Ramy Youssef
b'As the child of first-generation Muslim immigrants, Ramy Youssef grew up with a sense of practicality about his future. He was drawn to comedy and performing, but he saw no one who looked like him on TV. Add to that the fact that acting isn\\u2019t exactly a pragmatic career path in the first place. \\u201cI had parents who gave up everything to move to America, and I\\u2019m supposed to call them and say, \\u2018Hey, can you pay a bunch of money for me to study the Meisner technique?\\u2019 I didn\\u2019t have the balls to ask that question.\\u201dWhile in college, Ramy developed his stand-up and sketch comedy skills at UCB in his free time while studying political science and economics. He auditioned for a small role in the Nick at Nite series\\xa0See Dad Run, and got the part, and decided to drop out of college and move to Los Angeles. That gig lasted\\xa0for three seasons, and then Ramy got stuck in acting purgatory. According to audition feedback, he wasn\\u2019t good looking enough to be the lead; he wasn\\u2019t nerdy enough to play the nerd; and he wasn\\u2019t \\u201cethnic\\u201d enough to play the ethnic guy. That\\u2019s when Ramy realized, \\u201cYou never know where people are going to put you. It\\u2019s nice when\\xa0you\\xa0get to put yourself where you want to be.\\u201dRamy took charge of his own destiny. He had writing skills, plenty of personal experience, and a unique cultural point of view. What he came up with was\\xa0Ramy,\\xa0his Hulu series based on his experience growing up in New Jersey and coming to terms with his Muslim faith. It\\u2019s being hailed as the first American television show to feature a Muslim family, but more importantly, it throws away Muslim caricatures and depicts rich and complex human storylines about family, faith, and cultural differences.Ramy joins\\xa0Off Camera\\xa0to talk about the moment his parents finally acknowledged he had \\u201cmade it,\\u201d how puberty will be forever linked with global terrorism in his mind, and why stand up comedy makes everything else seem easy.'