Latest / It's Open with Ilana Glazer / Kareem Rahma

Transcript

Kareem Rahma · It's Open with Ilana Glazer

• 0:00
  Welcome to It's Open with Ilana Glazer.
• 0:01
  I just came off an interview that I could have kept going and going and going.
• 0:05
  So I love celebrating New York City, but what feels especially precious to me is celebrating the people who give it its soul.
• 0:13
  Today I am honored to have the opportunity to interview Kareem Rama, who's an icon of the city and its transit.
• 0:20
  Kareem is best known for Subway takes where he captures human and hilarious moments that reflect the diversity of New York and keep the meter running, which is coming back, which celebrates local culture through the lens of New York City cab drivers and the places that they love. He's an Egyptian American comedian, host and creator who isn't just documenting the city, but also shaping how its people are seen and heard.
• 0:43
  Please join me in welcoming the one and only Kareem Rahma.
• 0:52
  Hello, how are you? Hi, good. So I'm really thrilled to be entering this YouTube space with you.
• 1:02
  I feel connected to you, and the more we become friends, I'm like we were friends when we were 11.
• 1:07
  That's really beautiful.
• 1:07
  I feel the same way, and I'm glad you feel the same way, because if I only felt that way, I know it would be really creepy.
• 1:14
  And I know, and I think putting oneself out there the way that we both do, people do think that they know us and also if one is authentic the way that I'm going to claim we both are. They do know us.
• 1:26
  To.
• 1:27
  An extent, but in just talking about doing subway takes and I don't know what it takes to break through following your nose for what is true and real, you can always count on.
• 1:42
  Yeah, I mean, I always talk about how cliches are cliches because they're true, and so going with your gut is something that you hear all the time.
• 1:50
  Be yourself is something you hear all the time. And people are like, eh.
• 1:53
  And I'm like, no, people use that cliche because it is the absolute truth.
• 1:59
  It's awesome to be able to get to be myself for all these people.
• 2:05
  And obviously it comes with a lot of challenges and you find yourself, you're looking in a mirror and you're like, do I like the person that I see?
• 2:13
  And the mirror is unfortunately a phone and it's like, do I like the person that I see on these videos or do I not?
• 2:20
  And so it's kind of a gut check because I've watched videos of myself and I'm like, I don't like what I said.
• 2:27
  And.
• 2:27
  Not because it wasn't funny, but because maybe it was too rough or too mean or too unkind or something like that. You know what I mean?
• 2:35
  And so it's always a work in progress of feedback loop.
• 2:39
  What you're illustrating here though, is taking the time to reflect, which doesn't always happen.
• 2:44
  I think a lot of people don't even just take the time to reflect, unlike what they're putting out there and relating it back to their private true selves.
• 2:54
  It's just so cool to hear you say that because hard to watch yourself.
• 2:59
  Yourself too. Sometimes I'm like, it's out there and I'm done.
• 3:01
  It's really hard to watch yourself, and that is probably the worst part of the gig in my opinion.
• 3:06
  Which is why for Subway Takes, I felt so thrilled to see me edited in a way where I was like, that's exactly what I meant. Yeah.
• 3:14
  I mean, we try to do that.
• 3:14
  There's zero gotcha in it, and it's hard sometimes if it's a difficult subject the person's trying to say because at the same time, also, it's really weird to see the comments sometimes because they're so serious.
• 3:31
  And I think sometimes people forget that it's a comedy show.
• 3:33
  And.
• 3:34
  Also people are like, oh, he didn't agree with that person. And I'm like, literally, most of the time don't care if we should get rid of balloons.
• 3:46
  It's not that.
• 3:47
  Balloons that serious.
• 3:48
  To me. I don't think about balloons, but I have an option to a hundred percent agree or a hundred percent disagree.
• 3:53
  And.
• 3:53
  I choose the one that I think is going to have a better conversation and dialogue.
• 3:57
  And.
• 3:57
  I think the a hundred percent agree and a hundred percent disagree, the reason that those are the only percents is to discourse at the moment.
• 4:06
  Where.
• 4:06
  There is no gray area. People either disagree or agree with each other, and it's to show the absurdity of that it's a joke.
• 4:14
  You.
• 4:14
  Know what I mean? My response is a joke and it is the disconnect.
• 4:18
  And sometimes I want to explain to every person watching the show.
• 4:21
  This.
• 4:22
  Is a joke, but it's like I'm getting more comfortable with letting the work just be what it's, and hopefully the people that get it get it. And the people that don't get it, maybe somebody tells them how to get it, and then the people that just don't like it won't like it.
• 4:40
  And that's okay with me.
• 4:41
  Right, because I'm even thinking about the suit. It's not a joke, but it's a costume.
• 4:45
  Yeah, yeah.
• 4:46
  And.
• 4:47
  It's gotten more professional though.
• 4:48
  Okay, copy that, but.
• 4:49
  I am going to work.
• 4:51
  When.
• 4:51
  I put it on.
• 4:52
  Truly. And it also is setting a context. It is a professional context, and you are performing a version of yourself as a character.
• 5:00
  And fun fact sunglasses on as a way to essentially preserve some of myself for moments like this.
• 5:07
  Where.
• 5:08
  I'm really just purely Kareem at the moment. And if I'm in a movie, I'm doing a different guy. But when I have the sunglasses on, it's subway takes, and this is a version of Kareem that is meant for conversation, rapid, funny conversation.
