Mohammed in Texas

Mo Amer is at his best when he is translating the exhausting cultural friction of being an Arab-American refugee who grew up in the suburbs of Houston. This friction shows up physically, whether he is demonstrating the proper circular motion required to scoop hummus or acting out the agonizingly long, polite greetings of Arabic shopkeepers. His style is conversational and deeply expressive, utilizing sudden shifts in tone and accent to highlight the absurdity of modern assimilation.

Filmed in his hometown of Houston, Texas, and released in late 2021, the special caught Amer at a transitional moment in his career. He was preparing his autobiographical sitcom Mo for Netflix and shooting the superhero film Black Adam alongside Dwayne Johnson—who makes a surprise appearance to introduce him on stage.

Amer spends the first chunk of the hour addressing the chaos of the pandemic, reflecting on his divorce and the corporate push to keep capitalism running while citizens struggled to pay rent. The set occasionally runs into some logical snags when he boasts about performing in packed pandemic crowds with Dave Chappelle, only to immediately admit that he caught COVID-19 twice during those tours. But he finds firmer footing when he shifts to personal storytelling, detailing airport bag etiquette and his first trip to Palestine to visit his family’s ancestral village near Nablus.