You GOTTA Have FAITH

As he wraps 19 MONTHS of WRITING, DIRECTING, PRODUCING, and STARRING in the third season of his acclaimed eponymous TV series, RAMY YOUSSEF looks back on the BIG QUESTIONS that led him to BIG LAUGHS

AS TOLD TO NOJAN AMINOSHAREI

IN THE ERA OF PEAK TV, it can be hard to remember that television comedy once hewed to an almost-scientific formula: setup, setup, punch line, laugh track, repeat. Take the thoroughly modern Ramy, the critically acclaimed Hulu show by comedian Ramy Youssef and inspired by his stand-up. In it, a millennial Muslim American wrestles with religion, sexual politics, and identity (and usually finds himself outmatched). The show rejects the formulaic practically as a matter of faith. Or, rather, it explores matters of faith and finds them wanting of any tidy formula. In both form and style, Ramy is beautifully all over the map. It’s meditative and raunchy. It’s about a narrow set of experiences revealing universal truths. Its characters can be loving and messy and downright repugnant—and become all the…

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Harper's Bazaar (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2022

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