• 5:27
  I call it the most sophisticated show about the stupidest subjects.
• 5:30
  That's what I try. That's what I'm trying to do in every episode, just like we're having a sophisticated conversation about something so fucking stupid. Can I cuss on here?
• 5:36
  Probably. And it's open.
• 5:39
  It's.
• 5:40
  Open for cussing.
• 5:40
  Yeah, for sure. Well, you have this astute, a sense of American discourse, I feel, because you are a prototypical American, which is an immigrant.
• 5:55
  You came here at seven years old and you were born in Cairo, Egypt, which is just so fucking cool.
• 6:01
  Is it? Yeah.
• 6:01
  Yes.
• 6:02
  It's pretty cool.
• 6:03
  I grew up on Long Island and I came to New York City and anywhere outside I think of, you know what I mean?
• 6:07
  It's, I'm a provincial New Yorker.
• 6:10
  I'm just like, that is so fucking cool.
• 6:10
  Do you remember it your early childhood?
• 6:15
  My dad moved to the States in 1969, and this was a time where we were landed on the moon and there was not a lot of immigration as we see it today. It was kind of niche.
• 6:27
  It was a niche vibe.
• 6:28
  And where did he go in America? He.
• 6:30
  Went to Minnesota. He spent one week in New York and was like.
• 6:33
  Nope.
• 6:34
  I'm out. He wanted the America that he saw in the movies.
• 6:37
  Which.
• 6:37
  Was the great wide open.
• 6:37
  And so he came here in 1969, lived a life, went back to Cairo, met my mom in 1985.
• 6:48
  Oh, wow.
• 6:49
  And they had me, I think they came back.
• 6:54
  I was inseminated, no, not inseminated.
• 6:54
  I was conceived. Conceived.
• 6:59
  Conceptive.
• 6:59
  I was conceptualized.
• 7:01
  I was conceptualize, conceptualized, and then conceived.
• 7:03
  I was conceptualized and conceived in Minnesota, and then they went back and had me there in Cairo. Wow.
• 7:09
  Oh, and right, right, right.
• 7:11
  I'm a naturalized citizen, which I never, ever, ever thought of the difference of being an American born citizen and a naturalized citizen, but I'm the same as a person who came here at 17 and was naturalized.
• 7:26
  Do you know.
• 7:26
  What I mean? But it's like, it's never been like, I'm an American citizen, it's fine.
• 7:31
  But now in the rhetoric of Trump and the party, it's like there's a difference.
• 7:38
  Like.
• 7:38
  A US born citizen versus naturalized.
• 7:40
  Citizen. And.
• 7:41
  For the first time in my life I'm like, oh, my passport is a little less valuable.
• 7:45
  Than.
• 7:46
  A real American passport.
• 7:49
  But so for the first several years of my life, my brother was born there and my sister too in Cairo. So we were back and forth.
• 7:57
  We were ping ponging between Minnesota and Egypt. God, essentially everyone kept every time we had a baby, it was born in Egypt, and then we'd stay for six months, nine months a year, and spent summers there.
• 8:09
  And so my life, it was both places.
• 8:13
  And I have a couple of really distinct memories of growing up in Egypt.
• 8:19
  And I have a couple of really distinct memories of growing up in Minnesota.
• 8:22
  And it's really cool to be able to draw on both.
• 8:26
  I have this climbing on rooftops, stealing guava from my neighbor's tree in Egypt and getting in trouble for that.
• 8:37
  And then I also have my first time going in the snow with my sister.
• 8:42
  And.
• 8:42
  Wearing a full snow suit that.
• 8:44
  Is so beautiful.
• 8:45
  Until eventually we stopped going every summer because it was too expensive to schlep.
• 8:50
  Five.
• 8:50
  Bodies over a.
• 8:51
  Hundred percent.
• 8:53
  And that's when we moved into our permanent home and we lived in a nice suburban environment. Before that we were living in triplexes apartments, kind of trying to make it, and my dad, I think, cobbled together enough money to buy us a house.
• 9:08
  It was a worse house on the block.
• 9:09
  But it.
• 9:09
  Was in a nice neighborhood.
• 9:11
  Was there an Arab community in Minnesota for you?
• 9:19
  I see such a prominent Arab community and Muslim community in Minnesota.
• 9:24
  Did you find that or was this part of the assimilation to not assimilate with that group?
• 9:30
  No, no. We were involved. There was the Egyptian American Society of Minnesota.
• 9:34
  There was probably 1500 to 2000 families across the state, which is not a lot, but also not nobody.
• 9:41
  So we did have Egyptian friends and they would come over for Thanksgiving, and it was really fun.
• 9:47
  I personally never made friends.
• 9:52
  I just never met someone that really felt like a friend until college.
• 9:57
  And that's really when I found, so I went all through high school and middle school and elementary school without any real Egyptian or Arab friends.
• 10:06
  And then in college I found my people.
• 10:10
  And something we were laughing about recently was the similarity between cites.
• 10:15
  Which.
• 10:15
  People don't, I guess people who aren't Jewish or aren't Arab don't realize that we are Semitic people. I mean, we're seeing threat history and certainly right now with Israel and Palestine, the pitting against each other to serve some higher level leaders or something, people who are holding a minority of control. But we're so similar.
• 10:41
  I mean at, I mean, have my hair slicked back today, but I want to talk to you about your hair haircare. But before that, what's your response.
• 10:48
  About the haircare?
• 10:48
  No.
