Latest news with #Ramy
Vancouver Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Gavin Matts spends nights in New York comedy clubs and days auditioning for acting roles
Vancouver native Gavin Matts feels right at home in New York. 'I just like the walking and the city life. In terms of being a comedian , it kind of feels the same as it did when I was starting out in Vancouver , when I was going to the Comedy Mix every night and just trying to get up as much as possible,' said the 30-year-old who has called N.Y. home for seven years. Now Matts, who was named to Vulture Magazine's list of ' Comedians You Should and Will Know' in 2024, frequents Big Apple comedy clubs like the Comedy Cellar and Standup NY. 'I'm out every night. So that's pretty much my life,' said Matts, who has been doing standup for 12 years. When he isn't onstage in a club, Matts is busy auditioning for acting roles. He has been in a few short films and shown up in the TV series Ramy and the feature film Easter Sunday. His most notable turn as of late has been as Elliot, one of the writers in the writer's room for Deborah Vance's (Jean Smart) new late-night talk show on the popular HBO (Crave in Canada) series Hacks, which wraps its fourth season on May 29. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'A lot of comedians that I talked to had taped auditions for it,' said Matts about the Hacks' role. 'It's kind of nice to be on the receiving end of, 'Oh, you got that,' because it's happened to me so many times. I've done hundreds of auditions and this is definitely the longest I've been on a show. It's nice that it's a show about comedy on TV.' A show about relationships, Hacks is focused on Vance, an iconic Las Vegas-based standup comedian who is looking to reinvent herself into a relevant voice of the times. To help her freshen her act, she hires Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), a Gen Z comedy writer. The two slowly bond and butt heads. This current season has the two at odds as Daniels runs the writing room for Vance's new show. The show is a darling of the critics and has won multiple Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. 'The show is very funny. (It's) the only show that I'm actually straight-up laughing at that is a narrative TV comedy,' said Matts. 'Just being a part of something that is actually funny is rare … I don't have to lie and be like, 'I like the show,' because I genuinely do.' Matts said while shooting the show and watching Smart, whose performance in the series has earned her a pair of Golden Globes and an Emmy, he had to remind himself he was an actor in the series not an audience member with a great seat. 'I was like, 'Oh yeah, I am having to listen to her as an actor,' ' said Matts. 'She's coming off an Emmy. She had just done SNL, like, two nights before, and she's delivering this monologue perfectly. I had to be like, 'OK, active listening. I'm acting right now, and I'm not just mouth agape,' because I caught myself with my mouth a little open, being like, 'Oh, damn, I get to be a part of this,' which is awesome.' Matts had an early go at film school. But only a few months in, he discovered open mic nights at Goldies Pizza in downtown Vancouver, and he was hooked. Not long after his first open mic, Matts won a radio station contest and got to perform at Pemberton Music Festival opening for the Trailer Park Boys. 'That was three months in, and so I was like, 'That's a sign,' ' said Matts. 'It did move fast. I started getting a lot of spots at the Comedy Mix. That place pretty much changed my life.' Matts went on to become the youngest winner of Canada's SiriusXM Top Comic Competition in 2017 at age 22. He used the prize money to get a visa to work in the U.S. Once south of the border, he was getting gigs, including a spot on Conan. He also landed on the radar of comedy heavyweight Bill Burr. 'I had done a set for Comedy Central when I first moved to the States in 2018, and he was doing a show with them (The Ringers),' said Matts. 'He picked me for that show, and then that's how I kind of started having a working relationship with him. I talk to him here and there. He's always very generous with his time and advice.' Burr and his company, All Things Comedy, produced Matts's debut special, Progression, released in October 2023 and available to watch on YouTube. Matts has also made his own films, including the short film Slice of Life, which is dedicated to the Vancouver gallery of the same name. He is in the 2024 Ethan Godel-directed short film Sleep Talking, which won the Best Short Film Award at the 2025 Canadian Film Festival. In April, Matts was a guest on WTF with Marc Maron , an OG podcaster and very successful standup and actor. Maron can be seen in the Vancouver-shot and Owen Wilson-starring Apple TV+ series Stick, which premiers June 4. 