The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Ramy Youssef on Telling an American Muslim's Story on "Ramy"

Episode Date: September 7, 2020

Comedian Ramy Youssef discusses "Ramy," his Hulu series about a Muslim-American millennial in New Jersey navigating the challenges of faith, community and everyday life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Rami Yusuf, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.

Good. It says too much distance, but I feel like we should have been closer, but it's what we're going to do? I'mthink you're actually lucky that we're not closer because I'm such a big fan of the show that I would have been one of those noseating fans who would have been asking you too many questions. I would have been all over you. Because like, I remember when Rami first came out. First came out. A few people were to'nigh. A few people were. A few people were thi. A few people were thi. A few people were thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th th th thi. I thi. I thi. I would thi. I thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th th th th thi thi th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I would thi. I would thi. I would thi. I would th preaching to people, you gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami, you gotta watch Rami. And now, I mean, it's widely accepted, yeah, Rami is much, must watch viewing.

What has that journey been like for you from going, you know, creating a show about a Muslim millennial in New Jersey, and the Muslim world as a comedy, you know, to now being a show, a show, a show, a show, a show, a show, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, thi, and, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, to, to, to, to, to, th., th., th., th., th., th, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th., th., and, th., and, to, and, a, to, to, to, to, a, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to now being a show that people just go like, yeah, yeah, this is normal because it, let's be honest, it wasn't normal like a few years ago when you decided to do this. No, and it still really shocks me. Like, there are definitely moments where people are talking about the show, it's getting a lot of recognition, people are excited about it, and I'm like, guys, this is a show about like an Arab Muslim dude that watches too much porn. Like I can't believe that this many people are looking at it. The thing that's probably most

overwhelming is the international love, because I think like here it's like awesome, you know, whatever we got publicists and all this, but for me when my aunt calls me and she's like Egypt's watching the show and I'm like have you seen it and she's like not yet and I'm like thank God but but she's like I hear the kids are watching and I'm like good it's just let them watch it that's that's really special. I think what I found special about the show and and this is probably what connects to so many people is it's not just the story of an Arab Muslim kid growing up in New Jersey it's also the story of a story of tholome of th. the th. th. th. th. th. I I I I the th. th. I th. It's the th. It's the thus. It's th. It's the thus the story the story thi. It's the story the story the story th. thi. It's the thi. the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the story the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I I I I I I I I's th. I is is is is is not. I is not th. It's not thi. It's not thi. It's not thi. It's not thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the the the the the th Jersey. It's also the story of a community that for so long has been seen through one lens. Man, you take us into a world where we see human beings, we see the complexities of Islam, you know, we see the complexities of different generations and how they relate to the religion and then the cultures that

come. Like that's not an easy thing to do. Was there ever a part of you that was afraid to either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either either to the to to the to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be. to bea. to bea. to bea. to be. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, the, their, their, their, the, their, toe.e.e.e, to, the, te you that was afraid to either tell the story incorrectly to an outside audience or piss off the inside audience? Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the tightrope walk that we're constantly walking with this show, because we haven't really had any chance at seeing ourselves on screen in a story that doesn't involve explosives or national security, to your question about, was I nervous, where I'm really nervous? Because I know that Muslims are such a vast group of people, there are many communities, like, people even say, like, what does the Muslim community think about your show? And I'm like, it's not, it's not a pop band.

Like, there are a lot of different Muslim communities,, it's not just this one thing. And so, we, you know, kind of made the choice pretty early on that, like, we're not going to try and check all the boxes. You know, this isn't a census. This isn't a totality of something that can't be encompassed, thatee thii. this is just the story of this family. And we're really gonna kind of humanize them by watching them deal with their problems in the way that everyone does.

What makes the show successful for me is that it follows the golden rule of telling a story and that is showing the human beings who exist within the story. What I loved was how even in your story, you know the rummy that you play, when he went to Egypt, he himself realized that he had stereotypes and connotations of his own family in Egypt in a way that he didn't even realize.

To take it to Egypt and then have like an Egyptian family who are fans of Donald Trump, and all of America is going, Donald Trump's the worst president, and here you have Arabs somewhere in the world saying, this guy is the best guy, even though he wants to ban all Muslims. Why was that so important for you to do? I remember being in the back of a cab in Cairo in 2015, and this guy just being like, he's a strong man. And I was like, whoa, all right, I think we're just used to dictators, and he just kind of matches the vibe. But he's not, but he's is is is is not, but he's he's he's he's he's not, but he's not, but he's not, but he's not, but he's not, but he's not, but he's not, thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, I's, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, I, I, I. thi. thin, I thin. thin. thin. thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin. thin. thin. th he's not. And I think most of us feel that on a certain, you know, with a certain clarity.

And I think something that I really wanted to do in making a story about a family we hadn't seen before was, I wanted to be clear that I'm not trying to make something that's some sort of like PR hit to make us look good and make it seem like, hey we deserve to be in this country, give us a shot to to to to to their to their th...... And, th, th, th, th, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thr-a, thr-a, thr-a, tho, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thr. And, thr-a. And, to to to to to to to thr-a. And, to thr-a. And, thr-a. And, thr- deserve, we deserve to be in this country, give us a shot, like, look how cute we are on Rami on Hulu. That's not a real portrayal. That's, that's like propaganda in and of itself. You know, for me, it's how do I make something that is challenging my character that is putting him in situations where he's seeing his own biases, he's seeing his flaws, and that really gets highlighted when he goes to Cairo.

Because I think the show is more about someone trying to fill the gap between who they want to be and who they actually are, than it is a show about Muslims. I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the breakout stars of your show, of the show. And one of those characters has to be Steve. You know, we meet your best friend in the show who's in a wheelchair and already, you know, from TV and movies we've watched, we think we have an idea of who this person should be, but he's like a full-fledged character in that like, there's times when we like him, times when we like him, times when we don't for him, times when we forget that he has a disability. Tell me a little bit about how he came to be in the show and why you felt it was so important for him to get his own show.

Well in terms of him getting his own show, that was just straight up him bullying me into it. He was like you have the power to produce something now and this is going to be the first there for me. But, you know, I've known Steve since we were in third grade. You know, we grew up five minutes from each other. We went to school together. We actually learned how to make things together in high school. And I think what was really exciting for us in the show is so many times in sitcoms, you see an ethnic best friend. And in this show, we're predominantly with an Arab cast that's speaking Arabic, and we're

like, all right, I guess we're going to have to have the white best friend. But it was really funny to kind of pitch him as the white best friend. And he also has muscular dystrophy, but really what he is, is he's the white best friend. And also in a show where the is very rooted in something where he's like well why would I believe that if this is how I have and then in making something for him what's really cool is again flipping this idea where okay now we have in my show I think he's a disservice I love my show and I'm also like we don't do enough for him. He's just the disabled best friend. I want to make a show where what would it look like where able-bodied

people are the side characters and now we get to flip this again and we get to see a totally wholly new perspective. And so we're putting together, we're developing the show with Apple and so yeah it's a world that we're really excited to crack open. Well, I'll say I've thoroughly enjoyed your journey, man from being a comedian that some people spoke about like in word of mouth to being a Golden Globe winner and now stepping into it once again three-time Emmy, three-time Emmy nominee, best director, best acting and then obviously with Mahershila Aliz makes it three for Rami. Congratulations on everything and thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thanks man, so good to see you.

The Daily Show with Trevanoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. to the Daily Show. And subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.

But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.