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Promotional art for Wild World
Cover image credit: via TMDB

Wild World

Mo Amer

Netflix · 2025 · 53 min

A seasoned storyteller handles TSA madness, new fatherhood, and global expectations.

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Mo Amer’s third Netflix special begins with a promise to himself that he immediately breaks. After swearing he would never bring back his signature Arabic catchphrase “biteezak,” he admits that the word has followed him everywhere, usually shouted by well-meaning fans on the streets. Recorded at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., the set shows a comedian finding his footing under a level of geopolitical expectation few of his peers ever have to shoulder. By 2025, Amer was carrying a massive profile following the critical success of his award-winning, semi-autobiographical Netflix series, Mo, which concluded its run earlier that year. The pressure of being one of the most prominent Palestinian-American voices on television during a time of intense global focus is a quiet undercurrent of the set, though he spends much of his stage time focusing on more domestic absurdities. He spends a long stretch detailing his wife’s pregnancy, during which he claims to have suffered all the sympathy symptoms, experiencing morning sickness, nausea, and weight gain while his wife happily jogged and did yoga. That pregnancy saga culminates in a home birth attempt pushed by a wealthy friend named Denise, ending with Amer calling an emergency audible for an epidural at the hospital. The hour also targets the bureaucratic insanity of modern air travel. Amer details how the TSA’s strict, mathematical obsession with the size of shampoo bottles, regardless of how much actual liquid is left inside, has driven him to the brink of madness. Directed by Amer himself, the special represents a pivot toward more personal, lived-in storytelling, balancing the weight of his public identity with the sheer silliness of navigating married life, fatherhood, and airport security lines.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Calling out DJ Khaled for his silence on Palestine while reviving the Arabic slang catchphrase 'Biteezak'

    Opens the special expressing frustration that Khaled, as a fellow Palestinian, remains silent on the war, joking about hate-following him on Instagram and his 'side titties'.

  2. Performing at a Houston pop-up and meeting an older white Southern woman named Myrtle

    Amer describes his surprise at redneck support for Palestine, recounting Myrtle doing research on the Nakba and Jesus being Palestinian, and wanting to bring her as a defense against gotcha media questions.

  3. Texans living in Palestine, Texas getting confused by the news

    Act-out imagining two local Texans misunderstanding international news about Palestine, thinking it refers to their town and wondering if Jesus was Texan.

  4. Being profiled and having the police called on him in Louisiana in 2003

    Recounts a woman reporting him as a terrorist situation solely because his legal first name is Mohammed, pointing out the absurdity and the town's crack problem.

  5. Calling out Jerry Seinfeld for dismissing Palestine

    Counters Seinfeld's public remarks about not caring about Palestine by asserting that he cares about everyone, referencing Festivus, simpler times, and the public trusting Ms. Rachel over The New York Times.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Carlinesque philosophical riff on the nature of time closer

    Waxes lyrical about time being limited and the importance of leaving the world better and spending time on what matters with loved ones rather than being 'ahead of my time'.

How it plays

Tone
Fearlessly honest, timely, emotional, provocative, and comedic.
On stage
Combines Southern charm and streetwise acuity with high emotion, warmth, and an impressive range of accents from both the American South and the Middle East.
Pace
Passionate and animated, alternating between blustery rants, shouting, vulnerable reflection, and warm conversational storytelling.
About
Palestinian identity and heritage, The war on Gaza and free speech, Fatherhood and childbirth, Airport security and TSA encounters, Post-9/11 Islamophobia and being named Mohammed, Reflections on time

What the critics said

Praised by critics as a timely, passionate, and fearlessly honest hour where Amer balances the personal and political, serving as a warm and comedic advocate for peace.

In the room: Enthusiastic and engaged, cheering at cultural and political affirmations while reacting strongly to opening callouts.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: deadline.com, broadcastprome.com, scrapsfromtheloft.com, rottentomatoes.com, decider.com, newyorker.com, letterboxd.com, imdb.com, npr.org.

Backstory

Reflecting on his identity as a Palestinian-American refugee from Kuwait raised in Texas, the onset of the October 7, 2023 war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, free speech debates, and the personal milestone of becoming a father to a 21-month-old son.

Details

Released
Taped
Warner Theatre, Washington
Runtime
53 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Mo Amer
Topics
Before
Mohammed in Texas (2021)

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