• 10:49
  I'm just kidding.
• 10:50
  That's going to be a whole thing, so I need to know.
• 10:52
  I mean, it's funny, I grew up watching Seinfeld and was just like, oh yeah, I get it. It's a very Jewish show.
• 11:03
  But when I was watching it, I was like, I get these jokes. Ha. It felt the same.
• 11:08
  And I think there is this DNA in both Jews and Muslims, and I wouldn't even say Muslims, I'd say Arabs in general, the Arab humor, sense of humor, and the Arab kind of way of living is so similar to the Jewish way of living.
• 11:26
  And.
• 11:26
  You step into that Jewish household or that Arab household, and it has that similar warmth, that similar temperature.
• 11:32
  Eat, eat, eat, eat. I'm not hungry. Eat.
• 11:35
  Yep. I'm sorry about your dad's early passing.
• 11:38
  I will say in terms of young men, I shouldn't encourage their fathers to die, but having a father pass away, it just like you're going to die soon even if you're.
• 11:53
  21.
• 11:54
  And I think that.
• 11:55
  It sets that fire.
• 11:56
  Seeing your own mortality as a man at a young age, I think, I guess it could go one of two ways.
• 12:03
  It could make you tough and hard or it could make you really soft and vulnerable. That's right. I feel like that's what, it made me more motherly.
• 12:10
  Because.
• 12:11
  I was then taking care of my mom and my family and I felt more like, I don't know, more like a man in a good way.
• 12:18
  Yeah.
• 12:18
  I read in one of your substack pieces about how it felt like you were watching yourself die and how your friends who are men who haven't, whose dads are still alive.
• 12:30
  They have this youth and naivete to them and it makes sense. And it's, so what you say about the being open that is a choice or an act of will to go down the path of openness, softness, and embracing your divine feminine leadership inside to know how to move forward.
• 12:52
  I think most young men don't think about death, and that's why there's a lot of problems.
• 12:58
  It's like it's just not top of mind, but when you see your dad die, you go, oh, I'm not invisible.
• 13:05
  And.
• 13:06
  Actions have consequences and you're going to die too. And it's weird.
• 13:10
  It's like a leveling up of consciousness at an early age.
• 13:15
  But embracing death is a way to embrace your humanity.
• 13:18
  Which.
• 13:19
  I feel is so connected to your work.
• 13:21
  It's just so clear that you wanted to connect to people.
• 13:25
  Yeah, I think it's the most important thing. I mean, I've always, from day one of moving, especially to New York, I've never really been like, oh man, this place is so big.
• 13:39
  I've always had the opposite.
• 13:39
  I feel like it's so small.
• 13:43
  And when I go to other places, I am like, this place is so big. I'm a stranger.
• 13:47
  But.
• 13:47
  I'm sure if I lived in London and made a bunch of friends and really connected with my barista or my sandwich person or whatever, that it would also feel like a small town.
• 13:57
  And I think that's a big life hack is just getting to know the people around you, Laughing, having a good laugh.
• 14:08
  And I think that is an Egyptian thing or something I saw in Cairo is my dad was friends with the, the que is a word for a guy that irons your clothes and the guy that irons your clothes is friends with the guy that owns the little shop down the street.
• 14:25
  And my dad would sit in front of the guy ironing the shop the gie and smoke cigarettes with the owner while the sons were ironing.
• 14:34
  And I just was like, oh, my dad's friends with these people that he only sees them once a year, but when he comes, it feels like home because he has these pals.
• 14:45
  And I just think that that was a lesson that it just maybe came really naturally to me to pick up on that it was a life hack to make life feel less alone.
• 14:57
  And real when you And.
• 14:59
  Fitted.
• 15:00
  Yes. And when you know the people around you and know the people in, it's the diversity.
• 15:05
  The diversity of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, background, living situation that makes you feel connected to the whole world.
• 15:15
  Because.
• 15:15
  Especially in New York, I mean it's so diverse here that we can sort of touch the whole world just in this city. I feel like I know you, I've been watching you for years, but in preparing for this interview, doing the real research, everything really made sense.
• 15:28
  You seem to feel like you were behind or something in 2012 when you moved here, but I don't know.
• 15:36
  I guess I moved here in 2005 and I started doing comedy in 2006 when I was 19. And I get it. That's.
• 15:42
  Awesome. But.
• 15:43
  It's funny, this catch freak for you.
• 15:46
  I was grasping at straws.
• 15:47
  But it was exactly what it was supposed to be.
• 15:49
  And I needed that.
• 15:50
  Yeah.
• 15:50
  I needed to find, because what I felt like happened is that I lived my thirties and my twenties because after my father passed away, I went, responsible, must make money, must make career, must find wife. I was like, I'm going to be a man.
• 16:09
  And so when I came to New York, I came for all the wrong reasons, which was that I was like, I'm going to be like Mark Zuckerberg or I'm going to be a famous rich entrepreneur.
• 16:21
  On the cover of Forbes really did not work out for me because I'm not that kind of person.
• 16:28
  I felt like I was cosplaying as a CEO for so long or as an entrepreneur. But I also had jobs. I worked at Vice, I worked in the New York Times, I got married. All these things happened even.
• 16:40
  In that era. So even you burst onto the scene and you're working at Vice.
• 16:44
  I wouldn't call it bursting.
• 16:45
  It just seems that way.
• 16:46
  I had friends.
• 16:47
  Yeah, it seems this way. It seemed like you were here to take life by storm, and now I'm seeing sort of in the wrong ways.
