The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Noor Tagouri

Episode Date: July 12, 2019

Noor Tagouri and Jessica Kirson

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table, on the podcast of the world-famous comedy seller on Roddug, SiriusXM 99. I'm Dan Natterman, your host. Noam is, I think, in Maine. I think he's in Maine. I believe so. So, once again, I'm flying solo along with, well, not totally solo, because I have with me our producer, Periel Ashenbrand.

How do you do, Periel? I'm good. Yeah, go ahead. You had something to say? Well, I spoke to Noam briefly, and he texted me back a picture of himself, well, of his feet on the beach in sneakers. All right.

Well, is that odd? Well, I mean, I think it's a little bit odd. Why do you have sneakers on if you're at the beach? Well, that's a good point. But I don't want to get bogged down to sneakers and beaches and all that. We have many other things to discuss. We're waiting on Noor Tajouri,

who is going to be joining us. I just got back, by the way, from Las Vegas, Nevada, the Comedy Cellar Vegas. I was there for a week. I still don't understand how they build an entire city on gambling, how people love it that much. Well, they're addicted to it.

But people are, apparently. Well, they're addicted to it, right? Well, I don't know. Some people are addicted. Some people just enjoy it. And it wouldn't necessarily be an addiction. But it's just amazing to me that an entire city is built on something that to me is not that interesting. I mean it's not interesting at all to me

either but I do think that they're preying on people's weaknesses in that city right? It's also prostitution and strip clubs Well no, prostitution is not technically legal there though there's a lot of it going on It's legal outside of Vegas

It's legal in certain counties, I think in the Reno area I don't believe it's legal in the Vegas area but there's a lot of it going on. I think you're right though I think it does prey at least for some people are in that category that it's an addiction

In any case though I think it does prey, at least for some people who are in that category, that it's an addiction. In any case, it's good for me because it allows the comedy cellar to exist out there. Well, I'm interested. Giving me another venue to play at. Is it different? What's the crowd like there? The crowd is probably a little bit less comedy savvy. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Like who's going to see comedy shows?

It's a lot of locals. Okay. A lot of people that live in Vegas. A lot of people that come back because they enjoy the Comedy Cellar. They come back again and again. And they like the reel because there's free parking. That's a big selling point for the... Really? Yeah, that's a big selling point for the locals, oddly enough.

And it's off the strip. And they just don't like going to the Strip because it's crowded and awful. It's brilliant. So it's a lot of locals. But it's not brilliant. It's accidental. Once again, Noam trips and falls into success, as he does so often. But he had no idea that that was going to be what it was. That was the hotel that offered him the deal.

And it just so happens that it's off the strip and there's free parking and it so happens that that appeals to the locals. So you're getting a lot of locals there

and then there's also, of course, people that are tourists that come from everywhere. There's always a few Canadians at every show. For some reason, there was Australians.

Are the Canadians particularly fond of you? I wouldn't say that, but I get a lot of mileage out of the Canadians because I have jokes about Canada. Right.

And so if you have jokes about Canada and there's Canadians in the audience, it's all the more potent. And you were there with Dove, is that right?

I was there with Dove, Pete Lee, and Aida Rodriguez and both Pete and Aida, or Ida. I always say Aida because that's the opera, but I think it's Ida and Aida, or Ida. I always say Aida because that's the opera, but I think it's Ida. I think it's Ida.

They made a killing selling T-shirts after the show. Well, we were just talking about this, and I was telling you that with such little effort, you could do the same thing, especially because I'd probably be doing most of the work for you. How would you be doing most of it? You're not going to stand there and sell the shirts after the show. No, but I would design them, and I would help you get them made,

and I would stand there if you wanted me to. It's just that, well, you can't because you'd have to go to Vegas just to stand there and sell T-shirts, which I don't think you're going to do, or wherever I'm performing, but the point is... I feel like people would love those shirts. Well, I would like to... If I'm going to sell T-shirts, it would have to be good quality. Obviously.

A nice quality cotton blend. What would they say? Well, that's the... I was thinking they shouldn't say anything. Just a nice T-shirt. That's ridiculous. Good quality cotton. I don't know what they would say,

but I do have a hard time standing there and selling T-shirts. It just seems so undignified to me. And I could not disagree more strongly. I mean, I'm selling crap that nobody needs. I mean, the Rolling Stones are making millions of dollars on top of what they're making every year selling merch. I mean, it's an entire industry. Well, they're not standing there themselves and selling it.

That's point one. So if you personally didn't have to do it, you'd be more amenable? Point two is people, there's a utility to a Rolling Stones shirt. I mean, you got the Rolling Stones, it's cool. You got that tongue or whatever. Well, we would make you a logo.

But there's nothing cool about some dumb comedian on a T-shirt. A lot of comedians, they'll just put a piece of their act on this shirt that has no meaning to anybody else. So you'll be walking down the street, it'll say a piece of my act, like, you know, what's one of my jokes? You've never seen me, actually. Which is criminal. You know, it would say, like, go to the end of the block and turn gay.

What? That's the punchline of one of my jokes. And then, so people would look at it like, why is that interesting? Anyway. I think. People are buying it because, I don't know why they're buying these shirts. They want to support the comedian. Because they like the comedian.

And they want to talk to the comedian. You're selling your time on some level because they get to come talk to you after the show. But what's wrong with that? It seems whorish to me. Well, you're in show business. Point taken. Point taken, but I don't know. I realize I'm leaving money on the sidewalk.

You are. You're leaving money on the sidewalk. Also, another issue is you've got to carry those T-shirts with you everywhere. Pete Lee had this huge, you know, bag of shirts. He probably had to put had a carry-on on the... He probably had to put it on a carry-on. I mean, he probably had to check the bag. So what?

I hate checking bags. Oh, please. I would like to hear from our listeners. I'll bet there's not an insignificant number of people who would love a Dan Natterman shirt, myself included. In fact, I'll tell you this. I was wearing one of Gilbert's shirt, Gilbert Gottfried shirts, and I went to go pick up my son's passport. And the guard, who is this like dude in his 70s, was like, oh, that's the coolest shirt. I love Gilbert Gottfried.

Well, Gilbert's more of a known entity. Well, maybe that's of a known entity. Well, maybe that's in part because he has t-shirts. You get other people doing branding for you. You're getting other people to do marketing on your behalf. Well, I put that on my ever-growing list of things to consider that may or may not ever get considered, but I'll put it on the list. We're waiting. She's a little bit late, I guess.

Noor Tajouri. She's more than a little bit late. Noor Tajouri, just to whet the appetite of our listeners. I think it's Tajouri. Well, I believe it's Tajouri, but it might be Tajouri. In any case, she's a journalist and public speaker, and she wears a hijab. And she's, I think, the only anchor. She's been an anchor. I don't know if she's an anchor person. No, she's a hijab. And she's, I think, the only anchor.

I don't know if she's an anchor person. No, she's on Newsy, right? But she was on, I think, a local news broadcast as well. She's a journalist and public speaker. And her goal is to shift perceptions. Perceptions of Muslim Americans. I suppose so, Muslim women. Because she wears a hijab.

She says that as a speaker, she focuses on breaking barriers through storytelling and building bridges of commonality. Well, we certainly need bridges of commonality, and she'll be joining us soon. She is a little bit late. We are recording this on July 3rd, so there's a lot of holiday traffic coming into the city for the Independence Day.

And apparently Port Authority was completely shut down. I don't know anything about that. I also heard there was a truck overturn. That's why they shut down Port Authority. Somebody flew over the overpass, and there was like an 18-car pileup. What do you mean somebody flew over? The car flipped over the overpass, and there was like an 18-car pileup. What do you mean somebody flew over? The car flipped over the overpass.

And I'm sure I bastardized that story to some degree, but the point is that Port Authority was shut down, and it's July 3rd. So happy belated. When this airs, it'll be post-Independence Day, but happy belated. What are you planning for tomorrow, Perry Elish and Brand? I will be

as far away from the fireworks as I can be. I hate fireworks. Well, I liked them when I was young, but it's getting... This will be my 49th 4th of July. It's getting old, these fireworks. I feel like it's a luxury

that only certain countries can take to not... I feel like it's really traumatizing to hear those noises. It's very reminiscent of war and bombs. And I think it's a complete waste of money, frankly, and it's kind of obscene. I don't think it's a waste of money to celebrate America. We waste our money on a lot dumber shit. Well, we shouldn't do that either.

How many millions of dollars do we spend on fireworks? It gives people joy. Well, I mean, cocaine gives people joy, too. That's ridiculous. I mean, Noam's not here, so I had to be the one to call you ridiculous. That's fine. Well, cocaine is... I'm not going to

get into that, but it's... I don't know why you're comparing cocaine to a healthy and family-friendly event such as fireworks. It gives people pleasure. Is it family-friendly? Of course it is. Little kids love it. And celebrates America. And I think America needs celebrating right now because a lot of people are turning on America.

