Mocollaborators Mo Amer and Ramy Youssef parse their shared creative language.
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Spoilers follow for the first season of the Netflix seriesMo.
Its been really rough.
RY:I could have told you that was coming.
MA:I know, I cant help myself!
MA:You didnt know I moved in, but I moved in.
Little bananas with cinnamon because he knew I liked them.
It was kind of an incubator of ideas.
And I remember being like,Whoa, that has to happen.
We pitched this show a month and a half afterseason one ofRamycame out.
How do we jack that up?
MA:And my response is really easy: My whole entire life has been absolute pressure!
Ramy, youve said, Comedy, by design, is a place to explore the subconscious.
MA:I think the father piece was definitely based off of fear for me.
Its so deeply emotional to me and my whole family.
What can loss do to a person if its not dealt with in a really effective way?
It creates this imbalance spiritually inside you, and you start losing yourself.
Thats why I love episode three, Remorse, so much.
It just dives into it: Why dont you do therapy?
Where do you feel safe?
Ramy and I were talking about this with the confessional scene.
Hes trying to avoid the main thing.
Its never at the forefront of media.
Ive been to Catholic church.
When Ramy and I were writing the pilot, it was originally in the pilot.
If he potentially goes to an imam, the imam might tell his mom.
RY:Yeah, that was a big conversation.
If he goes to the mosque, theyre going to tell his family.
So there is something funny about him going to the Christians.
Theyre not going to say anything, theyre not going to talk.
Two birds, one stone.And then next thing you know, he gets rocked.
God got us this far.
Lets believe that this is going to be right.
I think almost every debate could be capped with that.
And so it feels like you dont have that audience piece, but its okay.
Delivering that in the show was very important.
But also, you have other responsibilities outside of yourself on a show and on a series.
You have other characters.
You have origin stories.
It was a scary thing to do because it was such a pass/fail-pop in thing.
How did this happen?
How do you see it?
Its one of those things that until you do it, you dont know how its going to be.
But absolutely I wanted that in there.
To flee war for that.
It wasnt a mass shooting, but he was killed.
God have mercy on his soul.
It was deeply personal to me.
I was just worried about so many different implications.
RY:And thats where I come in and say, Who cares about the implications?
It was going to besomething.
That was really important for me to protect and to ensure that it was in there.
And I knew Mo would be able to pull it off acting-wise.
Mo, youve talked before in stand-up about not knowing the line until you cross it.
We rewrote on set so many times.
We just kept going at it until we got it right.
Theres so much about this show that is from my life, some of it directly.
I think maintaining that thought process and just staying focused in that way will give it so much meaning.
Therefore, there is no line.Oh, did you cross the line on purpose?
Are you trying to be provocative?No, this is just the people youre following: normal people.
In the end, they just want to belong and feel equal.
Episode one, Hamoodi, references the basic Muslim package.
RY:Those are the three!
MA:Thats why I went first.
RY:This is actually where Mo and I are super-aligned.
I dont even need to pretend to be creative, because literally oud was my first one.
Its so funny, I was like,Smells over the mat.
MA:It really is the basic package.
Of career and stuff that related to the series?
MA:Yeah, its in there.
His dad telling him in front of a bus, Look after your family.
Ramy, there is an episode inRamys upcoming third season that was shot on location in Haifa and Jerusalem.
Borders and boundaries come up in both series, literally and figuratively.
Can you two talk to me about how you approach those concepts in your work?
For Ramy, its a nuanced inconvenience.
Mos story sits in the plight.
Not everyones a victim and not everyones a hero.
MA:My entire life has been this experience.
Youre avoiding the elephant in the room inMoif youre not talking about it.
Finally allowed to go back to where I come from is so bold in my mind.
Walls have never worked.
What you resist shall persist.
after you grab a wall up, its not going to resolve your issues.
Its only going to make matters worse.
Creating more separation is not the answer, and creating more understanding is.
But we have to allow ourselves to access other parts of our emotional spectrum.
you could use it for fuel every once in a while, thats fine, to self-motivate.
It can make things a little fuzzy when you’re gonna wanna be clear.
It doesnt mean that you cant be angry, of course.
Its a natural part of life.
But having a good filter for it is also so important.
RY:I also think theres room for both.
You need them so you can arrive here because you need context for the joke.
I dont think anger is a bad emotion.
No one should ever speak on Palestine and deride Judaism or deride a Jewish persons experiences.
Ramy, youve called Mo a melting pot; Mo, you prefer the term salad bowl.
I have a different question: What Middle Eastern dip are you?
And you cant say hummus.RY:Baba ghannouj, baba ghannouj, baba ghannouj in a second.
[Leaves the call.]
MA:Now Im going to get angry!
He really loves hummus, hes just joking.
If he doesnt, Im going to forever let him go.
Not going to talk to him ever again.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
