Bassem Youssef

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Photo courtesy of Carolina Performing Arts

Bassem Youssef

After decades of religious media censorship, and with a dismal record on human rights, Egypt was an implausible country to launch an edgy political-satire TV program in the mold of The Daily Show. But during the Arab Spring, there was a period where public speech was freer, and when comedy—and criticism of autocratic rulers and Islamic fundamentalism—seemed less hazardous. Bassem Youssef began Al-Bernameg (The Show) as a series of five-minute YouTube videos that ultimately morphed into a top Egyptian TV show, with a viewership of thirty million, a third of the country’s population. Youssef was dubbed “the Jon Stewart of the Middle East” for roasting the country’s leaders, the military, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Then came the pushback: death threats, arrests, and trials for insulting Islam and the president. Since fleeing Egypt in 2014, Youssef’s been building a career as a comedian in the U.S. “I had to rewire my brain not just to do standup, but to do it in a language that was foreign to me,” he told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month. His show is a mix of comedy, autobiography, and political commentary comparing the rise of the right wing in Egypt and America. —Byron Woods