Recently, well, we're going to discuss this later, but since Nora's not here, you know the sneaker controversy with the Betsy Ross flag on the back of the Nikes. So just for those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, Nike was going to put out a sneaker with the Betsy Ross flag. That's the circular 13 stars in the field of blue as opposed to the 50 we have now. In any case, Nike was going to put out a shoe with that on the back and Colin Kaepernick said

you shouldn't do that because, number one, it's a symbol of an era in American history in which slavery was legal. Number two, it's been used by hate groups

as their symbol, by certain hate groups. I don't know which hate groups he's referring to, but apparently certain hate groups are using this as their symbol, by certain hate groups. I don't know which hate groups he's referring to, but apparently certain hate groups are using this as a symbol of their group. You think that that's not a legit point, though? I think we shouldn't allow hate groups to decide

which symbols we as Americans are allowed to use. What if they start using another cherished symbol, the Statue of Liberty? They start using that as their symbol. Well, then we're not supposed to. No, but when those symbols get co-opted, you have to pay attention to that. But we're allowing these groups to define

which American symbols we can use. The fact is it was a symbol long before it was co-opted by whatever hate group supposedly co-opted it. But it was celebrating a point in time where slavery was legal. So the Declaration of Independence was also written at a time when slavery was legal. Yeah, but that's a little bit different.

We would have to dump the founding fathers. We'd have to dump all of our early history. I don't think you have to dump our history, but I think it's different dumping our history or putting something that's symbolic, potentially, of celebrating slavery on a shoe to celebrate it. Well, it's celebrating early American history,

which there happened to be... Is this Noor? There she is, thankfully, because I have nothing more to say about the damn flag. I mean, can't we... So this is just in time. Well, we'll talk about it maybe with Noor, because she might have an interesting perspective on it. Okay, I'll be right back. Okay, Periel is welcoming Noor Tajouri,

and she's here with a gentleman whose identity is as yet to be determined. Okay. I suppose our editor can cut this part out where I'm not saying anything. She is now asking them for sparkling water or if they want water. Hello, we've already started.

How do you do? Yes, I know. I'm Dan. This is Adam. We have started because we just had some stuff to talk about. No, it's not live at all. But we just wanted to get in some quick discussion

about the Vegas room. I just got back from Vegas. Oh, cool. And the Comedy Cellar has a room in Vegas. So I thought it might be interesting to discuss that briefly. I know that. Yes. You may or may not have any... Oh, do you? Okay. Is this your manager? This is my manager and slash husband.

Oh, manager and slash husband. Okay. Well, people do that anywhere you wish. So, Nortajuri is it? Ooh, is that right? Nortajuri, she's wearing that. By the way, she's wearing one of those, I think it's called a Hamza around her neck. It's one of those upside down hands. That is a symbol of, I've seen Jewish people wear that as well, but I'm not sure exactly what it symbolizes. Well, so I think it's actually of Jewish origin, but I think it's also like very just popular in Arab culture and Moroccan. And so my husband's grandmother is Moroccan. And when we got engaged, it was like a tradition to put a piece of gold on me. And so this was the necklace, and I've never taken it off. That's so nice.

I think it's supposed to ward off the evil eye. Periel never takes off those necklaces, those earrings, rather, that say Periel on them. I've never seen her without them. Oh, this is my favorite water. Oh, good. What kind of water is that? Aquapana. It's Italian. Oh, this is my favorite water. Oh, good. What kind of water is that? Aquapana.

It's Italian. Oh, okay. But water in Italy is actually just phenomenal. And the first time I had this water, consciously, was earlier this year in Italy. And I was like, oh my gosh, what is this? And so now we order boxes at the storehouse. Well, I'm a Poland Spring guy, but each to his own. Let's introduce Nora to our

listeners who may or may not be familiar with her. We did discuss you briefly when we were waiting for you. But you are a 25... First of all, she looks so young. I mean, on video, she looks older. It's because I don't have any makeup on. Wow. Well, you don't need makeup.

Oh, thank you. 25 years old, Norte Jury journalist, public speaker. And also she had a podcast called Sold in America, Inside Our Nation's Sex Trade. Yeah. That's one of like three podcasts I've done. But that was the one that I spent two years of my life working on. And also, and we'll certainly get into that, she's also, she posed not nude, because they don't do that anymore,

but she was in Playboy. Oh, gosh. As the first woman in a hijab featured in Playboy. Did that cause a total ruckus? You know, okay. She wears a hijab. Did I mention that? I'm going to be super,

this is like a podcast where I can be super real, right? Yeah. Keep it real. I'm going to be super real. A hijab, by I can be super real, right? Yeah. Keep it real. I'm going to be super real. Hijab, by the way, is the thing. Is the scarf, like the Muslim head scarf. Yeah, but you can see her face. It's not a burqa.

Yeah. So, yes, I was profiled in Playboy magazine in 2016 for their first ever renegades issue. So it was during the year they were doing No Nudity Anyway, and they profiled different people in different industries who were renegades. So for journalism, I was the one who was profiled. And it was just like an interview and a photograph, and it was really awesome. It's a great picture. Yeah, thank you.

So it's so funny because I did an interview with a magazine today that also asked me about it, and then a third magazine in which one of their questions was, what is the one interview question you wish people would never ask you again and it was anything related to Playboy because I think like the reason that I did the

interview was never with the intention of it like causing the disruption that it caused it was more of bringing a story of a specific type of representation that had never been really welcomed in that space before. And so the interview and the story was for the people who typically read the magazine. And I mean, you're also talking about a magazine that is so famous

for profile pieces of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali. Tarana Burke just had her profile piece released. I've never heard Muhammad Ali pronounced... The right way? Well, I've never heard, I mean, other than people that have that accent. You pronounced my last name the right way. You know, can I tell you, like, why that's so special? I'm going to tell you.

This is like a gem for this podcast. I've never really shared this before. So, my name, my last name is spelled T-A-G-O-U-R-I, right? In Arabic, my name is Noor Attajouri, right? So you said Attajouri. And I don't know if I said it quite that way. I said Attajouri, but I didn't say Attajouri. There you go. You said it now. So anyway, people, I get, so my family is Libyan and I get a lot of flack because they're like, why do you say Tagore? It should be Tajuri or Tajori, if anything. But the thing is, when my dad immigrated here, my dad was also raised in Egypt and they pronounced their jas gah.

So when he came here and the way that they like spelled his last name was Tagore, right? And so now I just say it's Nortagori because it's so much easier to say that. But like the real people who know how to say my name was how you said it.

Well, I must have heard it somewhere because I wouldn't have known from the spelling. So I think I heard... Really? You should just take credit. Just take the credit. Well, we also had an argument before you got here

about how to pronounce it. Really? I was wrong, apparently. No, I mean, I... But I'm wrong every day. So join the club. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Southern Maryland.

I was born in West Virginia. I lived there for eight days. My mom and dad moved us to Alabama when I was eight days old. Oh, my God. Yeah, I lived in Alabama for three years. So my first three years was in Alabama. Then I lived in Southern Maryland until I was 15 years old. And then my family moved us right outside of Washington, DC. And is your mom originally

from Libya as well? Yeah. So both of my, so my dad is actually, my dad's half Tunisian, half Libyan, but like raised between Egypt and Libya. And my mom came here when she was 11 years old. So her, her grandpa, my grandfather worked for the UN and the World Bank. And so she was raised here. So my mom will always say like, she's American. Why do you pronounce Libya that way? But I don't think you pronounce, I don't think you pronounce Morocco any special way. Well, because Morocco, if you're going to pronounce it in Arabic, is Maghrib. It's not Morocco. Oh, I see.

Yeah, so then people just wouldn't know that. But to me, it's like one of those, it's not a pride thing. It's like if you know how to say words properly, I think that you should say them properly. I would feel weird calling Muhammad Ali like Muhammad Ali, you know? But isn't that how he said Muhammad Ali? That's true. That's true.

But the name itself, yeah, you're right. You know, that's a good point. I'm Muhammad Ali. He didn't say I'm Muhammad Ali. Yeah, you know. But I just, I would feel weird saying that, especially because it's a prophetic name. So, I don't know.

It's such a weird, we have like people who speak Arabic and English or like are Muslim and like know how to pronounce the word specifically. You have this like internal battle and you're like, how do I say things right? So like I go back and forth between calling Libya, Libya or Libya, because that's how it's pronounced. And it's like, okay, who are you doing this for the audience? Are you doing it for your community? Where do you find the balance? And then will people understand you? And I think if you have an opportunity to talk about it and be like,

oh, this is actually how it's pronounced, then there you go. But the same reason why I say Morocco, Morocco, instead of... Okay, because we wouldn't know what the hell you were talking about. But I think it's nice for the general public to get educated on how things are actually pronounced. Yeah, of course.

I mean, it's the same way where, like, you know, when you have, like, a name that's harder to pronounce. And I have this conversation with a lot of my friends who have names that are, quote, not American, per se. And they're like, I want people like when they say their names to their coworkers or in meetings or whatever, they're like, can I just call you this for short? Cause it's easier for me. And it's just like, why can't you take the time to learn how to say my name and like respect me

the same? I don't say that to you. I don't say, can I just call you whatever for short? Well, all you have to do is walk into a nail salon. And like all of those women generally who are in large part from various Asian countries, they're like, my name is Apple.

It's like, no, it's not. I've had that conversation with people who are just like, my name is this, but like you can call me this or this is my American name because it's easier. And I'm like, no, I want to call you what your name actually is. Well, lucky for us, Noor is easy enough to pronounce for anybody. You would think, right? But everybody calls me, like growing up, everybody called me Nora.

And I was just like, yeah, you know what, fine. It's like four letters. It rhymes with door. It is so easy, and people still mess it up. So what was your, you wear the hijab. Yeah. And you are currently anchoring on Newsy.com or, or, or no. Okay. No, no.