'I look up to him a lot,' said Matts. 'It's such a rare thing to get older and still be current and with it. I think he's one of the few that does a good job at that. I think it's because he's introspective and has empathy for others. I have a lot of respect for him.' Matts is currently busy working on a new hour of comedy, auditioning for more acting roles and pitching his own half-hour comedy show. When asked if he will be coming back to Vancouver to perform any time soon, he said an emphatic no and explained that the current U.S. immigration situation isn't something he wants to mess with. 'My green card has been processing, so I'm just not coming until that is done,' said Matts, who was last here a year-and-a-half ago. Matts, whose comedy leans into the darker corners of existence, says the often-bewildering state of the American reality is sometimes tough to crack wise about. 'I've been thinking about this a lot, and actually had a conversation about it this morning with a friend,' said Matts when asked if troubling times are good for comedy. 'I think that it's bad for me, personally, because I do carry a lot of anxiety around everything going on … It is funny to be like, experiencing what you feel like is a complete economic collapse and total collapse, and then have to be going out every night and being like, 'Haha.' 'I think everybody is kind of feeling the same way as me.' Dgee@
Calgary Herald
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Gavin Matts spends nights in New York comedy clubs and days auditioning for acting roles
Article content Vancouver native Gavin Matts feels right at home in New York. Article content 'I just like the walking and the city life. In terms of being a comedian, it kind of feels the same as it did when I was starting out in Vancouver, when I was going to the Comedy Mix every night and just trying to get up as much as possible,' said the 30-year-old who has called N.Y. home for seven years. Article content Now Matts, who was named to Vulture Magazine's list of ' Comedians You Should and Will Know' in 2024, frequents Big Apple comedy clubs like the Comedy Cellar and Standup NY. Article content 'I'm out every night. So that's pretty much my life,' said Matts, who has been doing standup for 12 years. Article content Article content Article content When he isn't onstage in a club, Matts is busy auditioning for acting roles. He has been in a few short films and shown up in the TV series Ramy and the feature film Easter Sunday. His most notable turn as of late has been as Elliot, one of the writers in the writer's room for Deborah Vance's (Jean Smart) new late-night talk show on the popular HBO (Crave in Canada) series Hacks, which wraps its fourth season on May 29. Article content 'A lot of comedians that I talked to had taped auditions for it,' said Matts about the Hacks' role. 'It's kind of nice to be on the receiving end of, 'Oh, you got that,' because it's happened to me so many times. I've done hundreds of auditions and this is definitely the longest I've been on a show. It's nice that it's a show about comedy on TV.' Article content Article content A show about relationships, Hacks is focused on Vance, an iconic Las Vegas-based standup comedian who is looking to reinvent herself into a relevant voice of the times. To help her freshen her act, she hires Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), a Gen Z comedy writer. The two slowly bond and butt heads. This current season has the two at odds as Daniels runs the writing room for Vance's new show. Article content Article content The show is a darling of the critics and has won multiple Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Article content Article content 'The show is very funny. (It's) the only show that I'm actually straight-up laughing at that is a narrative TV comedy,' said Matts. 'Just being a part of something that is actually funny is rare … I don't have to lie and be like, 'I like the show,' because I genuinely do.' Article content Matts said while shooting the show and watching Smart, whose performance in the series has earned her a pair of Golden Globes and an Emmy, he had to remind himself he was an actor in the series not an audience member with a great seat. Article content 'I was like, 'Oh yeah, I am having to listen to her as an actor,' ' said Matts. 'She's coming off an Emmy. She had just done SNL, like, two nights before, and she's delivering this monologue perfectly. I had to be like, 'OK, active listening. I'm acting right now, and I'm not just mouth agape,' because I caught myself with my mouth a little open, being like, 'Oh, damn, I get to be a part of this,' which is awesome.'
