![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/b2bd73d112d6fbd357b9f695757612bc19-ramy-zohran.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
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\n Was this worth locking up our phones for two hours? You bet.
\n Photo: Amir Hamja.\n <\/p>\n
Long before Ramy Youssef came out on stage at his June 28 show at the Beacon Theatre, a palpable buzz swept through the room. Scattered throughout the auditorium were figures of note: Youssef\u2019s Mountainhead<\/a> co-star Cory Michael Smith ran across an aisle to greet a friend, while SubwayTakes\u2019s<\/a> Kareem Rahma<\/a> stood on the far end of the room holding court. Cynthia Nixon and her family sat in the middle of the orchestra, the former gubernatorial candidate and current double HBO star standing to talk with people around her. Behind me, someone whispered, \u201cI feel like he\u2019s gotta be here,\u201d and immediately it was clear who he was talking about<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was no obvious sign of New York City\u2019s surprise Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani<\/a> was present, but his presence was felt nonetheless. Over the course of Youssef\u2019s set, reminders of Mamdani\u2019s victory and the memory that something unexpected \u2014 something possibly quite good \u2014 had happened in this city had the audience giggling and roaring in equal measure, like laughing gas was being pumped through the room. That\u2019s why, perhaps, it was of no great surprise but no less excitement that when at the end of Youssef\u2019s set, he spoke about two things that left him hopeful at the end of this week. Right on cue, he brought out Mamdani and the audience leapt to their feet.<\/p>\n Mamdani had held court at Brooklyn Steel and various mid-sized New York venues, but the near-3,000 seat Beacon reacted as though he was the main event. (Later in the evening, Mamdani would make a cameo appearance at Barclays<\/a> to a crowd of more than six times that.) He ran through some of his campaign\u2019s most salient talking points \u2014 New York should be affordable \u2014 while Youssef granted him the space to soapbox after a quick word of advice: \u201cNo islands. When they invite politicians to islands, you gotta say no,\u201d he warned. Mamdani put his hand on his heart and agreed he would refuse any island invites.<\/p>\n There remained still the other thing that Youssef alluded to \u2014 the second moment that left him hopeful in the past week. He got choked up in his introduction, moved to a point of stammering reverence, before welcoming out Mahmoud Khalil<\/a>, the recently released Columbia University alum and new father<\/a> who\u2019d been detained by ICE in Louisiana from March 8 until June 20 for exercising his right to free speech about the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Once again, the audience jumped to their feet, the standing ovation outlasting the love the crowd had just given Mamdani. A woman behind me repeated \u201coh wow,\u201d even as everyone took their seats again, as a man with keffiyeh a few rows ahead brushed tears out of his eyes.<\/p>\n Though Khalil opened by promising he would not try to be funny, there was a surprising lightness to his affect, a beaming smile and warm eyes. Khalil spoke in praise of Mamdani\u2019s campaign \u2014 \u201ca man so principled it\u2019s a wonder ICE hasn\u2019t tried to arrest him,\u201d he joked (to which Youssef told him he could do a set if he wanted) \u2014 and Youssef\u2019s comedy crusade. \u201cOur joy is an act of resistance,\u201d Khalil said, saying that it was one of many things this administration wanted to take away. With his arm around Mamdani, Khalil said that Tuesday\u2019s victory gave him hope as well, that he wanted his son to grow up in a city where a man like Mamdani could be mayor. \u201cMy hope is that your son will grow up in a city where he is free to speak,\u201d Mamdani said. It was an undeniably emotional moment \u2014 a twofold homecoming for men who had fought hard for what they believed in the face of systems that tried and failed to hold them back. The three men \u2014 \u201cbrothers,\u201d as Youssef called them \u2014 held each other, and took a picture in front of the crowd. The show had required participants to lock up their phones. \u201cI know none of you can take this picture,\u201d Youssef taunted as the three men configured themselves on stage, \u201cso we\u2019ll do it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, when the crowd poured out onto the humid streets of the Upper West Side, people chattered and murmured as the Beacon\u2019s staff unlocked their phones. \u201cI told you he\u2019d be there,\u201d a woman said to her boyfriend. \u201cIt has never felt this good to be right.\u201d<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n