We can cut that out. Yeah. Let's totally cut that out. Haven't been with them for a while. Okay. So, so what are you doing from a broadcast point of view? Are you a broadcast point of view? So I just last week released, I took over, uh over the season three of Barney's podcast.

So I'm doing eight episodes where I highlight eight different figures who are pushing our culture forward. So it's an incredible, incredible curated list. Last week was Tan France. This week is Elaine Welteroth. We're doing Diet Prada, Dapper Dan, Jillian Mercado, and then a couple of, like, three other surprise, very incredible surprise guests. I have to confess, I'm not familiar

with most of those. Oh, well, they're all incredible people that you should be familiar with, and you can be familiar with them when you listen to the podcast. Okay, so you're not doing anything visually. So I am doing things visually, just not things I can talk about yet. So we are working on a couple of really

incredible projects, but they're under wraps right now. But where I'm getting to is that wearing the hijab in public, which is what you have done in the past, on TV. Well, yeah, of course. I've been doing that for years now when I got my first job on television. And that was sort of, as I understand it, that was kind of a dream of course. I've been doing that for years now, when I got my first job on television.

And that was sort of, as I understand it, that was kind of a dream of yours. Yeah. To bring the hijab into the mainstream, to make it seem just ordinary. Well, I mean, I grew up and all I ever wanted to do was be Oprah, and I wanted to be on television, and I wanted to report. I have all of this archival footage that I just was exposed to recently earlier this year that my parents had been taking of me since I was like six years old as a reporter. And because of like this extreme passion that I had for

storytelling, nobody in my family had ever even mentioned hijab. So hijab has to be a choice. You have to decide that this is what you want to do. This is what you want to wear. So my parents never really mentioned it because they were like, she wants to be on TV. And even then they were like, no one has ever worn this on TV. So she's never going to wear it. Your mother wears it. My mom. Yeah. My mom actually wore it in Birmingham, Alabama when I was two. And my, and my dad was like, uh, are you sure you want to do this here? And she did. And I actually interviewed my mom last year and asked her about that experience. And she was like, the first day I went out was a New Year's Eve party.

And I had it half off because I just wanted people to think I was cold because I was so nervous about going out with this on. And then I asked her how she felt when I started putting it on. And she was like, I thought she was going to be like, I was so proud of you. You were finding yourself, blah, blah, blah. And she was like, I mean, I didn't really care. I didn't think you were going to keep it on. I was like proud of you and all of these other things. But that to me wasn't that series.

I would have been proud of you with or without it. But when I did decide to put it on, she, like her and my dad, both were very supportive in that I still wanted to accomplish this dream and it had never happened on American television. And I'd never seen, I, I'd barely seen people with like dark hair and brown eyes on television, let alone somebody with a hijab on, unless it was like an Egyptian soap opera or like news misrepresenting Muslim women as they typically do and did. Um, so it was never something positive. It was never something that I saw. Um, but looking back now, like I realized that because I had it on, I mean, it forced me one to work way harder, um, in accomplishing this dream. So I started college when I was 16 and I kind of got this headstart

because I wanted so badly to, uh, to, to make this happen. And, um, I worked really, really hard. I shadowed people. I interned, I got my first job at a newspaper actually a couple of weeks after I started wearing the hijab and, um, and, oh, you want to hear a funny story? Hit it. Okay. I'm going to tell you, but do you want to hear it too Hit it. Okay, I'm going to tell you. Do you want to hear it too? Yes, of course. Okay, I'm going to tell you. So I forgot about the first story that I ever reported on, and I got an email.

I got an email yesterday, or actually two days ago, and it read, Good evening, Noor. I had the privilege of hearing your story at blank university. You had such a fantastic story, and I learned so much from you. Coming home from overseas as a soldier was tough. I tended to judge Muslims because that is what I was taught to do. And you opened my eyes to help me understand 99% of Muslims who are not radical.

I think it's even more than that. And then he asked about getting into journalism and I was like, my gosh holy cow like that is so amazing and then he asked me what the first story i ever did was and i was like i i remembered my first video story and then i had realized my first article i'd ever written was actually about a iraq war veteran and she goes again by the way with her pronunciation yeah well i'm not going to call that Iraq. Like that just doesn't feel right to me because of how I've always heard it. But anyway, so it was really fascinating and like just so touching to me because I was like, wow, this is how you connect the dots with stories. So anyway, going back to making this happen. I put my head down and I worked, and then I realized that the way that I tell stories, the way that I can build trust with communities and find a way to truly connect with people

and getting them to open up about their truths and then elevate their truths was actually rooted in my identity and being able to find a root of commonality consistently within everybody I was interviewing. What does the hijab mean to you? Are you wearing it because you feel it's a religious duty, or at this point are you wearing it It's a religious duty? Or at this point, are you wearing it because you wish to, you know, to raise awareness? Thank you. Thank you.

Every now and again, Periel is helpful. We boss each other's balls. Don't worry. It's all in fun. But anyway, yeah. Yeah, so I, so it's actually like a super personal question question and it's a super personal decision. And I recently have started talking about how this, the act of putting on the hijab as a woman, because there is technically a hijab for men too.

It's just not as prominent. But when you put it on, it's such a personal choice and it's for such personal reasons. But people are so up in arms about it and vocal about it and either offended by it or curious about it. And it's because it's so transparent. It's like I can walk anywhere and you will know that I am Muslim. I'm wearing my faith on my sleeve, right? Even though the decision to actually put this piece of cloth on was so personal and private. I think when I first put it on, it was because I was really

trying to figure out who I was. And it was something that I had rejected for so long, but I saw the strength that it gave my mom. My younger sister had put it on before I did. And I saw the women in my family and how incredibly confident and strong they were. And I was like, what is it about this thing? Right. So when I put it on, um, it was like this understanding of like, you are consistently living for something bigger than yourself. You realize that when you wake up and you go out and you chase this dream of yours, or you are living in some type of service of your community, your others, whatever it is that it's never like about you and what you have to say matters more than anything. And for me now, I think it's that constant reminder. that it's never like about you and what you have to say matters more than anything

and for me now I think it's that constant reminder and it's also like a reminder of what kind of leader I want to be it's like I want to be somebody who has like a pure message with pure intentions and I want you to know that I like care a lot about my faith but also that you can come and ask me whatever questions that you want about it, and that it is truly such an empowering decision to make, especially in a time now in which people reject it so much. I mean, you see the laws consistently in France. Right, there was just a story the other day where they almost...

They closed down pools because women were wearing hijabi bathing suits. But they don't want any religious symbols, I believe, in France. Okay, okay. All right. Well, see. But I don't want to get too into French stuff. Well, it's not about that, though. I think that that's not fair to say because there is such history.

So I spoke in Paris four or five years ago. And I went on one of their biggest shows. It was called Le Grand Journal on Canal+. Do you speak French? I used to a long time ago. I don't anymore. My husband does. I had an earpiece, so there was a translator. And I went on this show.

I had no idea how big the show was. And I was doing kind of this press tour because I was accepting an award in Paris. Paris. Paris. And I tweeted, like, hey, I'm going to be on Le Grand Journal. So if you're in a French-speaking country, tune in.

And I had one of the producers, like, come in and say, delete that tweet right now. Because we've never had a muslim woman wearing a hijab on our television show and if corporate finds out they're going to pull the plug wow yeah and i had heard so many horrific stories of what it's like to be a muslim woman there wearing the hijab because there are laws against it. Um, and like stories that made me stick sick to my stomach. And so when I had my speech to give, I ended up nixing what I wrote and pulled up a bunch of emails that women from France had sent to me over that year. And they were consistently the same

message. And it was, Hey, no, I'm really interested in being a journalist but i can't do it in france wearing the hijab um i'm thinking of moving out of the country to go pursue this dream i'm going to go like learn a new language move away from my family because i so badly want to do this and you've helped me believe in myself to be able to continue this or they would say like is it easier in america like will there be opportunities for internships? They can say that it's about just no religious symbols, but everybody knows it's specifically geared towards Muslims. It's very common knowledge. What about in the United States? What is your experience wearing it? Now, you lived where now? I lived in... I mean, I grew up in Maryland.

Okay. Well, in New York, I imagine it's not that big a deal. No, in New York, it's not. But I spend most of my time on the road anyway. I spend most of my time in Middle America. So what's your experience wearing that? And do people say anything? Do they stare?

I don't know if it's not that big of a deal in New York, actually. Well, New York is a very multicultural place. It would be certainly less of a big deal here than it would be in Birmingham, Alabama. One would imagine. One would imagine, yeah. Or as they call it, Alabama. No, totally. We're going to be consistent.

Yeah. So, I mean, touching on the France thing. I was in France two weeks ago, and when I was at the airport, I literally told, I was at Cannes. And I told Adam, we need to get to the airport earlier because I know I'm going to have trouble at the airport because I wear the hijab and like right on cue I didn't buzz or alarm because I

know how to navigate through airports and make sure nothing goes off and there's never a reason and instead I like not only did I get swabbed for everything but I had the security agent put their hands in my pants. A female security agent? Yes, in front of everybody.

It was so humiliating. But this is normal, and I was so numb to it. Adam, my husband, was so upset about it that he had already gone through security security pulled out his phone to try to record some of it and I'm not joking like maybe like seven agents like jumped on him almost making him delete the video and almost took his phone away and they were saying we were like can you can do you guys recognize that what you're doing is wrong first of all I had gotten asked to take my scarf off no this was a niece but it? No, this was a niece. But it's the same thing. Of course, of course they do. It's like, it's France.

