have mutual friends who can explain what's going on

no we've tried so my my my my dear friend and opener cypher sounds who's like a new york dj legend You know, he's the one who tried to introduce us in 2018 when I released my first special.

I think he was doing SNL at the time and he introduced us.

He seemed cool, but he just wasn't like really interested in the fact that there's a Palestinian on the other side of the entertainment industry starting to do something and and make something.

So it was just kind of weird to me because when you find each other, it's like, hey, buddy, what's going on? It's like, as John Mayer told me, it's like running into an American in China.

You feel like, ah, Palestinian brother, what's going on? It's such a rare thing in the industry.

So I just felt like it was Odd, but also I don't have any expectations of someone, especially after SNL and his wife's there, his kids there.

Maybe.

like,

who's going to do that? I'm just saying I don't want to you know what I mean I'm not gonna I'm not saying anything but yeah definitely no falafel he loved he only ate the falafel and the tabbouleh it was just like a straight veggie situation he's very strict on his diet he's actually like the fact that he had falafel was a big deal actually like fried anything The reason why I know Chris, he's a big fan of the show, big fan of my series.

And I went to his show in California, Coldplay, and he was just so sweet.

He was such a nice dude and such a big fan.

And he literally looked at me.

He was like, can we be friends? I was like, yes.

I was like, yes, yes, you will be my friend and I love you.

How did that feel? What did that feel like?

Hello, Mohammed.

How dare you, Mr. President? Not all of us are named Muhammad.

I mean, yeah, I am.

And according to Google, roughly 150 million are also named Muhammad.

And actually, a fun fact, Chaperone's name is actually Muhammad.

But other than that, it's not all of us, okay? But it's not about me, all right? I'm here to talk about Michigan Senate candidate Abdulrahman Al-Sayed, whose middle name is also Muhammad! But that's not the point.

Abdulrahman Muhammad Al Sayyed had a surprising primary win in Michigan.

But there's nothing wrong with a little Muslim guy.

[laughs]

Let's go grab some hummus and knafeh.

Like, I'm, I'm here.

So it just, it's, uh, you know, that's, that's part of the way of I try to, um, not try, but to, to maintain who I am and where I've been.

Like, I think that, I think that the more that happens around you, people around you change more than actually yourself.

Some people, it does affect them and...

But I, I really feel like, um, that I'm the same person that I've ever been, you know? I, the only thing that's changed is, you know, obviously my environment has changed a, a degree, several degrees.

Mm

Why? Why there?

You know, over the last three years of making my series and to see what's the genocide that's happening in Gaza, and what's all that's transpired over these last three years has been really, uh, unfathomable, and the job of a comedian is to observe what's happening around him and what people are thinking and feeling, and that's all it was really.

It's...

That's part of it, so it's like DJ Khaled, the fact that he is Palestinian, he hasn't said a single word, has not, you know, even uttered like, "Please stop the madness," or, "Thinking of my people." Nothing, and doubled down to just continue to show how luxurious his life is, and how much, like, food he has and exes he has.

It was like really, really wild to see, and it felt tone-deaf.

Like completely tone-deaf, and somebody who's really not aware of what's going on completely, and be- him being Palestinian, it was really jarring to see that.

And again, I'm just commenting what the world is thinking about him.

What does it feel like to see the world stage catch up to your writer's room, and not in a good way?

[laughs]

[laughs] All right.

All right, all right.

[laughs] And that brings me to my final critique.

Islamophobes, do your research, because I have, and here it is.

Muslims invented algebra, hospitals, universities, the camera, even algorithms, just to name a few.

And if you right-wing Christians dislike Middle Eastern people and eating with your hands and teaching people about kindness, I have terrible news for you about Jesus.

[laughs] Woo!

Yeah.

So that was it.

And I just, you know, I think episode A is like an absolute masterpiece.

I feel like I accomplished like a great purpose in my life.

And then going into the stand-up was just a different ballgame.

Yeah.

The stress of...

But

D- uh, when people go there, are they going there with a prayer in mind per se? Are they going there to, like, maybe seek advice or a message? Like, is it both?

I think it's all of the things together.

Like, number one is that you're going there to purify your heart and essentially cleanse yourself.