The National
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
One Last Thing: May Calamawy on her biggest pet peeve and the motorcycle ride she can't remember
Egyptian-Palestinian actress May Calamawy needs no introduction. She has been acting since 2006, with roles in everything from Tobe Hooper's Djinn to Madam Secretary. But she probably came firmly on to the radar of television watching audiences for her role as the acerbic Dena Hassan on Ramy Youssef's award-winning series Ramy. Since then, she has entered a rarefied stratosphere of global entertainment, becoming the first Arab superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Layla El-Faouly, aka Scarlet Scarab, in Moon Knight on Disney+ opposite seasoned actors Ethan Hawke and Oscar Issac. Her latest role is in a smaller film, The Actor, based on the novel Memory by Donald E Westlake about a man with amnesia. The film is distributed by Neon, the company behind this year's Oscar dominating Anora. We caught up with her and asked her to answer Luxury magazine's One Last Thing questionnaire. What is your favourite time of day and why? It's the beat before sunset when the sun is still shining but everything feels more still like the sun's excitement is chilling out and it's just being. What is your favourite restaurant anywhere in the world? Naguib Mahfouz in Khan El Khalili, Cairo. When was the first time you realised your parents were human? When I was 22 and my mum got sick. What do you want to be when you grow up? Content. Do you have any hidden talents? I can read minds. Your favourite book? I honestly don't know, and not because I read too much but because I don't read enough. I feel like I need to learn how to sit down and indulge in books again. What type of music can't you stand? Currently, metal. What puts you in a bad mood? The state of the world. What can you not live without? Myself. Dream dinner guests? My mom. Sitting on the sofa or out with friends? Sofa with friends. What smell takes you straight back to childhood? Cinnamon. What food takes you back to childhood? Weetabix, labneh and olive wraps and those ice creams with the gumball at the bottom. Which city do you love but would hate to live in? I'm keeping that one to myself. Can you play a musical instrument? Every once in a while I can play the piano. Have you ever been on a motorcycle? Yes, but can't remember when. Seems like a vague memory when I was a child. Dodgy. Any words to live by? 'Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.' – Marilyn Monroe Biggest pet peeve? When things aren't returned to their place. Do you believe in aliens? Yezzir. What is your favourite Arabic word? Miskeena [editor's note: literally translates as 'needy' but is normally used to imply a mix of empathy and pity for someone.] The most niche thing you watch on YouTube? Obscure animals such as rain frogs or duprasi gerbils. How do you take your tea? White with a cheeky spoon of sugar. What makes you cry? Videos of abused animals learning to trust again. What do social algorithms think you're interested in? Kittens, dogs and pixie haircuts. TikTok or Instagram? Instagram, only because I haven't let myself download TikTok yet, but it would probably be TikTok if I did. What is it about you that would surprise people? I've been learning to horse ride for the last couple of years and love it! What was the last thing you did for the first time? Visit Cambodia.
Arab News
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Ramy Youssef stars in new film by ‘Succession' creator
DUBAI: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman and Cory Michael Smith play four billionaires in 'Succession' creator Jesse Armstrong's HBO film, 'Mountainhead.' For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ As they enjoy their trip, the world erupts in chaos with headlines such as 'Sectarian Violence Escalates in India' and 'President of Uzbekistan Forced to Move to Secret Location' interrupting their downtime. In the trailer, the billionaires receive a call from the President of the United States. 'What could he possibly have to say?' asks Smith. Youssef responds: 'That your platform has inflamed a volatile situation, circulating unfalsifiable deepfakes, massive fraud, market instability.' Armstrong wrote and directed the film, which is a parody of the lives of the ultra-wealthy. Filming began on 'Mountainhead' in March, giving the crew a tight turnaround time before the film's release on May 31. In a recent interview with Variety, Youssef teased the film, saying it's 'funny in the same way 'Succession' is.' Egyptian American comedian, writer, actor and director Youssef is known for creating and starring in 'Ramy' on the US streaming platform Hulu, which won him a Golden Globe in 2020 in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy. His animated series '#1 Happy Family USA' had world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March.