They asked me to take my scarf off and I said no and that's why I had to go through everything. But then this is the catch, right? They say, if you're wearing a hijab, you have to get a full body pat down, which is not a pat down. It's very, very invasive. And to me, I'm like,

you can check my hijab. You check my scarf because if what makes me different than everybody else is that I have a scarf on my head, then go ahead and touch it and feel it. But they're telling you because you wear a scarf, I need to put my hands in your pants and under your shirt and your bra and every, and other parts. Like it's so. So why are they asking you to take it off? Like they want to see if anything's in there. Yes, of course. But, but I do want to know about your experience. Okay. But so my experience here, I mean, I have TSA pre clear and global entry. So I walk through, like I have a routine. I, I make sure I have a really big smile on my face. I walk through really confidently. I ask people about their day. You can never have a bad day at an airport if you're a Muslim woman wearing a hijab because you never know. And you, and most of the time here I walk through and I'm fine. Typically. So, and I have to be

very specific about when I book my flights, because if the flight is too early or if the flight is too late, TSA is usually closed. And if TSA is usually closed, then you get that pat down and you get everything swiped for like bomb residue I don't even know what they're testing for and you get the whole nine yards right so I always try to make sure that my flights are during hours that I know TSA pre is going to be open and then when I'm at a smaller airport like I mean I'm all over and whether it's like South Dakota or Nevada or Wisconsin or whatever it is I would say maybe like one out of three times I get like randomly selected and then have to go through that whole thing but

I I like when I went through the France experience recently I like wrote an entire tweet and Instagram story breaking down I didn't want to be like oh I just went through this whole thing or whatever like I get it I'm I'm numb to it and, it's like so unfortunate. I remember the first time we started traveling, my mom and I started wearing the hijab traveling while I was wearing the hijab. My mom was like, they're going to touch you. We just like, just let them do what they got to do and let's go. And I just remember thinking like, that's not okay. And, uh, and so I wrote down, I broke down every single step of like how i navigate through airports and then i ended it with like how would that make you feel well and i got

tens of like i got thousands of responses from people about like humiliated violated i would am a rape survivor and i would stop going to airports if i knew there was a chance that someone was going to do that to me like there there, people don't understand that. And it's not like within, within the U S that that happens to me all the time. If I didn't have TSA pre, it would happen a lot more often, but it's the fact that not only are you profiling people, right? But you're also perpetuating this notion of the, if you look a type of way, if you dress a type of way, if you have a disability, my friend who's a wheelchair user told me, like messaged me privately and was like, oh my gosh, I didn't know you go through the same thing. If you have all of

these things, everybody around watching, what are you telling them? You're telling them that these are the people you have to be afraid of. And you're giving more people, I don't care if you have to do whatever security, but you are feeding into the stereotype that already exists of people who are, quote, different than what you're used to. But what about those who might suggest that when it comes to that very specific issue, i.e., aircraft security, statistically, the issue has been with Muslims, you know, in that very specific area. I mean, I wouldn't worry about... Well... That's okay. All right. Well...

Well, I have, you know, Hatem, our friend Hatem, you know, we've talked to him, and he said, well, yeah, I would want for the safety of everybody on board, you included, you would want reasonable security. That's absolutely true. Absolutely, you would want reasonable security. That's absolutely true. Absolutely. There should be reasonable security. But the way that security is done, I don't think is actually secure. I think it feeds more into profiling, racial profiling, and fear-mongering than anything else.

There has to be a better way than to do it this way, first and foremost. Secondly, most people who get pulled aside or who get harassed or who get touched at the airport, majority of them are women or trans people or people of color. So you are furthering this stigma of feeling in danger based on people and just violating people who, like, are not the ones that you are, quote, looking for. I want to know how many women who wear the hijab or people in wheelchairs or whatever who have gone through security. I want to know how many of them were actually people who were who were carrying something or doing something. Also seems an unlikely place to put a bomb. Yeah. Well, you're literally just giving me a head massage at that point. That's one thing the other

thing is no one is saying that there shouldn't be security there absolutely should be security but i also think that it's really important to note and i'm pulling this out on my phone today because um this is what i saw there have been more arrests and death deaths in the united states caused by domestic terrorists than international terrorists in recent years. White extremism is the biggest form of terrorism in the United States. Do we do the same thing in communities, the same thing that we do in terms of profiling to Muslims that we do to domestic terrorists?

No, we don't. It feeds into the... I might counter, if I had to counter, with the fact that when it comes to aviation, we're not seeing white terrorism. So that might be the reason for extra scrutiny at airports. I don't know if that necessarily holds water, but I think that's an argument that could be made. Yeah, I'm just gonna... but I think that's an argument that could be made. So in that specific context,

we've had terrorism coming from Muslims. In other contexts, you quite rightly point out, we've had terrorism and or however you want to characterize it, violence coming from white people and oftentimes from white supremacists, just not in an aviation context. But there still has to be a better way to... Yeah, I'm going to just disagree with you on that. There still has to be a better way to... Yeah, I'm going to just disagree with you on that.

There still has to be a better way to do it that doesn't... I mean, that isn't so... You're putting more Muslims in harm's way than you are protecting people and keeping people secure based on the way that you're treating them. There has to be a better way, and there is. And we know that the way that you're treating them. There has to be a better way, and there is. And we know that the way that security is handled is inefficient and just literally fears more. Well, what about your day-to-day experiences, not at the airport, but just on the street,

and in particular in smaller towns, in particular in Alabama, where you spent some time, in terms of how people react to you? I mean, I was a baby in Alabama, so I don't remember any of that. Well, they probably reacted as they usually react to babies. Just going, oh! Yeah, I mean, maybe. I mean, overall, like, there isn't...

I'm like a very... Every experience is very individual, and that's why, like, when talking about stuff like this, I'm not going to be like, yeah, we all experience this and that. I have... Oh, I've always been fine. Like even in the Midwest, even when I'm alone. And if I ever feel uncomfortable, I call somebody, I text someone, I let them know where I am.

Um, I mean, I've had times where I've gone to schools or I've gone to speak and stuff. And those, those speaking engagements were threatened by violence, people who don't look like me. And I would have to have police or security at the events and things like that. So those things happen. However, the majority of it is like if people stare, people stare. I don't really pay attention to it. I know people are curious. I would be curious too if I've never seen a Muslim woman.

But what I do is if I do catch someone staring or if I think that someone is staring for too long, I'll walk over to them and I'll smile and I'll ask about their day. Like I just engage with people. That's also just the type of person I am. I don't think that people should have to do that. But you also have situations where, uh, there were four years ago, three Muslim, young Muslims who I was acquainted with, who were executed in their own homes by their neighbor. And four years later, he and two of them had gotten married the week before. And four years later, this is the first time, because the police had constantly called it a parking dispute, for the first time admitted that it was a hate crime

after four years of traumatizing this community. That's a heinous story. It really is. I just want to say, though, that I don't think that it's fair that you should have to do that or that anybody should have to do that. Imagine if you felt like people were just staring at you and you had to smile and go up to them. Imagine feeling like you never could have a bad day.

You have to be like, hi, how are you? I mean, you can barely stand to talk to me. But I do agree that people are curious. And that staring, though it might be impolite, is not inherently racist. There's a difference between staring and like scowling. Well, okay, there is a difference. But I don't think that staring necessarily means these are bad people. And I think you would agree with that.

No, I do agree with that. It's not about bad people and I think you would agree with that. No, I do agree with that. It's not about being bad people though. It's about ignorance. I mean, and it's about also walking. I mean, if I were walking in Japan, they might stare at me. Right, and you might get sick of it. Well, I probably would but I don't think that I would hold it against them and I don't think you do.

I don't hold it against people either. But I also recognize that I'm naturally a very curious person. I love talking to strangers. My favorite thing to do is to talk to the person sitting next to me on my flights in the Midwest because the entire plane is only people who are white and not Muslim. And I've had the most fascinating conversations. Dan's least favorite thing to do. Well, it's least favorite thing to do. Fascinating conversations.

Well, it's least favorite in most cases. If it's an attractive single woman, it might be less upsetting to me. Yeah. Well, I mean, so that's just how I naturally am. But I've had people, like, at my talks, stand up, ask a question in tears, and being like,

I feel like I just can't ever have a bad day. Yeah. Because then it just feeds into the notion that as a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, you're oppressed because your face looks sad one day. And it's just like, no, dude, we're normal people. Like, it's so... But you really are. I feel like we're talking about this for too long, too.

Like, this is like, it's such a... It's like you're always boiled down to that one aspect of your identity. We don't sit here and talk about and, like, question. And I recognize that there's, like, a sense of curiosity and we want to like learn and know more about people. And I think that a lot of times that means that we have to do our due diligence and talking to people who are actually a part of that community and experiences, the people who are staring and scowling and whatever I can guarantee you. And I, the reason I can guarantee you is because I know some of those people, their impressions and where they've learned about my community come from news outlets that hate our community.

