Comedian and Poor Things star Ramy Youssef made his Saturday Night Live debut last night and quickly won audiences over with his clever and compassionate monologue.
The star of Hulu’s Ramy kicked off the evening by noting, “this is an incredibly spiritual weekend. We’re in the holy month of Ramadan, tomorrow is Easter, and yesterday Beyoncé released a new album. There’s just so many religions celebrating all at once.”
Youssef, who is Muslim, discussed celebrating Ramadan and his love for his community. He commented on the upcoming election, took shots at both Biden and Trump, and suggested that the next president should be a trans woman.
“I’ve been thinking about her. I really have, like, imagine her speech. It would be so inspiring. She’d be like, ‘A lot of politicians talk about change.’ Like you can see the bumper sticker, right? Like, ‘Real change,’” he quipped.
Youssef ended his monologue by riffing on prayer, noting that all he feels he can do right now is pray for those who need it. This includes one friend who is in a custody dispute over his dog and another friend who has family trapped in Gaza.
“So that night I go to pray and my prayers are … complicated. I’ve got a lot to fit in. My God, please, please help Ahmed’s family. Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine. Please.”
He continued, “And please free the hostages, all of the hostages, please, … And while you’re at it, I mean, you know, free Mr. Bojangles. I mean he is, he’s a beautiful dog. I’m praying for that dog.”
Youssef has been outspoken in calling for a ceasefire, wearing a red pin at the Oscars in support of Artists4Ceasefire, a movement of creatives calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In a red carpet interview with Variety at the Oscars he said,
“We’re calling for immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza. We’re calling for peace and lasting justice for the people of Palestine, … It’s a universal message of, ‘Let’s stop killing kids. Let’s not be part of more war.’ No one has ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea. To be surrounded by so many artists who are willing to lend their voices, the list is growing. A lot of people are going to be wearing these pins tonight. There’s a lot of talking heads on the news, this is a space of talking hearts. We’re trying to have this big beam to humanity.”
(featured image: screenshot/NBC)