Los Angeles Times
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Nothing's funny about scared immigrants, unless it comes from Ramy Youssef
What happens when the political satire of 'South Park' collides with a Muslim kid's coming-of-age story in post-9/11 New Jersey? You get the animated sitcom '#1 Happy Family USA.' Cocreated and coshowrun by Ramy Youssef and Pam Brady, the A24 production, which premieres Thursday on Prime Video, follows Rumi Hussein (voiced by Youssef) and his family as they navigate the 'see something, say something' paranoia of the early 2000s. The semi-autobiographical story of Egyptian American comedian, actor and director Youssef is at the center of this period comedy where Michael Jordan, music piracy and Britney Spears still dominate the news. Everything is normal in 12-year-old Rumi's world on Sept. 10. He's crushing on his teacher Mrs. Malcolm (voiced by Mandy Moore — who happened to rise to fame in the 2000s). He's tolerating the cluelessness of his Egyptian immigrant parents, father Hussein (also voiced by Youssef) and mother Sharia (Salma Hindy). He's fighting with his oh-so-perfect/closeted sister, Mona (Alia Shawkat). His devout grandparents also live at home, always on hand to make whatever Rumi's doing feel haram. But within 24 hours, the Al Qaeda attacks turn the Husseins from an average dysfunctional family with unfortunate names into a suspected terror cell. Rumi's father, a doctor turned halal cart owner, goes into assimilation overdrive to prove his family is 110% American and absolutely not associated with anyone named Osama. Old Glory, Christmas decor and Easter trimmings suddenly pop up in their front yard. He shaves his beard off. He insists that his wife stop wearing her hijab, which makes Sharia, who is a receptionist for an eccentric dentist (Kieran Culkin), all the more determined to don her headscarf. Meanwhile, Rumi's classmates now eye him suspiciously despite his attempts to fit in with the other boys by wearing his new basketball jersey. But the bootleg 'Bulls' shirt reads 'Balls' instead. It's also three sizes too big and looks like a dress. Clearly he's not like the others. Elements of the storyline mirror Youssef's childhood montages in his Hulu series 'Ramy,' but the medium of adult animation allowed him to 'go wild' with the story and characters. He also got to work with Brady, an authority on pushing animated satire to hilarious extremes. 'Animation became the vehicle for how this idea should live. I wanted to look at a wholly unexplored period outside of the lens of a cop drama or the news … and go to the wildest extremes with premises,' said Youssef. 'I definitely had the desire to make something stupid in a really great, sophisticated and almost Commedia dell'arte way. Just dumb and loud [laughs]. You can put 'Ramy' in a dramedy category and you could, to an extent, put 'Mo' there, but here it's really bursting open in a medium with no limits. Then Pam's name came up and it was a no-brainer.' Brady collaborated with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on 'South Park' from the show's start, going on to cowrite with them the film 'Team America: World Police' and cocreating the Netflix comedy series 'Lady Dynamite.' 'As soon as I saw 'Ramy' and I saw his stand-up, I was a fan,' said Brady. 'I kept begging my manager: 'Please, can I meet Ramy?' So I came at it honestly as a fan, knowing that this guy's doing some next-level stuff. I keep joking with my friends that Ramy's a real writer. He explores characters. That's why this experience has been so amazing because it's pushed me. It's like, 'Oh, this is how you do it.'' Illustrator and executive producer Mona Chalabi designed the characters, each harkening back to animation styles of the late '90s and early 2000s shows like 'Futurama' or 'Daria.' 'I wanted it to feel like a found tape,' said Youssef. 'You pop it in and it looks like it could have been on Comedy Central or MTV [back then]. It's hand-drawn animation and we made it with an animation studio in Malaysia [called Animasia]. It's an all-Muslim animation house, which is so crazy. They were so happy to draw hijabs and all these characters. They were like, 'We relate to it!' But we even downgraded our computers here in order to make it like it would have been made. Whatever we did took a while and it was like the opposite of AI.' Adds Brady, 'We wanted to make sure, especially with the visuals and the direction and the pacing, that the show felt familiar. That you'd seen a show like this before. We didn't want to reinvent the form, but we also didn't want to make it look like 'Family Guy.' So it's like, 'Oh, this show existed in 1998. You remember it, right?'' Though the show takes place some 25 years ago, it's not hard to see the plot's resonance today in the wake of the deportations and roundups of immigrants and students. The Husseins are up against a wave of Islamophobia, triggered by the 9/11 attacks. They embody the very real fear of being profiled by the outside world, including FBI agent Dan Daniels (voiced by Timothy Olyphant), who happens to live across the street. A dark period, to be sure, but also one rich in comedic value if you're willing to go there as '#1 Happy Family USA' does. Its characters break out into song while on the verge of being swept up by Homeland Security, or inadvertently cause a widespread panic by dropping on the carpet at the airport to pray when they learn of the terror attacks. 'We were trying to kind of create this time capsule, like around the old DHS of this moment,' said Youssef. 'But right now is a time when an immigrant family, and surely a Muslim family, would feel the need to shout, 'We're No. 1! Happy Family USA!' Pam and Mona and I have all been looking at each other with like, 'Whoa.' Of all the times this thing could have dropped, it's dropping right now, when [it's hard] to joke about this stuff in any other medium.' At a time when everything feels like a cruel joke, '#1 Happy Family USA' bites back with the satire we need.
