He’s set to make his Saturday Night Live hosting debut this weekend, but Ramy Youssef took a break from the show’s marathon week-long production cycle Wednesday night to work out parts of his monologue at New York’s Comedy Cellar.
It’s not unusual for comics appearing on SNL and other shows to drop in at the Cellar to test out material. Youssef himself has a long history with the Greenwich Village institution, having performed there many times over the years.
No word yet on what Youssef’s SNL set will include, but in his new Max comedy special, Ramy Youssef: More Feelings, the comic tackles a number of controversail subjects including religion, the upcoming presidential election and the Israel-Hamas War.
Pro-Israel activists started a letter-writing campaign earlier this month demanding that NBC remove Yousself as SNL host after he called for a cease fire in Gaza on the Academy Awards red carpet, while expressing support for “lasting justice and peace for the people of Palestine.” His message, he said, was, “Let’s stop killing kids.”
Others, including other pro-Israel minded pundits have spoken up in Youssef’s defense, arguing that he is far from a closed-minded idealogue, and that his stand-up (and his Hulu series, Ramy) should be celebrated for trafficking in nuance and gray zones.
Youssef is the fourth standup comic to host SNL this season. He’s also a Golden Globe winner for his Hulu comedy Ramy, and appears alongside Emma Stone in the Oscar nominated film Poor Things.