And therefore, you're not spending the time learning. And if you have such strong hate towards people, whether it's the Muslim community or any other community, but you haven't taken the time to actually get to know them and embed yourself within that, even if it's uncomfortable, but all you do is feed off of what you've been given from mainstream news outlets that are very known for, for fear mongering and hate, then that's on you. That's ignorance, but like, that's also your responsibility because you're carrying this hate. You're not only carrying this hate within your heart but you're acting on the hate sometimes whether it is giving somebody a scowl or pushing somebody one time my mom and i were walking through a pier and this ginormous guy body slammed her on purpose and stare like scowled at her and then walked away and it's just like my

mom is literally a guidance counselor and the kindest soul in the entire face of the planet. And I'm just like, that's just, that's just what happens. Like it happens. And you recognize that they've probably never met a Muslim before, which is why I got, why I shared the email that I just shared. This guy literally told me that he was happy. He heard my story because he was a soldier who was taught to hate me. Like, does that not make sense? That's my point. This is a part of the problem. And we can't sit here and ask all of these questions and be like, yeah, but what if this? What if that? Does that really exist? I had a really long argument with somebody who's a family member who's not Muslim about experiences that I've gone through and that my community goes through. And their response was, I just don't think that happens.

And to hear the invalidation of your own experiences, which is similar to the way people are asking certain questions, is so infuriating. Because how would you feel if I did that to you? Well, it obviously happens. But just as we don't want to judge Muslims by the actions of very few. Totally. You know, the average American, I think.

I am American. Yes, yes, I know. But, and I include you in that. The average American is open-minded. And the average American, I don't think, has hatred in their hearts. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that people I mean, I don't know what the average American feels about anything anymore because we're in a very weird

state right now. Yeah, I mean, I'm a little bit concerned about the average American, to be honest. Even if it's not hatred, it's like blissful ignorance. I don't think the average person takes time to really get to know people because, and here's why I'll tell you that.

Because unless you are a part of a marginalized community where you are forced to understand how society sees you and therefore have a natural sense of compassion to other communities because you know what that feels like, I don't think most people who have not had to go through that put themselves in a position where they have to get to know what that feels like. I don't think most people who have not had to go through that put themselves in a position where they have to get to know what that's like. I went to journalism school. All of my professors were older white men except for one person who taught journalism in the Middle East and North Africa. And none of my journalism professors ever taught me my key factor in the way that I report, which is going into a story and asking myself this question, how is the way that I cover this story, this community, or this person going

to impact the community that we are talking about? And I ask that question because I see every single day how the way we are covered as a community has not only negatively impacted us, but put us in so much danger to the point where hate crimes are at an all-time high and people are getting murdered. Well, I think that's right. I think that journalists should know what they're, you know, be familiar with the community that they're talking about. Yeah, but that doesn't really happen.

Because they never get it right. People, and I see how journalists cover comedy, which is obviously... Sure, yeah. I just see them getting everything wrong if they're not familiar with the milieu. Well, I also feel like journalists, it's really lost a lot of its credibility

in the past, I don't know, 10 years maybe or so. Like it used to be that being a journalist was like, you really had a lot of integrity. And I don't know, it was like, there are so many factors to that too, though. Like there's obviously like immense budget cuts within newsrooms. And then you have a president who consistently calls news and journalism the enemy of the people. And then on top of that, so couple that with the fact that there are immense budget cuts and journalists within newsrooms are so overworked and spread thin and that fact-checking isn't as integral of a process as you would hope it would be. Journalists are also selling a product, and oftentimes they want it to be more sensational.

They want it to be more interesting and more scandalous. Well, yeah, because you're trying to get clicks, right? The way that we consume media now is so different than it was before Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I mean, you used to actually read a newspaper and take the time to do the research. And now it doesn't even matter. Nora, I want to know what you think about it. Something we were

discussing before you sat down about the Betsy Ross flag on the back of the sneakers. I assume you're familiar with that issue. What were your thoughts? Well, my thoughts are that I disagree with Colin Kaepernick and I disagree with Nike's decision.

The fact that hate groups, some hate groups, might be using this flag as a symbol. We shouldn't allow these groups to decide for America which symbols... They shouldn't be able to co-opt our symbols.

That's a symbol, a very long-standing patriotic symbol here in the United States, as you know. And the fact that some hate groups are using it, we're giving them the power now to say that this is a symbol of hate? But I didn't think it was about the hate groups. I thought it was more of what it represented in the time. You were talking about a flag that was used in a time where African Americans were slaves. And you're using it as a way to celebrate. If it's hurtful to a community because that's what it triggers, then why can't we be respectful of that? Right, I understand that. But, you know, it's symbolic of a time. It's symbolic, just like George Washington himself.

His image is on the $1 bill. He was president and a slave owner. And so... Maybe we should take that off. People can make the same argument and say we should take him off the $1 bill. They could make that argument. And the Declaration of Independence was written at a time, 1776, when slavery was legal. Also, the French tricolor, let's take that, because we were talking about France earlier.

There was slavery in French colonies. I assume under that flag. Actually, my French history is a little rusty. But, you know, do we have to throw out every symbol of the United States? Is it throwing out the symbols of the United States or because of what the product was actually for?

It was to celebrate July 4th, right? If I'm not mistaken, it was supposed to be this patriotic celebration. So why can't we celebrate in a way that is progressive and is inclusive of the people? Like, yeah. Why is it so important

that we use that? It's not so important, but should Nike then discontinue a product that was already about to come out? And people love that flag because people love that flag because it represents a time... No, it doesn't represent... The Confederate flag People love that flag because it represents... Slavery?

No, it doesn't represent slavery. The Confederate flag can be said to represent slavery. Well, the Confederate flag... You know, I'll be honest. I'm so sorry. Go ahead. No, no, no. The Confederate flag does represent slavery.

The Confederate flag represents the Confederacy, and it's strongly associated with slavery, and it's offensive to many people, and I agree with that. I don't see the Betsy Ross flag in that vein. So I'll tell you what I thought when I first saw it. This was my train of thought, and this is how I started thinking about these things. Maybe Michael Che would like this.

Or Stetan. I don't know. Can we get somebody to speak about the Betsy Ross flag? Yeah, we should get Michael Che to do it. Well, I don't know if Michael Che... Perrielle, can you ask one of our friends here if they would be willing to discuss that? Would anybody like to sit down and discuss?

I'll tell you what I first thought. Okay, go ahead. Don't shout it out. Go up there and ask. It could be Seton or, you know, somebody. So when I first saw it, I was like, oh, interesting. If Colin Kaepernick is saying that this was offensive

and Nike is taking it down, then we need to, I need, like, I want to understand more and I want to hear more. I trust because of how vocal he's always been, I trust that there is a reason, and I trust there is a reason for them to take it down. And when I read the reason of like why it was offensive, I completely understood it. And I was like, wow, I never thought about it that way.

And I'm so happy that this perspective was shared. And I'm happy that they're doing something about this perspective and continuing the dialogue. I think it's more important that they are taking a stand, that they have this person who is consistently being a part of the way

Nike is moving, and that there is a sense of respect towards what he has to say in his message. We should certainly listen to his message, but he's one person, and he doesn't necessarily represent... Yeah, I think that there should be a... I think that it would be a great opportunity

for there to be a town hall or a bigger conversation. I would love to see when things like this happen, instead of it just happening, for there to be live town halls and conversations where Nike executives are there. Colin Kaepernick is there and other people with different ways of thought and they, everybody shares it.

And so that it's a respectful conversation because if the point of it was to not offend a community, I think that the right, like I think everybody else who's not as familiar should be able to have the opportunity to be educated on all of this and to understand better. And I think like we should be able to have the opportunity to be educated on all of this and to understand better and i think like we should be able to facilitate those spaces but i mean you're talking about twitter and then twitter explodes and people don't really have the conversations in the way that we should i'm all about not wanting to offend a community and one of my main

and we've discussed on this show reasons for for thinking the Confederate flag should not be flown is because it hurts people. What? Yeah, of course. Obviously. Okay. But is there a limit to that? I mean, if somebody's offensive, are we allowed to ask the question, is that a reasonable response?

Yeah. Can one be offended in an unreasonable way? If you're asking that, if you're asking that to, like, I am, I'm not black, so I would not feel comfortable being like, this is the answer and this is why. I would want to sit down and listen and I'd want to listen to people who are in that community and who have things to say about it and who can explain and educate. And I would want people to respect my, my community in the same way in which if i were to tell you something was offensive um like for instance i posted like an instagram video about the new aladdin movie and i shared like positive and negative thoughts on it and what things were really problematic

about it i would and i had so many people message about um about going in and watching it with a completely different view or sharing that they would have never thought about it that way and facilitating that conversation and making sure that people are listening with intention. And I would want that kind of respect across all these situations. So I would want to listen. I do feel that, you know, we're edging toward the eventual, perhaps, replacement of Washington on the $1 bill, perhaps the dismantling of the Jefferson Memorial, things of this nature. What's wrong with that?

Well, I think, you know, you can, I think at some point... I mean, I have never thought about it, but, like, I I wouldn't be like, oh my gosh, that's so offensive. I think at some point, you're touching things that are very, very, very dear to most Americans. And at some point, you're going to get a reaction that you might not like. Well, you have to... Yes, well, we have gotten a reaction, and the reaction is... A lot of people don't like that reaction. And if you don't want more of those types of reactions, you might consider,

and I know you don't advocate necessarily for the dismantling of the Jefferson Memorial or the Washington Monument, some people might. No, I mean, I've spent so many nights, like, wandering. I lived down the street from those memorials. Like, I love visiting them. However, I think it is a very privileged perspective to say, you're messing with something that's super dear and people are going to get upset. But you're talking about hundreds of years where people were oppressed.

