By Selome Hailu
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Elizabeth Sisson / HBO Ramy Youssef has set his third HBO comedy special.
Premiering on April 17, “Ramy Youssef: In Love” was filmed at the Hideout in Chicago and directed by “The Bear” creator Chris Storer. The official logline for the special states that Youssef “playfully engages with the audience as he approaches a vast spectrum of personal topics, both hilariously relatable and genuinely serious, all while doing so with the belief that you can find light and hope in all things if you just try to see them through a lens of love. Whether it’s his marriage, being a dog parent, AI, or religion, Ramy comes at everything with his own brand of heart and humor.”
In a trailer for the special, a narrator says, “He’s the most famous comedian to not do the Saudi comedy festival.” Onstage, Youssef says, “I didn’t do that, because I wasn’t invited. My wife, her whole family’s in Saudi. I go there anyway. I’m the only guy in Hollywood that loses money going to Saudi Arabia.”
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In another joke, he discusses the use of AI on social media. “You guys are seeing what’s happening on Grok? Any picture of any woman, they’re turning it into porn,” he says. “I thought of one defense. Really, the only thing that could help would be if all women wore all black, but only through the eyes —” he trails off as the audience laughs, understanding his reference to the niqaab, a face covering garment worn by some Muslim women. “For years, I’ve been going, ‘Why do they make them wear that?’ And now, it’s become clear. This was a prophecy.” In an Egyptian accent, he continues, “‘Salma! I will never let them Grok you!'”
Youssef’s first HBO special “Feelings” debuted in 2019, followed by “More Feelings” in 2024. Besides stand-up, he is best known for his comedy series “Ramy,” which ran on Hulu for three seasons from 2019 to 2022. He is also the co-creator of Mo Amer’s Netflix series “Mo,” which ran for two seasons from 2022 to 2025, and the creator of the Amazon Prime Video animated comedy “#1 Happy Family USA,” which premiered in 2025, and in which he also voice acts. In 2023, he starred in Yorgos Lanthimos’ film “Poor Things,” and in 2025, he starred in Jesse Armstrong’s HBO film “Mountainhead.”
“Ramy Youssef: In Love” is produced by Youssef’s Cairo Cowboy banner and is written and executive produced by Youssef. Storer, Tyson Bidner and Josh Senior also executive produce.
“Ramy’s third HBO special feels like a homecoming — for him, and for us,” said HBO’s executive vice president of late night and specials programming Nina Rosenstein in a statement. “He has this rare ability to make a room feel like it’s just you and him and then uses that closeness to say something that catches you completely off guard. Filming inside a small, Prohibition-era bar in Chicago only deepens that intimacy — it has a lived-in, timeless quality to it, and the result is a special that feels completely and unmistakably Ramy.”
See the trailer below.
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