• 16:54
  No, but I was taking life by storm, as in I was like, I'm going to come and I'm going to make an impact. So.
• 17:00
  That was your corporate work.
• 17:02
  So.
• 17:02
  Then what was the switch for you and also in concordance with separating from this person you were initially married to?
• 17:09
  Yeah, so the big thing happened, I was always comedy curious.
• 17:14
  I did UCB 1 0 1 improv, I think the third year I was in New York.
• 17:19
  And I was like, I'm going to get better at being in front of people.
• 17:23
  I was already good at it, and I could tell in one-on-one that I was really good.
• 17:27
  And I was like, that's cool.
• 17:27
  And then I met this person, I don't want to talk shit, but she was like, I would never be with an actor or a performer. Wait.
• 17:35
  Meaning she's like, I wouldn't.
• 17:36
  She was like, I wouldn't be romantically involved with an actor.
• 17:39
  And you were like, I'm done.
• 17:41
  I'm.
• 17:41
  Done. That thing.
• 17:42
  Yeah. I was like my mom and dad and everyone I know is like, this is not a career.
• 17:48
  So she almost reaffirmed the belief that that is a fake thing, a lottery ticket. It's not stable.
• 17:58
  And there's a masculinity thing there where it's like, that's not like a real man or something. A MAs job. Yeah, yeah.
• 18:03
  Be an accountant, be a businessman.
• 18:05
  And.
• 18:05
  So I was like, you know what? She's right. I'm not going to do that.
• 18:08
  I'm going to continue focusing on trying to build wealth, which didn't happen or all those things.
• 18:13
  And so fast forward to 2020, right before the pandemic 2019, things were on the rocks. And I was like, you know what?
• 18:23
  I'm going to UCB again and I'm going to do everything. So I did UCB, all the improvs. I did UCB, all the sketch. I did B, I'm going to go to college for, I'm going to go to clowning school, not real clowning, but I'm going to be funny school. I'm going to funny college.
• 18:39
  Totally get it. So I went to funny, college pandemic happens and the world stops, and I go, maybe it's time.
• 18:49
  Then I just was committed 100%. And I was like, I have this funny thing.
• 18:55
  I was dating again and I didn't want to be The worst thing in the world is being an old man who's like, I'm an aspiring comedian, dry date, dry girls.
• 19:10
  Yeah.
• 19:10
  Got it. No one's attracted to.
• 19:13
  I feel that.
• 19:14
  30-Year-old divorced.
• 19:16
  I'm getting it. I'm getting a picture.
• 19:18
  I'm getting into comedy. Yeah.
• 19:19
  Cream, the pictures, the paint is flooding in now.
• 19:22
  Yeah.
• 19:23
  Copy that. Okay. And.
• 19:24
  So I was like, I'm a comedian.
• 19:24
  I'm successful. I'm a comedian.
• 19:27
  I see now.
• 19:27
  And I was just like, I really through a series of fortunate luck, hard work, determination, failing, getting up again, failing getting up again.
• 19:38
  Finally it worked.
• 19:41
  And so my first big break was my friend Nico, Nicholas Heller dms me, and he's like, Hey, I think you're really funny.
• 19:48
  Wait, shout out to New York. Nico. Shout out.
• 19:50
  Shout big, shout out.
• 19:50
  New York, Nico. He's so good.
• 19:52
  He's amazing. And he's so good for the city.
• 19:54
  He's so good. He is so good. And.
• 19:55
  So Nico dms me, he goes, I think you're really funny.
• 19:58
  I've always wanted to make a film.
• 19:58
  Do you know how to write? And I go, as a matter of fact, I just graduated from UCB sketch, so I know how to write scripts.
• 20:05
  Hell yeah.
• 20:06
  I know how to write scripts. I know how to write funny scripts.
• 20:08
  Hell yeah.
• 20:08
  He gives me the premise. Ask any of my friends that were there. I was, to me, that was Martin Scorsese calling me and saying, I want you to write a movie for me. I took it so seriously.
• 20:20
  I watched 11 movies in a row, fucking banged out a script in 72 hours, sent it to him. He was like, wow, that was fast. I was like, bro, I'm a serious man. I'm a serious comedian.
• 20:32
  Wow.
• 20:33
  This.
• 20:33
  Is my job. Here's your script.
• 20:33
  And we ended up making that movie.
• 20:38
  It got into Tribeca. Yes.
• 20:40
  That was the first time I was at a coffee shop and somebody's like, oh, you're the guy from Nico's movie.
• 20:44
  Wow. Felt And what movie was this?
• 20:45
  It's called Out of Order. It's on YouTube.
• 20:47
  It's about a guy who has to use the bathroom and is unable to find one because it's New York City. He's on his way to a big date.
• 20:55
  And I won't tell you how it ends, but I do have to take my pants off and I take a shit in the Washington Square Park Fountain.
• 21:03
  Copy that.
• 21:05
  But that was my first big break where I was like, maybe I am.
• 21:09
  A genius.
• 21:10
  Maybe.
• 21:10
  I'm a fucking genius. I'm going to do it really quick.
• 21:14
  And then I did keep the meter running, which was my first press.
• 21:18
  Vanity Fair is like, this is the best show on TikTok.
• 21:19
  So keep the meter running is you jumping in a cab and asking the cab driver where they want to go.
• 21:25
  Take me to your favorite place and keep the meter running.
