The Cost of Living

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

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

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