| Remy Munasifi | |
| Birth Date: | 16 June 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Known For: | Comedy, comedy music |
Remy Munasifi (born June 16, 1980) is an American stand-up comedian,[1] parody musician, rapper and video artist, who became an Internet celebrity after his production of comedic sketches based on Arabs under the name "GoRemy" on YouTube. His videos have gained over 98 million views as of June 2021.[2]
Munasifi was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in McLean, Virginia. He has an Iraqi father who is a doctor,and a Lebanese mother who is a Pilates instructor.[1] Munasifi graduated from the Honors Program at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia in 2002.
He has been to Lebanon numerous times; many of his relatives moved there from Iraq after the Iraq War began in 2003.[1]
Munasifi's comedic alter-ego "Habib Abdul Habib" received much popularity for joking about matters such as U.S. security screening. He is known for a video titled "Arlington: The Rap", which received 300,000 views in less than a day.[3]
In 2009, he signed with the Gersh Agency, and later landed a Comedy Central Records deal.[3] Munasifi has since been the opening act for rapper Wale, comedian Brian Posehn[3] and others.
He has performed several times in the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival.[4] Munasifi's debut EP, titled The Falafel Album, is available on iTunes.[1] The Falafel Album was highly influenced by Munasifi's Iraqi and Lebanese heritage, especially culture and food.[3]
Munasifi's 2011 political spoof video titled "Raise the Debt Ceiling"[5] has over 750,000 views on YouTube. He was interviewed on several national news programs about the content of the song as well as his views about the debt ceiling.
At the end of 2021, with the U.S. government's debt more than double what it was when he released his first track on the subject, Remy put out a sequel.[6]
Since 2010, Munasifi has partnered with Reason TV and the Reason Foundation to create libertarian parody videos.[7]
In 2020, he created a second channel, MTGRemy, which posts parody songs and skits about the popular trading card game, Magic the Gathering.