• 21:27
  And keep the meter running. And the episode with Z Run was so exciting because I couldn't believe he did this hunger strike with this cab driver mohamedou.
• 21:39
  To.
• 21:41
  Work through the How would you The.
• 21:43
  Medallion crisis.
• 21:43
  The medallion crisis, I can't even believe how Mohamedou says 12 of my friends died by suicide because of the medallions going up from$200,000 you'd have to owe as a cab driver to $750,000.
• 21:56
  Two over a million. I did 20 episodes and it was like I learned so much.
• 22:01
  And that show came out of the same driving force of, I was driving over the Williams River Bridge in a taxi.
• 22:07
  This is how it came about. And I was having a horrible night.
• 22:13
  I think I was going through another breakup at the time, and I was talking to this cabin and he was so helpful and insightful, and they kind of become therapists every once in a while, a.
• 22:23
  Hundred percent.
• 22:24
  And when he dropped me off, I was like, I wouldn't mind chilling for a bit if you want to. And he was like, I would, but I'll have to keep the meter running. And I walked out of that cab, I wrote down, keep the meter running, show where I hang out with cabbies.
• 22:38
  And then four years later, I think is when we actually did it.
• 22:43
  But you still talk to cab drivers so much, and then the Lyft and Uber changed that dynamic.
• 22:48
  It's a little bit different.
• 22:49
  And then the horrible, the unaffordability and everybody being so tired and stuff, it's just kind of different. But man, that used to be a portal to learn about people and talk about yourself.
• 23:00
  You can just learn a lot about the city that you're in.
• 23:02
  And that is why I love doing it in New York. So we're bringing it back.
• 23:05
  First season is in New York because you can travel the whole world without leaving the city. That's.
• 23:10
  Right.
• 23:11
  And truly.
• 23:12
  Feel.
• 23:12
  Like you are in China or Pakistan or Uganda or Somalia or Russia, wherever it is you want to go.
• 23:22
  There is a version of that in New York City about the people.
• 23:26
  Yeah.
• 23:26
  Dude. So now.
• 23:28
  Hell yes.
• 23:29
  And also for it to go away and then come back even stronger is so exciting.
• 23:32
  We we're seeing that with horrible things, but to see that with a good human centric project is so exciting.
• 23:39
  I'm lucky.
• 23:40
  So when's it coming back and how can we watch it?
• 23:42
  It'll be back in May.
• 23:44
  It took a hiatus because I wanted to, that show was really hard to make a loan, and I spent at least 20 to $30,000 paying for it of my own money. You're paying for, I am paying for the actual meters, and sometimes it's $800.
• 24:02
  I'm also paying my employees or people that are working for me that day.
• 24:06
  I'm paying for the edit. I'm paying for the food that we do or the activities.
• 24:11
  It was so expensive, which is where Subway Takes was born. I was like, how do I do this but not as expensive.
• 24:16
  Copy that.
• 24:17
  I can only do one episode a day and it costs me $4,000, $2,000, $3,000.
• 24:21
  How do I do more episodes of something for the same price?
• 24:25
  And.
• 24:25
  So that's where Subway Takes was born.
• 24:25
  And then I was like, I need to be on tv.
• 24:30
  That's the next, I went short film, keep the meter running feature film or something now available on movie Subway takes. And I was like, I just need to be on tv. How do I figure this out?
• 24:44
  TV is very confused at the moment.
• 24:49
  Oh my God, is it confused?
• 24:51
  It's like a lost boy.
• 24:53
  You.
• 24:53
  Are like, go, go. You need to find yourself and.
• 24:56
  Also take us stand. You know who you are.
• 25:01
  Just reach inside. It has been so.
• 25:04
  I like telling TV to reach inside.
• 25:06
  Reach inside, look in, find yourself again for a second, find.
• 25:09
  You know what you used to be.
• 25:10
  It has been so upsetting to watch tv just sort of melt away into nothingness to try to appease the government.
• 25:20
  Thank God for YouTube.
• 25:22
  I'm really proud of millennials.
• 25:22
  I'm proud to be a millennial.
• 25:25
  And it's like I get served on my search engine, scroll of news.
• 25:33
  I don't know what they're hearing about my pride, but they're trying to cut me down where they're like, gen Z is lazy.
• 25:39
  Millennials are this. And the narrative just keeps disempowering young people.
• 25:43
  And now we're not that young.
• 25:45
  That's what they've always done.
• 25:46
  Always.
• 25:46
  And it's so dehumanizing is our society should be out.
• 25:52
  We should be living in a civilization that is focused on and organized around supporting children and adolescents.
• 25:59
  Yesterday I shot Subway Takes, everyone that is working for me is 24.
• 26:03
  And not because they're more affordable, but because I like their ideas.
• 26:08
  Yes.
• 26:09
  I let them book. I let them pick people. I honestly, really good example.
• 26:13
  Rosa Leah, someone I was not familiar with at all. Oh my God.
• 26:17
  That episode, I was like.
• 26:18
  But I don't know who she is. I'd heard of her.
• 26:22
  She is power. She's a goddess.
• 26:25
  But I send it to the team and I go, what do you guys think? They're like, dude, are you dumb?
• 26:29
  You're like, no, I'm just.
• 26:30
  You have to book Rosalia.
• 26:30
  And I go, okay. I go, okay.
• 26:34
  And.
• 26:34
  It was one of my favorite episodes I've ever done.
• 26:35
  And it was so incredible. Also because you're not geeking in a good way.
