starting to feel this feeling of, 鈥淗ey, you might blow this election for us.鈥 It鈥檚 kind of like, you know, I think you might blow it for you. And I don鈥檛 want that. I actually don鈥檛 want that. I want this to work. I love being an American. I really want this to work out.
AP: And then I have to ask about coming to your show. I think people didn鈥檛 really know she was into comedy.
YOUSSEF: You gotta see her 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥 Her 鈥淪NL鈥 was great.
AP: So were you guys already friends?
YOUSSEF: It鈥檚 so funny. It鈥檚 kind of like it鈥檚 just one of those things where I think because she鈥檚 one of the biggest people, I mean, she was like person of the year, that it kind of becomes this huge talking point or whatever. I kind of have a throwaway joke about it, but for the most part, it鈥檚 like we just met, you know? Like she was a big fan of the movie, of 鈥淧oor Things.鈥 But there鈥檚 almost something slightly embarrassing about like talking about it too much because it鈥檚 just like we just met, you know? So I don鈥檛 have like a ton to say, but she's just a really cool person.
