Bikya Masr sat down with up-and-coming comedy star Ramy Boraie to discuss his comedy routine, other acts in Egypt and where he gets his inspiration. Bikya Masr: How did you get started in comedy? Ramy Boraie: I was 16-years-old when I first really became serious about writing. I always wanted to be the funny guy in the room since grade 3, I felt it helped make me a more social person. In high school I was on our school Improv team which really got me working harder on the whole performing and writing stage. In improv you really have to think on your feet and that is one of my best assets as a comedian because I use it to interact with crowd and feel the flow of the room to maybe adlib on a joke and make it better. In 2007 Axis of Evil came and had this whole little audition thing and my friend Paul Alfaris called me up and told me about, I went first and they seemed to like me, Maz Jobrani said “I got a future in this and really gotta just keep working because I am on to something” and since then I have been working harder and harder at being a better comedian. BM: Who or what was the inspiration? RB: I loved reading biographies as a kid to see how people made. I particularly loved reading about Jim Carrey and Mike Myers. I wouldn't call them my inspiration in terms of material but more as how they really made it. My friends are my greatest inspirations having people constantly around me that I try and make laugh is not the easiest tasks. My best friend Mike Sinclair is truly one of the hardest people to make laugh and that is constantly my goal. I think the English comedians in Egypt work together well and help inspire each other to be funnier and writer better jokes. My main writing partner here is Mo' Love and I couldn't imagine working with anyone else, he is hands down one of the most naturally funny people I know. BM: Would you describe yourself as Canadian, or Egyptian? RB: I am both, I know that is a cop out but frankly it's the truth. I have Egyptian blood in my veins but a Canadian state of mind. Growing up my whole life in Canada it's kinda hard to wrap my head around some of the social norms in Egypt, but at the same time having Egyptian parents they made sure I never forgot my roots or where I came from. Canada was a great country to be raised in because they had organizations like “The Egyptian-Canadian Society of Ottawa” which my dad was President of for a year or two. I would always bring my Masr Flag with me when I went to school events and my parents had Arabsat in the house so I was never to far from Ahly-Zamalek matches. Answering that question is pretty much impossible because when it comes down to it I am Egyptian-Canadian. BM: How does that work into your comedy? RB: Being Egyptian-Canadian is my comedy. At first all my jokes was just about my life in Canada but no one in Egypt really cared about what I did in Canada unless it related to being Egyptian. Once I realized this writing became a lot easier it was all about finding the comedic flaws in our day to day life in Egypt, while also raising questions like why is this acceptable. Lately I have been trying to write just about life because when you beat down on the Egypt system and what not you start generalizing and when you do that you instantly polarize the crowd. I always have to ask my Fiance Passant “is this too offensive?” “would people laugh at this?” “can I say this?”…so I am lucky to have someone who can look me in the face and say “no, Rami that isn't gonna work” or “No, Rami that's just not funny.” BM: Where do you think Egypt is in terms of comedy acts today? RB: Comedians in Egypt are blowing up and I gotta say some of these guys are hilarious. Everyone knows George Azmy frankly he is a great guy and just a really good writer. I love his work and if I could do jokes in arabic I would hope they were close to being as good as his. I really like Mohammed Salem he is also a nice guy. Ali Quandil is a really friendly guy I haven't seen him perform because I was backstage at Hysteria (a Stand Up show held on February 19th, 2010) but I really thought he was a pleasure to work with. I enjoyed Moataz Attallah when I saw him last year but I don't know him and some of his jokes I couldn't really understand so all I can say is I liked his baby joke. Those are the only four arabic comedians I really like. I find some people are stealing jokes and just translating them into arabic which causes me to just get annoyed, people are paying money to see you perform the least you can do is write something funny. The english comedians in Egypt are a small bunch who are the people I am closest to. They make up some of my Best friends here like Mo' Love and Hashem El Garhy, I don't think people give us the amount of respect we deserve for how hard we work on our material. It isn't easy walking up in front of a crowd of people who might not understand what you are about to say and just perform. There is this whole divide happening between English and Arabic comics and frankly I don't know why, I have no problem working with Arabic people and I can't see why they would have a problem with us. This whole “khaleha 3raby” thing is annoying and frankly needs to stop. BM: Is there money to be made in comedy in the Middle East? Are you getting rich at this? RB: I am not in this for the money, yes I get paid to perform but I don't want to ever think of this as a job. This is what I do to escape the pressures of life in Cairo from College to driving, this is my escape. Money is never an issue, I have a quote that I think it is fair, I pretty much ask for the money I deserve for the amount of work I am putting into the show, other than that I am not in this for money but getting some never hurt. BM: With the political climate in Egypt, how do comedians deal with those restrictions, as we know a lot of Western acts are very political? RB: Why bother is the better question. Sure we know there are problems, sure we know it isn't perfect but nothing is. America has a two party system which basically dictates your thoughts on everything. We all know there are problems here but frankly we know the consequences that can come from saying them out loud so find a clever way to hint at it without flat out getting yourself in jail. I love politics and follow it closely but when it comes to the middle east I just reserve all thoughts to myself because I haven't been here half as long as most people so who would want to hear my opinion. I am a spoiled brat who moved here and I am gonna complain about the state of the country, man I don't know about you but that would piss me off if I had some foreigner come to Canada and just ridicule the whole system after living there for like 4 years. BM: What does the future hold for you and what are your goals as a comedian? RB: I hope the future is good, I look forward to performing more and more in Egypt and the Middle East and maybe even Canada or the US this summer. I really hope that the respect for local English comedians grows a little and we get a little bit more recognition for the amount of work we put into it. My goal is for people to come and have a great time and at the same time think a bit about life here. I love Masr and want nothing more than to see us recognized and supported more locally. BM
