Palestinian-American comedian Mohammad “Mo” Amer is a Kuwaiti-born, Houston native. As the “first and only Arab American refugee comic to perform for US and coalition troops overseas,” he has earned internationally acclaim with shows all over the world. Legends like Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart have toured with Amer as their opening act.
However, Amer has much more on his resumé than just opening for legends. In fact, among other stand-up shows and events, he has his own Netflix special, called VAGABOND.
Mo Amer learns from Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart
After the death of his father, 14-year-old Amer found himself on the verge of a truancy charge in Houston. A teacher made him a deal: he would give the monologue from Shakespeare, and she would reinstate his grade. She also allowed him to perform stand-up comedy in front of the class.
With this support, Amer graduated. He then entered Houston’s comedy club scene. In 1999, he made it to the finals of Houston’s Funniest Person Contest, and that kickstarted his career. He got started in Houston, and then launched his international career performing for the US military. He proceeded to perform in the Allah Made Me Funny tour, the Islamic Relief Evening at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, and the Global Peace and Unity Event in London, just to name a few major events.
In 2015, Amer began touring as an opening act with Dave Chappelle. He calls their friendship (“and brotherhood…”) “spiritual.” The two toured with Jon Stewart as well.
“In the Muslim faith, you only know someone if you travel together, do business together and bunk together,” Amer says regarding Stewart. “I just love him to pieces.” Amer has also appeared on The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert and joined the cast of Hulu’s Ramy as Ramy’s cousin Mo.
Making laughs from personal experience
Amer draws extensively on his own life and experiences as a Muslim Arab-American refugee in his comedy. “It’s incredibly important to me to shed light on those struggles and support refugees, because look what I’ve done,” says Amer. “I want kids that have experienced the same kind of uprooting and having to leave for a completely different country and start over, and lose their families, to see that it’s not over.”
His childhood in Houston was “very, very tough,” Amer tells NPR, full of gang violence and intense periods of adjustment as his family moved from Kuwait to Houston. His father temporarily disappeared, and died when Amer was 14. For nine months, his mother left the family as well.
“I’ve experienced so much prejudice all around the world travelling as a refugee,” says Amer. “Seeing how people talk to me, when they see my ID and see my name and how their attitude shifts, I get it.”
While not themselves funny, Amer draws on these experiences to make his jokes all the more biting.
Amer now lives in LA with his Mexican-American navy-grad wife, and step-daughter.
A taste of the humor of Mo Amer
Due to the pandemic, Amer has paused putting out new material. But, he has plenty of material out already to keep fans entertained. Catch him on Seasons 1 and 2 of Ramy and keep an eye out for “a top-secret somethin’-somethin’ he can’t talk about quite yet,” according to Vanyaland.
Watch Mo Amer: The Vagabond on Netflix here