• 26:39
  I don't know who she's.
• 26:40
  Right. Yeah. But.
• 26:41
  That's how I feel about.
• 26:41
  Isn't she incredible though, once you met her.
• 26:43
  Dude, an.
• 26:43
  Angel?
• 26:44
  An angel.
• 26:44
  Dripping.
• 26:45
  No, she has this genius. She had Aura. She's Aura maxing.
• 26:48
  Yeah, genius.
• 26:48
  She's fully Aura maxing.
• 26:50
  I totally agree about Gen Z and supporting them. And Jen Alpha. I'm like, I'm excited for you guys, and I want to follow the fucking youth. Guess what?
• 26:57
  That keeps us fucking young. I went out and did standup last night, and the first show was more millennials, but the second show was like LOL, gen Z. I was like, what up my youths?
• 27:05
  I was literally, y'all are so young.
• 27:10
  And I was laughing to them because I, it was obviously a young person who asked me to do their show, and I was like, emailed this person and maybe it'll come together. And it did.
• 27:21
  But then when I was looking on my Google calendar, I was like, what the fuck is this show?
• 27:25
  Who is this? What time was it? What time was it?
• 27:27
  It was nine. And also when I heard that it was nine, I was like, Ew.
• 27:32
  Really? I want the seven o'clock slot.
• 27:34
  100. Honestly,
• 27:35
  I do shows that are 4: 00 PM and other millennials were like, thank God, bitch.
• 27:41
  I do shows that are 4: So I'm like, I don't know. And I told the audience, I was like, I didn't know how the heck I showed up here. But as a New Yorker, please keep doing this. Shuffle me to places that I don't know who or why, but I trust you. I really guess it's a fear of oneself to downplay and disempower the youth. You're afraid of your own limitations, your own mortality as we were talking about before, but damn it is so important.
• 28:06
  I do shows that are 4: Their ideas, the way that they move through their identities and their bodies and the way they think about sex, and talk about sex and food and mental health.
• 28:14
  I do shows that are 4: That was one thing about Gen Z that like Forbes and the Boomers, these Forbes articles that were like Gen Z, I remember this one. Article, gen Z is disrupting the happiness curve.
• 28:26
  I do shows that are 4: Generations getting happier and happier because Gen Z actually sees what the fuck is going on and the profit structure that we're all enslaved to and they don't want to do it anymore.
• 28:34
  I do shows that are 4: And they should opt out.
• 28:36
  I do shows that are 4: And.
• 28:36
  I do shows that are 4: They are opting out.
• 28:37
  I do shows that are 4: And Gen Z being lazy, they want to take mental health days. I'm like, you want a fucking crazy sick person working for you?
• 28:45
  I do shows that are 4: Or being more entrepreneur. They're like, they don't want to work for the man.
• 28:48
  I do shows that are 4: I'm good for them. They shouldn't work for the fucking man. Right?
• 28:51
  I do shows that are 4: They.
• 28:52
  I do shows that are 4: Don't want to pay taxes. Good.
• 28:52
  I do shows that are 4: Why would they want to pay taxes?
• 28:56
  I do shows that are 4: They're not seeing any return on investment, on social programs, on anything which are all being gutted.
• 29:01
  I do shows that are 4: And I just look back at when I was young and I'd be like, God, these fucking old people are so annoying. They're so disconnected.
• 29:06
  I do shows that are 4: They're just so dumb and out of touch. I remember that.
• 29:11
  I do shows that are 4: I'm not going to be that.
• 29:12
  I do shows that are 4: Right. Me neither.
• 29:13
  I do shows that are 4: I'm going to be the cool guy.
• 29:14
  I do shows that are 4: Me too.
• 29:15
  I do shows that are 4: That's.
• 29:15
  I do shows that are 4: Really.
• 29:15
  I do shows that are 4: Cool. I love hanging out with Kareem. He supports me.
• 29:19
  I do shows that are 4: He.
• 29:19
  I do shows that are 4: Supports my vision. He helps.
• 29:20
  I do shows that are 4: But I'm similarly proud to be a millennial parent, and we are both parents of young children, and I think that millennials are just doing it so damn good because a lot of us have had therapy or at least know about therapy, or at least don't shit on therapy if we don't have access or can't get to therapy. How are you enjoying fatherhood?
• 29:43
  I do shows that are 4: I mean, my kid has become the love of my life. So in love with her.
• 29:47
  I do shows that are 4: 100.
• 29:48
  I do shows that are 4: I think I'm more in love with her than anyone I've ever been in love with.
• 29:51
  I do shows that are 4: Totally.
• 29:52
  I do shows that are 4: It's like the first time in my life that if I'm going on a trip, I'm making it as short as possible.
• 29:58
  I do shows that are 4: One.
• 29:58
  I do shows that are 4: I want to come home.
• 30:00
  I do shows that are 4: 100.
• 30:00
  I do shows that are 4: It's just weird.
• 30:01
  I do shows that are 4: 100. I go on tour for two days at this time and I come home, I can't.
• 30:04
  I do shows that are 4: But by the third day I'm like, why am I alive?
• 30:06
  I do shows that are 4: People are always like, why aren't you staying in LA longer? I'm like, well, I have a job. It's this day and I'm leaving immediately after the job.
• 30:12
  I do shows that are 4: I want to be around my kid.
• 30:13
  I do shows that are 4: Yeah, okay. Can we talk haircare?