And people are still oppressed. And people who are part... Wait, let me just finish. When people are part of these communities, they consistently have to make others feel comfortable have to have to make themselves feel small have to lessen the have to question what they have to say because they don't want to upset someone why can't we respect others the same way people have consistently been respected? Well, we should respect everyone's opinion, but I'm saying if you don't want to provoke reactions that may be unpleasant, you have to respect, even if you disagree with it,

people's love of certain symbols, people's, you know, how they feel about the founding fathers, how they feel about certain symbols of America. And I think at some point... I missed that. At some point... Looks questionable. What happens? Well, Nora disagrees with me, as I expected.

But we're talking about the Betsy Ross flag. Jessica Kirsten, just sit down. Hello, Jessica. Hi, how are you? How do you do? This is our dear friend, Nora Taj down. Hello, Jessica. Hi, how are you? How do you do? This is our dear friend, Nour Tajouri. She's a comedy seller, regular customer, I think. Yeah, we come on Fridays.

Do you know Jessica's work? No, but I would love to. Oh, thank you. I can't sit here and be like, oh, I'm such a comedy fan. I come here to decompress on Fridays when I'm in town. The end. Oh, that's good. Well, if you haven't seen Jessica, you might want to look into it.

She's one of our favorites here. Anyway, Noor Tajouri is a Muslim woman. She wears the hijab, as you can see. And she's trying to, and effectively, I think with great, greatly succeeding at making, spreading the word that

wearing hijab doesn't mean you're some space alien. But that's not my message. That's not my message. My message isn't about that. My message isn't about being a Muslim woman who wears the hijab. I never even talk about it. Even when I go and I tour... But you're saying that you're conveying the message

that whether you like it or not, that you're a regular person. Yeah, I'm a regular person. Well, but not everybody might be aware of that, as you've said. Yes, yes. I'm going to cut off here just so that I can do Jessica's introduction. We don't need Jessica's introduction.

She's on the show all the time. She's a great comic. Well, no, she's saying because I have a podcast coming out. That's why I slept here. Well, you do it then. What's the podcast? Well, you can do it. Okay, well,

Dan, do you want to do it? Go ahead. Hit it. So, first of all, Jessica Curson's new podcast is called Relatively Sane. And she appears in

Robert De Niro's The Comedian and plays herself on Pete Holmes' HBO series Crashing and her one-hour special produced by Bill Burr, which I can't wait to see, will be released on Comedy Central in the fall of 2019 and she may be seen regularly, as we all know, at the Comedy Cellar. But will you talk a little bit about your new podcast? Yes, thank you so much.

That was like an odd... No, I'm glad you did that because that is why... No, I'm like that. These very formal introductions. Well, it's good to have it. Well, it is good. It's professional. Thank you.

Thank you. I think Dan wants to talk about the hijab more, but I need to talk about my career. No, no, we've talked about the fucking hijab for... I think even Noor is tired of talking about what we've been talking about. But you'll just keep pressing it. No, I won't keep pressing. I just think that it's like I, you know, I'll tell you

because this is super real. I like I do so much. I do so many cool things and I think that I completely understand what people ask me about the hijab but it's just like I feel like people just negate all of my actual work and I'm so

I think my thing is like I just like want people to actually pay attention like whether it's the documentaries or the podcasts or like my family's foundation or those speeches or the work that I do even in my speeches like my speeches are not even about being Muslim my speeches are

literally about breaking barriers through storytelling and being able to find roots of commonality with people and there's so many things that i do and yeah i wear the hijab and and to me because i wear the hijab i am able to connect with people in a different way than you typically would but i don't like this thing doesn't define me and i think that a lot of times I am portrayed in a way that, like, they're like, oh, you are Noor and you are hijab, the end. And I'm just like, no, like, that's not how this works. Well, fair enough. But, you know, we only have an hour on this show.

We have so much to get to. We'd love to have you back to discuss those things, whether it be your podcasting about sex trafficking and any of the other things you do. We're just trying to squeeze a lot into an hour, and so sometimes we don't get to everything. Also, we want to talk about Jess's new podcast. It's in large part about mental health. I think we should just keep talking about talking about it and never just talk about

it. Isn't that amazing? Yeah, I think that's great. It's actually better marketing. I think so, too. It's actually better marketing. I think so too. Let's really see what this is about because they never got to it. I was just telling Dan that one of your first guests is Gary

Gallman on your show so I just saw his special and so we were talking about mental health and so I feel like this is a good segue into That's good. I feel like first of all my mother's a therapist, and I've been going to therapy since I'm eight years old. And I married a therapist, and I went to school to be a therapist.

Really? Yeah, so I'm like pretty, everything is just... But now she's a traveling clown. My mom's a guidance counselor. Yes, I'm a traveling clown. My mom's a guidance counselor. Oh, yeah? So our moms could be friends. Yeah, they could be.

Well, my mom, I just was thrown into therapy in many different ways. Why were you thrown into therapy when you were eight? Because she tried to fix me. Like she did, you know, I was her client, kind of. So, my whole life. So I just, and I love talking to people, and I love being a comic and being funny, but I'm just really,

and I'm not putting them, I'm just over all these comedy podcasts where everyone's just trying to be funny and screaming over each other, and it's like, I can't deal with it. I can't even listen to them. I like doing them sometimes, but it's like unbearable.

So I wanted to do one where I interview comics and my family members. So I have like, I already did a couple with my mother. I do one with my brother. I'll do them with other people. And it's just about, it's funny, but they're deep too. Yeah.

Like they're very deep. And I love interviewing people and talking. So it's not like, it's funny, but it's also really interesting. And I've done Gaffigan and Sal from Impractical Jokers

and Judy Gold and Chris DiStefano. No, are you a mental patient? I'm talking. And Chris DiStefano. Dan, that was amazing what you just did. What I just did? Well, I was literally in the middle of saying something.

It's okay. I do it too. But was that like a Jewish thing? I was literally in the middle of saying a sentence. It's not even like I took a breath. Fair enough. Noted. Because I do it too, but I think it's from our culture.

I don't know. Do you? Or were you just bored with what I was saying like what I just wanted to include Nora in the conversation but Nora's been

there the whole time yeah Nora's okay yeah I'm so okay she was staring at me I was so in tune with what you had to say I know I felt it

I know people very well but Dan is how are your family members reacting are they happy to like oh they love it. They love being a part of it. I have a very interesting family. I mean, I really do.

I have an older sister and then my dad got remarried to a younger woman and they had two kids so I have a half brother and a half sister and then my mom got remarried to a man who's Zach Braff's father, the guy from Scrubs and Garden State. Okay.

And they have four kids. There's four kids there. So it's like, and I've been through so many things. Depression, anxiety, addiction, you know, family stuff. So I love talking to people about it. I've had a couple people

that I've interviewed already say, you've gotten me to say things I've never said on a podcast or on an interview. That's the best thing people can say. I like make it a goal. You know who I got that who I got to say that last week on my podcast? Dapper Dan.

Really? Dapper Dan told me he'd never shared that like a story before and I was like I almost cried. I think I may have cried internally. I know. It's a great feeling. It really is. Yeah. Yeah. I can't imagine how Howard Stern feels. I can't wait to hear. Oh God. Thank you. No, because he always gets people to say things they've never said. Right, Dan?

That's true. I just tried to include you because you got quiet. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I was reflecting on what you had said and what I might have done wrong as an interviewer and as a podcast host. Dan, I love you. Because you get in my head. It's okay. It's good to get in your

head sometimes and say maybe I should do things differently. I'm like a little nervous to listen to your podcast. Why? Like in a good way. I'm very loving with Pete. It's really... Is it funny? If I were to interview Dan, which I will, I'm hoping he'll do it.

Will you do it, Dan? He will do it. He may be a little closed off, as he often is. Okay. So you'll have to bring your A game if you want to get me to reveal that, which I don't typically reveal. Well, then you don't have to do it, because you just told me how to do it. But it's okay. No, I said you have to bring your A game, which you no doubt will.

And you have to bring your A game. Ooh, I don't know about that. All right, then we can't do it. Well, I'm just saying, I happen not to be, to like to reveal too much about myself. I know, I know how you are. Dan is such a sweeper. It's nothing to do with you. I know, I know you for 20 years.

You know, I go up and say, listen to my act. Do I talk about me? I talk about bullshit. I talk about my cousin Sheila. That's my aunt's name. I know. It always freaks me out because I have an aunt Sheila. I have a joke about texting.

I'm talking to Nora now. I have a joke about I say, I send a text by accident. Sometimes we text the wrong people. I text, come over, I'm horny to my cousin Sheila by accident. Do you actually did that? No, I did not do that. It's a joke. But it's a joke.

So I apologized to her. I said, cousin Sheila, I'm sorry that was meant for someone else. Sorry you came all the way over here. So that's the joke. Anyway, the point is. How was she? Well, no, she. There is no Cousin Sheila.

I had fun with her. But the point is, is that's a joke that has no reality to it. I do not have a Cousin Sheila. Can I ask a question? It comes from something. There's something. Are you attracted have a cousin, Sheila. Can I ask a question? It comes from something. Are you attracted to your cousin? Any cousin? Years ago, maybe.

It always comes from somewhere. You wanted to fuck your cousin's shoe. I was too young to know what fucking was when I thought my cousin was cute. I feel like you can actually reveal a lot. Nora has a question. I have a comedy question. Wow, I feel so honored that I get to ask you all this. Okay, so typically in sets,

how much, if you can give me a percentage, possibility, whatever, how many of the stories are actually true? Well, that depends on the comedian. Mine are pretty much true. And if they're not, a lot of times they're exaggerated, but they come from a true, real place.

