In-Conversation with Mo Amer

Mo Amir is an Arab-American stand-up comedian who appeared as diner owner Mo on the hit TV series Ramy. Amer and Ramy Youssef continued their inspirational comic creations by putting the Kuwait-born star front and centre on the series Mo; the hit Netflix show which aired earlier this year. Mo is loosely based on the Kuwait-born Amer’s personal recollections of growing up as a Palestinian refugee in Texas, Houston. Amer’s family left Kuwait during the first Gulf War in 1991 when he was nine years old. In his late teens, it dawned on him that he could take the mishaps of his own life and turn these seemingly awful experiences into comedy gold. The manner of his observational comedy, especially on race-related issues and the way he spun his yarns as political satire made him a pioneer in Arab American comedy. Since 2006 he has been part of the Muslim comedy collective Allah Made Me Funny. In 2018, following years of stage success, he debuted The Vagabond, a one-hour stand-up special. Then came his appearances on Ramy and Mo. He’s now ventured into movies with an appearance in Black Adam alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He’ll be on-stage recounting his circuitous life story for a very special Red Sea IFF In-Conversation.