RAMY YOUSSEF has been writing comedy about Israel and > Palestine for years. Before October 7, he was touring an hourlong set that included a story about going home with a woman and finding she had an Israeli flag on the wall. "I'm horny, so I'm trying to justify it," he says. "This is the Star of David. That's their logo. It's just Jewish ... Big." Post-October 7, he didn't have to throw everything out and start over, but he knew he'd need to write about it after friends started reaching out. "October 10th, I get a call from a guy I know," starts a joke ten minutes into Youssef's new special, More Feelings. "Yo, bro, where you at with ... Hamas?"" Youssef is defiant: "Where I'm at? ... Are we fucking?" His tone turns serious. "You think any of us like what happened?" he says. "We hate seeing people die. It made me cry." The audience interrupts him, breaking into applause. Youssef returns to the conversation with his friend: "You know me. You think I'm Hamas? Bro, I'm a Taliban guy."
Was this the first joke you came up with after October 7?
That joke was the first thing that came out of a set soon after. I would start by saying, “I’m not sure we’re supposed to be here. I’ve been depressed. This has been really hard.” I would address the Jewish folks in the room, too: “Listen, I know you also have had a really hard time.” There’s so much generational trauma. We’re all sorting through a lot of feelings. It’s why my stand-up has always been called Feelings, because this is a space to do that. And then I’d talk about this phone call I had with a friend and get into that joke.
Denne historien er fra March 25 - April 07, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra March 25 - April 07, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
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THE BEST ART SHOWS OF THE YEAR
IN NOVEMBER, Sotheby's made history when it sold for a million bucks a painting made by artificial intelligence. Ai-Da, \"the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork auctioned by a major auction house,\" created a portrait of Alan Turing that resembles nothing more than a bad Francis Bacon rip-off. Still, the auction house described the sale as \"a new frontier in the global art market.\"
THE BIGGEST PODCAST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR
A STRANGE THING happened with podcasts in 2024: The industry was repeatedly thrust into the spotlight owing to a preponderance of head-turning events and a presidential-election cycle that radically foregrounded the medium's consequential nature. To reflect this, we've carved out a list of ten big moments from the year as refracted through podcasting.
THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - BEST BOOKS
THE BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR
IT'S BEEN a year of successful straight plays, even measured by a metric at which they usually do poorly: ticket sales. Partially that's owed to Hollywood stars: Jeremy Strong, Jim Parsons, Rachel Zegler, Rachel McAdams (to my mind, the most compelling).
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
2024 WAS one big stress test that presented artists with a choice: Face uncomfortable realities or serve distractions to the audience. Pop music turned inward while hip-hop weathered court cases and incalculable losses. Country struggled to reconcile conservative interests with a much wider base of artists. But the year's best music offered a reprieve.
THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR
IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.
THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS
THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.
A Truly Great Time
This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.
The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking
THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.