Really? But that's just me. I'm very real on Psych. I'm like probably say too much that I should never say. Is it therapeutic? Yes, for me. Wink face. I winked every day I tried.

I came back full circle. Yeah, some comedians do. Gary Gorman in his recent special, I assume, was very, very real. Yes. But he wasn't for a long time. I mean, meaning like he didn't talk about that stuff for a long time. You must have to like get to that point where you're comfortable enough to share that. Yeah.

I mean, his recent special was, I was just telling you, I mean, it was really incredibly intense. I mean, profound, really. And then there are comics like David, are you familiar with David Till? Nora? Well, he's a guy that's considered by many comics to be the most brilliant amongst us. But nothing he says is real. Nothing he says really happened.

I don't think. Right, it's just different styles. Why would you say that it didn't happen? Well, because he talks about the things he talks about. It couldn't possibly have happened. He talks about solving crimes with a one-eyed... Okay, but is it difficult to find the stories truly funny when they're not real? It's harder.

You don't know that they're not real. It's harder. It's harder if they're not real. But you're saying that this was impossibly not real. Rachel, do you want to join us for a second? If you can't. Rachel's oh God, Rachel's my sister. Rachel, Rachel, you have a few minutes if you want to join us. We'd be happy to have you.

Rachel, come on and we'll talk about our project. Rachel Feinstein, ladies and gentlemen, you all know is a regular at the Comedy Cellar. Hi. Rachel, I'm going to introduce you to our new friend, Noor Tajouri, who is a journalist. Hello, it's so good to meet you. our new friend, Noor Tajouri, who is a journalist. Hello. It's so good to meet you. I hope these men haven't been too ignorant. First of all, there's one man.

There's only one man at this table. She's referring to me because we're very close, and she knows I'm a top. That's so funny, Oish. Sorry. I meant to only apologize for an Aderman. Okay. Thank you for apologizing on my behalf.

He's a little sensitive right now. I was teasing you. No, Rachel, he interrupted me. And I pointed it out, and he's apologizing on my behalf. He's a little sensitive right now. I was teasing you. No, Rachel, he interrupted me. And I pointed it out, and he's been sulking a little. Let's try to talk one at a time. That's what happened last time when I was here. He said, let the men speak. Oh, I remember.

I didn't say let the men speak. I was here. I didn't say let the men speak. I said, let the man speak. There's a big difference between let the man and let the men speak. There's an enormous difference. There's an enormous difference. Because you were interrupting somebody. I said between let the man and let the men. There's an enormous difference. There's an enormous difference. Because you were interrupting somebody.

I said, let the man speak. No, while he was assaulting her. You said, let him speak. Marina's here, too. Let's all. This is. Marina, sit down. This is his sister.

Have you seen any women of color lately? It's okay. We have a woman of color. Her name is North. I'm not talking to you, Mr. Natterman. Sorry. You know I am inside. Nor is a Lib Her name is Nor. I'm not talking to you, Mr. Natterman. You know I am inside. Nor is a Libyan-American woman.

I'm Nor. And I would regard her as a woman of color. Marina, do you want to sit down? Do a drum circle? I would do a drum circle with you. Me too. That's my favorite. Rachel, we're running out of time, but Nor posed a question. The question was as follows.

Is it harder to make an audience laugh with a story that's obviously fake versus a story that's obviously real? And in your act, do you talk about things that really happened or do you make shit up? I think it's obviously better if it's real because you remember it better, it feels more natural and you can connect to it a little better.

Yeah, but do you laugh at other comics when you know their stories aren't real? Is it harder to be like, that's so funny? I guess I just assume they're telling the truth. I mean... Not David Tell. You know, he ain't telling the truth. But I don't think it's exactly that he's lying.

He's saying things that are supposed to be preposterous. That's different than lying, than when you're saying something that's obviously exaggerated. Do you see what I'm saying? Okay. I see that. Rachel, Marina, and I are very similar in the way that we... We tell the truth.

We talk about personal stuff, and we're very similar in the way that we talk about personal stuff. It's just our style. Hashtag truth. But the three of us, yeah. Hashtag real bitch. Well, yeah, but it took me a long time to actually realize there were comics who do characters on stage and that don't tell the truth. And I realized it's just a new reality. Yeah.

I didn't know. I thought we all were telling our truths up there, but we're not. Yikes. But it wasn't obvious to you that David Tell never really, you know, had sex with a woman with an eye patch? I have. Oh. I'm joking.

Will you tell that story now? Fake or not? I mean, David Tell's obviously not telling the truth. Well, how do you know? So what do you mean? I'm saying it Will you tell that story now? Fake or not? I mean, David Tell is obviously not telling the truth. Well, how do you know? What do you mean? I'm saying it should be obvious. I feel like he may be embellishing. Yeah, maybe she had no eye.

It's probably coming from something. Maybe he fucked her eye. I've seen you here, by the way. She's pointing to Marina. Yeah, I'm pointing to Marina. Sorry. Thank you, Dan, for the way. She's pointing to Marina. Yeah, I'm pointing to Marina. Sorry. Thank you, Dan, for the visual. Listener's advocate. I,

as a non-comic, I've never thought that a comic's stories were not true. I'm just like, wow. Because you know why? Let me tell you why, though. Because I think life is so exciting, and I'm like, everybody has really cool stories, so why not? And I would

recognize that they're exaggerated, but I'm just like, I can see that. That sounds about right. And also, it's just like... Yeah, we're all like... I mean, Dan, Dan, yours,

it's like your personality. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, the personality comes through, but the stories are clearly not real. But it's okay. But the three of us, like, I would say Marina, Rachel, and I

are definitely some of the more real comics who talk about real life stuff like relationships and family. The way we do it is different. Right. The way we go at our truth may be different. I embellish. Not all parts of my story will be true. I make it more fun for the audience.

And in real life, I've done that actually. When I tell stories I may say like, look, I was sitting on the couch naked. Not really. Right. You had no shoes on but you were... Do you think overall there's a difference between how women and men

like if either of them either embellish more or make up stories or like do women just like share their truth? No, I don't either. Well, not even. Yeah, just like, I don't know. I think women just always have crazy stories. Well, we do tend to tell more in the story.

That's something that men have. Like the details. The details. Like we'll give information that's not. I tell three stories within one story. Yeah. I mean, but that's also from a male's perspective. This is what they've said to me, that I tell them useless information.

I don't know if I... I know when I get up on that stage, I'm ready to get puss nasty. Take some risks. Huh? Am I right? Word up, motherfucker. Have you ever seen Rachel Noor? Only amongst us, you've only seen Marina. Yeah, only Marina.

I love the way... Aw, you're so sweet. Yeah, she's beautiful. Keep going about only Marina. I love the way you said her name. Well, you came over here and you were like, have you guys had any people of color on this podcast? And I'm like, pick me, pick me.

No, I'd just be joshing. I'm just joshing. I'd be joshing, Dan Anderman. Marina, while we have you, do you have any thoughts about the Betsy Ross flag sneaker controversy? Yes, tell us. Oh, I've not been watching the news.

Well, Colin Kaepernick didn't want... Oh, yes, the soccer player. No, no, no. Can I give you the rundown? No, I give her the rundown. I'm in journalist mode right now. I'm going to give... I took a break from the news this week, and I guess I missed... Oh, the hummus.

The hummus. But go ahead. Okay, so Nike had a shoe, and the shoe was designed with the Betsy Ross flag, and Colin Kaepernick said that it was problematic because of the era that that flag was created in. And it's just the time and what it represents because this was like a July 4th shoe and Nike pulled the shoe and people are so upset. So we had this whole debate on this episode right now on whether or not Nike should have pulled the shoe or not. I said that I respect the fact that Colin Kaepernick said what he said and that Nike pulled his shoe.

Dan disagreed with me and said that they should keep the shoe. The Betsy Ross flag. That's the one with the 13 stars and a circle. 13 stars, yeah. Which was a flag that was used in the 1776 era. Well, it's always good just to remind people of what things represent and how they affect people. So, yes, if they pulled the shoe, good.

Because I think we're living in a time where people are fighting for things they don't really feel passionate about. People don't really feel passionate about that sneaker. They just feel passionate about feeling guilty for something they had no responsibility for. That's what they feel passionate about. If you're that upset about Nike pulling a shoe, then kill yourself. Kill yourself.

We should say it as a fun-loving grandma. I'm joking. Kill yourself with a sneaker. Preferably a new balance sneaker. I think we need our therapist back on here. It's not the shoe. The people don't shoe. It's a new balance sneaker. I think we need our therapist back on here. It's not the shoe. The people don't care about the shoe. What does the flag represent?

Is it connected to race? Well, you know that flag that's 13 stars in a circle. I know, but what is... It was a flag to represent the United States of America, which at the time in which slavery was legal. But the flag does not represent slavery in any way. But for Colin Kaepernick, obviously there's more information here about that

and that it represented a time. I mean, don't all flags... I mean, I don't know much information. I've always loved the Minneapolis flag. Jessica, do you enjoy it? I love a Minneapolis flag and I love

a Charleston flag. Well, there's one state flag that's not rectangular. I love hush puppies. Chicago has the best flag, I think. Oh, Chicago's flag is puss nasty. And I wear it all the time. You know, that's my necklace. I wear it on stage. I love that necklace.