• 30:15
  I do shows that are 4: So.
• 30:16
  I do shows that are 4: In my research, you bursting onto the scene in 2012, but I did not realize it was only so recent at 2020 and then 2022.
• 30:24
  I do shows that are 4: Holy fucking shit, Kareem. But in 2012, your hair's like buzz.
• 30:28
  I do shows that are 4: It's shaved. He's like a.
• 30:30
  I do shows that are 4: Oh, when I came, yeah.
• 30:31
  I do shows that are 4: Yeah. When I.
• 30:31
  I do shows that are 4: Immigrated to New York.
• 30:32
  I do shows that are 4: Yes. And I'm literally like, who is that? I can't even tell who it is.
• 30:37
  I do shows that are 4: When did you decide to let your curls come out?
• 30:40
  I do shows that are 4: Well, growing up in Minnesota, I wouldn't say ashamed, but I was like, I don't like those.
• 30:44
  I do shows that are 4: And so I get it. When I moved here, I had this nice fade, very sexy, and I looked at it and I've been like, damn, should I get that back? But I don't know if it works anymore. It was partially.
• 30:59
  I do shows that are 4: The curls are the shit, dude.
• 31:00
  I do shows that are 4: But it was partially a strategic move. I felt forgettable.
• 31:04
  I do shows that are 4: I felt like my face was forgettable.
• 31:06
  I do shows that are 4: So the fade helped people remember you?
• 31:08
  I do shows that are 4: No, the curly hair did.
• 31:10
  I do shows that are 4: 100. Yeah.
• 31:11
  I do shows that are 4: Great. It was a thing where I'm in New York in a teeny tiny little fish.
• 31:16
  I do shows that are 4: No, 100.
• 31:17
  I do shows that are 4: Teeny, tiny little fish in the world's biggest pond.
• 31:20
  I do shows that are 4: 100.
• 31:20
  I do shows that are 4: And I would have to do the thing where I'm like, oh, we've met before. Oh, we've met before I met you here.
• 31:25
  I do shows that are 4: And this is not even what I'm trying to be a comedian.
• 31:27
  I do shows that are 4: This is just regular life.
• 31:29
  I do shows that are 4: Business guy. Just.
• 31:30
  I do shows that are 4: Regular stuff. And I was like corporate.
• 31:33
  I do shows that are 4: Business guy.
• 31:33
  I do shows that are 4: Corporate business guy. And I was like, I just want people to remember me a little bit more, which is so depressing, but also was the truth.
• 31:40
  I do shows that are 4: And also as semis, we look like half the city. We literally do.
• 31:45
  I do shows that are 4: It's.
• 31:45
  I do shows that are 4: Not like if we don't have this. Yeah.
• 31:47
  I do shows that are 4: If you're not a forgettable person, we just literally, it's like ethnically ambiguous, ambiguous age, whatever. That makes sense to me.
• 31:53
  I do shows that are 4: It.
• 31:53
  I do shows that are 4: Could be Puerto Ricans, could be Italians, could.
• 31:55
  I do shows that are 4: Be juice hundred, it could.
• 31:56
  I do shows that are 4: Be be Arabs, could be fucking Spaniards.
• 31:58
  I do shows that are 4: What are you?
• 32:00
  I do shows that are 4: There's a little bit of that.
• 32:03
  I do shows that are 4: We.
• 32:03
  I do shows that are 4: Are the melting pot.
• 32:04
  I do shows that are 4: I dunno what the hell I thought I was doing with my hair when I was a kid.
• 32:06
  I do shows that are 4: And also it got these sad haircuts at kids' cuts.
• 32:09
  I do shows that are 4: And they would blow it out and then cut it, and then I'd leave the children's salon and it was like, what's happening?
• 32:15
  I do shows that are 4: You cut somebody else's hair. It was like, I guess.
• 32:19
  I do shows that are 4: Angular. They made it angular.
• 32:21
  I do shows that are 4: They made it a straight cut, Bob. So then when it got frizzy and curly, it was as though I was a secretary who worked all night and I'm leaving the office. It was That's cute. So bad.
• 32:30
  I do shows that are 4: I mean, I guess I was a little kid.
• 32:33
  I do shows that are 4: It was fine. But then when I got older and was also ashamed of my hair, I would straighten it.
• 32:37
  I do shows that are 4: That wasn't really working.
• 32:39
  I do shows that are 4: I was laughing with my brother the other day.
• 32:42
  I do shows that are 4: Our hair texture was to straighten it. It was just straight.
• 32:47
  I do shows that are 4: There was no movement.
• 32:48
  I do shows that are 4: For sure.
• 32:49
  I do shows that are 4: And with specifically Broad City, I would say starting the web series, it was like, this is distinguishing Abby and I, our different hair from each other.
• 32:57
  I do shows that are 4: And then when we started making.
• 33:00
  I do shows that are 4: So similar thing, you want to.
• 33:02
  I do shows that are 4: Stand.
• 33:02
  I do shows that are 4: Out, make an identity.
• 33:03
  I do shows that are 4: And clarify and distinguish who I am in the context of this project.
• 33:08
  I do shows that are 4: And then when we started the TV show and had hair and makeup, it was a whole fucking thing. And I love my curls.
• 33:17
  I do shows that are 4: And actually since Broad City and more recently, and I guess also since having a kid in your hair changes and stuff, and I'm like rubbing fucking hair oil in my scalp. I'm like, please, please, please stay. I've also been doing this thing of loading my hair with product, pretty much any product, oil or cream.