And so there's things that you follow while you're there, things you can say while you're going around, and there's ways to do that.

But really what it boils down to is being as, like, internal about as...

Like, being really from the heart and having your intention with the divine, you know? That's really, really what it's about.

It's like you can just keep talking to God while you're walking around.

Wow.

Like what, why, what, like, just talk about what made it such a wrenching thing to be making this show that is kind of inspired by your own experience.

Sure, um, well, it took me 20 years to get my citizenship, and I've always been highly, highly sensitive about immigration and, and what it actually takes to get your asylum.

And layered with the fact that I'm Palestinian and no one really understands what that is, and certainly what's happened in the last two years has been, you know, I don't even know how to describe it other than the, the devastation.

Um, and so it comes with an immense amount of responsibility.

Like, how are you gonna tell the story and what are you gonna do in a post October 7th world? And, and do you even jump into that or not? And I tussled with it a lot.

I went back and forth so many times, and I realized that that was like a clear trap, you know? If I did jump into that, it would, the show became didactic, and you really didn't know anything about the characters.

And then I had this vision of taking the family to the West Bank and, you know, and, and that would obviously not work as well.

(laughs)

Right.

What happened after October 7th is just like this big veil has been lifted to show what, that to a mass, mass level, 'cause it's been ha- it's happening for a long time, the occupation itself, what Palestinians endure, the fact that there's an apartheid wall.

Every single, every single, uh, uh, um, you know, uh, respected, um, institution on Earth that makes these judgments are saying this is an apartheid.

The Palestinians can't walk on the street, go in there.

Gaza's been getting bombed for like 19 years before this October 7th attack happened, and yes, it's, it's a horrible thing.

Yes, all of that is obviously ho- it's like a normal human reaction to say, "That is a terrible thing." That doesn't erase as well the 75 plus years of, you know, unfair treatment of Palestinians, apartheid, uh, being occupied under, not even being able to live your life, all that.

So that's been happening, right? So it all comes out to the surface October 7th, and I'm using, you know, clearly like it's very, very important to note this, and I don't want this to be cut out.

Thank you.

You're the product of a lot of contexts.

But also, there's certain things, bro, that'll blow your fucking mind.

The guttural feeling I had when I saw stand-up for the first time, and the journey that it was supposed to take me on, that wasn't the first time.

I thought it was, but it's not.

When I was seven in Egypt, my dad took us to a play.

And the lead of that play, his name is Adel Imam, he's an iconic Middle Eastern actor, Egyptian.

He's like the GOAT of all goats of all comedic cinema and live performance.

Yeah.

Right.

It was just an hour of them trying to figure out what I did for a living.

Uh, the entire hour for real consisted of, "So what is your occupation?" I was like, "Oh, I'm a comedian." He's like, "Comedian?" I'm like, "Yeah, yeah.

I do standup comedy." "Standup comedy?" I'm like, "Yeah, I'm a...

(laughing) I do comedy." "Comedy?" "Yeah, I do...

I'm a comedian." "Comedian." I'm like, "Am I being roasted right now? What's happening?" (laughing) Finally, his buddy walks in, his partner.

He's like, "(Japanese) Comedienne." And he goes, "Oh yeah, he's like a Bill Cosby." And that's what got me off was Bill Cosby.

Wow.

Before you got your citizenship, um, what was your immigration status and how did you travel?

Oh, my God, that, uh, pre getting U- U- my U.S. citizenship, it feels like a dream.

Like, I don't even know how I did it.

You had a refugee travel document that's issued.

They still do this to this day.

It's only valid for a year, which is so difficult, has its own implications, uh, 'cause some countries require at least six months' validity, right? To any, you know, passport or travel document.

It takes four months to get, [chuckles] so you're just waiting forever for it.

Let's listen.

No, really,

because in a moment where I felt so lonely, you were one of the people that I could call and really talk to about this.

And it was very difficult.

And it was very easy once, you know, I spoke to you and I, you know, obviously the writing room was integral to this process.

And I love them so much for having such difficult conversations.

Because we started on April 1st.

We went on strike May 1st.

Now, do you feel like this is completed and now it's off to the races for stand-up and all the other things that you do? Yeah,