I do think I think they should pull the shoe because it annoys a lot of people I just didn't for no reason I think they should pull every shoe and if that flag is upsetting and offensive to certain people

for a certain reason then they can ask for it to be pulled and it's Nike's choice which is a multi-billion dollar company I mean they're not losing anything well they might gain publicity and it might help them, you know. What publicity? Well, the fact that everybody's talking about Nike right now.

Well, everybody's been talking about Nike for the past two days. What if there was something that was... Well, they're going to make money on their own shoes. What if there was a flag that symbolized in some way the Holocaust to you? Yeah, but it's not a... I'm asking you how you would feel about that. Well, I would feel badly, but I don't... But this is a flag that symbolized the Holocaust,

whereas a flag that symbolized... Slavery? The time when there was slavery. A time, but not the institution itself. So if there was a flag from Germany that was during the time of the Holocaust, at the same time as the Holocaust... Well, that would be the swastika flag. But you mentioned that hate groups were using it, right? Some hate groups have been using it, apparently.

I'm just, you know what bothers me? That a lot of Jewish people aren't really understanding what's going on with other people that are being oppressed. It's really sickening to me lately. Okay, so to be fair, right? The reality is people don't care about things until it really affects them.

And that's the problem here. And the thing is that people don't, they're until it really affects them. And that's the problem here. And the thing is, is that people don't, they're not honest about it. So like, just say, you don't get it. I said that earlier. I agree with you. Just say you don't have any feelings about that flag. No, I do

have feelings about the flag, but those feelings are positive. You immediately had a reaction. No, he has a positive feeling towards the flag. The feelings are positive. This is a symbol of. No, he has a positive feeling towards the flag. This is a symbol of the country at a time, the time of independence. No, I'm saying you had But people didn't have independence.

Can I just finish this thought? You had an immediate reaction to a flag that represented a time of the Holocaust. I saw you physically. I saw everything about you change when she brought that up. But when we're talking about slavery, there's nothing there. And that's just, that's okay.

Just acknowledge it and know that it's there. You can't, you don't have. Well, obviously I'm not going to be as upset about slavery. I agree with you there. Right. See, I am. So I think everyone's different. But can I ask a question, though?

And this is like a general question when it comes to situations like this. Because of, like, Twitter culture overall and social media overall, when you feel a type of way, because, and this is the little recap, I said when I saw that, my immediate reaction, if I would have seen the Betsy Ross flag shoe, I wouldn't have thought much about it but when i saw that colin kaepernick said something and that it was pulled and the reasons for what he said i was like wow i'm glad that i learned that and i wish more people would

talk about that when you have an immediate reaction to the flag that like we know that it we know straight facts about it we're not as familiar about the way that it's penetrated culture and what it truly represents. Are you doing that with everything that makes people react so aggressively and angrily? Are they actually doing research before they do that? Or do they just want something to be mad about all the time? Because Colin Kaepernick saying what he said isn't because he just wants something to be mad all the the time? Because Colin Kaepernick saying what he said isn't because he just wants something to be mad all the time.

It's because he directly felt something. And so instead, I don't think enough people are sitting down and listening with intention and are like, how can I actually learn from this rather than, oh, just another thing. But why do they do that? Because they've never had to feel uncomfortable. They've never had to feel that sense of oppression. When you were like, why can't we just admit like it doesn't affect me because I've never felt anything?

What I was saying earlier was when you are part of a marginalized community, you see things complete overall. Typically, you see things from a different perspective. When you have been oppressed in any way by society or the way that you've been treated, you see that in all other sub-communities. And so you have a sense of empathy because you want to know and you want to learn because you would want the same thing to happen to you, which is why when you said the thing about the Holocaust and the flag, you had that direct impact and that direct feeling.

But have you overall in your lifespan, have you ever felt a sense of oppression or somebody wronging you or somebody or consistent like scrutiny because of who you are? Like not once or twice, but consistent like I do as a gay person every day of my life. So it makes you think about other sub-communities in a way. Yeah. Exactly.

I completely look at everything differently because of it. Well, as I said to you earlier, before we were joined by these other comics, I'm happy to listen to Colin Kaepernick, but he's one person, and so I would like to hear from more people of color about their feelings about this flag. I don't have the information.

But do you think that... My question is more focused on, do you think that, because you already have an opinion. You heard what Colin Kaepernick said, but you have an opinion already. Shouldn't we wait to vocalize our opinions by listening to people? And also like you can have an opinion that's like rooted in in your experience. But when it directly affects other people, I think we are more responsible to not share those opinions

and just listen and learn rather than just be like, well, I'm upset about this when it hasn't directly affected me. Well, you know, I would agree with you. I would like to hear more opinions about, especially from people of color, how they feel about that flag. But I would also just say that it would make me sad if certain symbols of the United States disappeared. And I mentioned

the Washington Monument, I mentioned the Jefferson Memorial, and the Betsy Ross flag would fall into that category. Why are you giggling? Rachel. I'm sorry. I had a funny expression. It was my fault. Can we license things up a little more?

For fuck's sake. It's always so heavy whenever I step over here to charge my phone. You know what? Can we lighten things up a little more? For fuck's sake. It's always so heavy. Whenever I step over here to charge my phone, it's like... The Washington Monument isn't going anywhere. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah, who's taking away the Washington Monument? But you could use the same logic to say that the Washington Monument has to go. No.

No, Daniel. Settle the fuck down and let the women speak. Well, I always do. This woman of color is leaving the table. You guys can... Okay, you know what? You're leaving? I have to leave you. We're sort of out of time anyway.

We're out of time a half hour ago. Single black female will be on sale on July 23rd. That's your... Reina Franklin. Yeah. Single black female. Don't bring any flags there. Yikes.

You know. Okay, Single Black Female on sale. Yeah, online, on any platform. You can go to marinafranklin.com and purchase it. It's called Single Black Female. Got you. Single Black Female. Everyone go out and support.

I want to say that I love and accept everyone's truth here and Natterman I don't fully know what that

means but Natterman I was only having some fun with you and I'm very fond of you as well

alright as I am of you and by the way I'm writing a novel one of the characters is based on you Rachel

oh thank you oh man that was a big surprise to just drop casually. Did you know this? I did not, but I'm very aroused. Well, it's not it.

I'm touching myself under the table. We don't have sex in the novel either. I felt that in my vag though. I did feel it. Oh. Vag.

Vag murmur. But anyway, your new podcast about mental health. Yes, it's called Relatively Sane. It's coming out next Tuesday. And it'll be on all places you can find podcasts.

It's called Relatively Sane. That's Relatively Sane. Relatively speaking. And Rachel and I are making an album of characters, of prank calls. Stop. That's thrilling. We're having a lot of fun doing it. Yeah, we're going to do it.

Yeah, I can see it all over your face. We are. It's going to be so much fun. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Rachel, do you have anything specifically besides the... And we also have some fun-loving videos on YouTube. If you like a fun-loving laugh to lighten things up every once in a while.

When you're not thinking about flags, think about the Yentas. Yeah, they're called Yentas. We have wigs that are half on our heads, and we are two old Jewish women that walk around the city and do hidden camera stuff. You might have seen, by the way. We make reservations at restaurants sometimes a year and a half in advance for a 4 p.m. diner dinner. Oh, God.

That's something Yentas would do. We want to know if we can get table 11 in 2024. At 3.45 p.m., actually. Let's be on the safe side. Not under the vent. Why do I know that voice? Because you've been to Florida, maybe. You probably have seen me on stage.

I used to be a house. Maybe that's why. You used to be a house? She used to be larger. She was bigger. Jessica will also call hotel rooms and ask for things that she's left there. And it's so funny. She'll be like, oh.

I was there sometime months ago when I stayed on the floor. Had a two in it. Could have been two or 22. Wait, do you think I might have left a corrective boot in the room? I left a corrective boot, an heirloom bracelet. It had my great-grandmother was a hairdresser, so it had a comb. Hold on, stop. And I left a half a pastrami sandwich.

So you still have it. So could you call, could you look at the lost and found? And they do. They go, hold on. And they ask lost and found. It's amazing. Do you do voiceovers for cartoons? I've done them for Bubble Guppies. Bubble Guppies? Yeah. I can't.

That's so awesome. I could listen to that voice all day. Yeah. Well, Rachel and I... This is when Jessica talks to the wall in the middle of her set. She'll turn around when the audience is annoying her and say things to the wall, like weird admissions of things

that I don't want to start doing your act, but there's no more funny thing in the entire world. I would cry. It's so funny. You would cry. I do cry.

Well, are you on tonight, Jessica? Yes. Yeah, I have a show in five minutes around the corner. You can go with her if you want. There's a friend's table

on the back. I'll walk you over there if you want to go yeah I want to go okay so we'll end with that Nora do you have anything you want to plug or promote oh I mean

well you guys all have really fun things to promote if you guys want to listen to Sold in America Insider Nation Sex Trade that's a great podcast there's also a documentary on Hulu

and then if you want something lighter the Barneys Podcast season three you're going to meet eight incredible leaders pushing our culture forward. Okay, great.

And as for me, you can follow me on, whatever. You can follow us at livefromthetable on Instagram. On Instagram. And also,

if you have any comments about the show, it's podcast at comedycellar.com. Thank you, and we'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank you, and we'll see you next time. Thank you.