• 33:30
  I do shows that are 4: And then slicking it down really.
• 33:35
  I do shows that are 4: And then letting it dry over the course of the day.
• 33:37
  I do shows that are 4: And then I'll finger it out and I'll have different looks throughout the day because my hair is changing.
• 33:41
  I do shows that are 4: That's cool.
• 33:42
  I do shows that are 4: What's your hair process?
• 33:44
  I do shows that are 4: Yeah.
• 33:44
  I do shows that are 4: I had no process for a long time and it's been slow moving where every once in a while somebody, usually a black woman or a brown woman will be like, oh, you should do this thing.
• 33:56
  I do shows that are 4: Or I'll be on set and I'll learn a new trick from someone.
• 34:00
  I do shows that are 4: Recently I was on set with some Japanese groomers. Is that what.
• 34:06
  I do shows that are 4: I think?
• 34:06
  I do shows that are 4: They called for men groomers, Japanese groomers.
• 34:09
  I do shows that are 4: And they did this thing that I've never seen or done before, but I'm like, these guys are genius. So.
• 34:13
  I do shows that are 4: They do.
• 34:13
  I do shows that are 4: He just had a really wide tooth comb.
• 34:17
  I do shows that are 4: And.
• 34:17
  I do shows that are 4: He didn't pick it out. But he lifted.
• 34:19
  I do shows that are 4: Yes. He just.
• 34:20
  I do shows that are 4: Lifted.
• 34:20
  I do shows that are 4: Yes, yes.
• 34:21
  I do shows that are 4: He lifted the curls and.
• 34:22
  I do shows that are 4: I was like off the scalp. Oh.
• 34:23
  I do shows that are 4: I've never seen that before.
• 34:24
  I do shows that are 4: Get some air in there. Let it try. Yes.
• 34:25
  I do shows that are 4: Thank you. King.
• 34:26
  I do shows that are 4: Yes. But.
• 34:27
  I do shows that are 4: So my haircare routine, very simple. I don't use leave in conditioner, but I leave in conditioner. Understood.
• 34:36
  I do shows that are 4: So I haven't shampooed it in at least I had to say like three years.
• 34:40
  I do shows that are 4: But I put conditioner in and I rinse out as little as possible.
• 34:45
  I do shows that are 4: Same, fully same. And then.
• 34:46
  I do shows that are 4: I just leave it. And then I do now the little lift.
• 34:49
  I do shows that are 4: Yes. Wide tooth combed is our friend.
• 34:51
  I do shows that are 4: Yeah.
• 34:51
  I do shows that are 4: A wide toothed comb is our friend.
• 34:53
  I do shows that are 4: A wide tooth. That sounds the name of a new podcast.
• 34:57
  I do shows that are 4: Our haircare.
• 34:57
  I do shows that are 4: Hair. Podd. But yeah.
• 34:59
  I do shows that are 4: Okay. Kareem. It turns out that we're really good friends and always have been.
• 35:04
  I do shows that are 4: And I could talk to you for fucking ever, but I think there's actually more we didn't cover, but maybe you'll come back because I don't know.
• 35:12
  I do shows that are 4: I think I needed this lightness today.
• 35:14
  I do shows that are 4: I'll come back.
• 35:15
  I do shows that are 4: I could go dark and heavy with you too.
• 35:17
  I do shows that are 4: Dark and lovely.
• 35:18
  I do shows that are 4: Dark and lovely.
• 35:19
  I do shows that are 4: That was the name of the stuff I used to straighten my hair with.
• 35:21
  I do shows that are 4: Nice straighten.
• 35:22
  I do shows that are 4: Like chemically destroy.
• 35:25
  I do shows that are 4: Copy.
• 35:25
  I do shows that are 4: Dark and lovely from Walmart.
• 35:27
  I do shows that are 4: Okay, well I'm glad we're not doing that anymore. It doesn't work. Okay.
• 35:30
  I do shows that are 4: My fellow millennial and millennial parent. Thank.
• 35:32
  I do shows that are 4: You so much. Thank you everyone.
• 35:36
  I do shows that are 4: Oh my God, that was so good. That was so good.
• 35:38
  I do shows that are 4: That gave me life and sauce and juice, and I hope it gave you the same.
• 35:43
  I do shows that are 4: I want to thank Kareem Rahma for coming and talking to me today. And this show, it's open with Ilana Glazer, does not occur alone.
• 35:50
  I do shows that are 4: It takes a whole ass tribe to make happen.
• 35:52
  I do shows that are 4: So I want to thank my creative producers, Annika Carlson, David Rooklin, Kelsie Kiley, Glennis Meaghar and Madeline Kim. I want to thank our editor, Tovah Lebowitz.
• 36:02
  I do shows that are 4: I want to thank the people who made this show look and sound so beautiful today.
• 36:07
  I do shows that are 4: Louise Nessralla, Rebecca O'Neill and Kevin Deming.
• 36:10
  I do shows that are 4: I want to thank Raymo Ventura for making the graphics, making it fucking branded sick, and the opening musical sting, which we love.
• 36:17
  I do shows that are 4: And I want to thank the band Don Hur for this outro music.
• 36:21
  I do shows that are 4: Thank you so much and like subscribe and join this community.
• 36:25
  I do shows that are 4: I'm so thrilled to be here with you.
• 36:27
  I do shows that are 4: Thank you for joining me and let's keep going together.