Laughing Through the Arab Spring with Bassem Youssef
Propaganda, Satire, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
In 2011, among the protests in Egypt, Bassem Youssef uploaded a 5 minute episode of a political satire show he and a few friends created. In just a few weeks, it was viewed by millions and he was offered a deal to produce a show picked up by local Egyptian network ONTV. Albernameg became a hit, the first show of its kind in Egypt, and Bassem was dubbed the “Jon Stewart of the Middle East”. However in 2014, the show was suspended. Now living in the U.S., he hosts a new show, Democracy Handbook, and is a regular guest in late night comedy. We talked to Bassem Youssef whose new book Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring discusses the role of propaganda and satire in the making of the modern Middle East.
STRAND: Was there a point in your life when you felt that you became engaged in politics, or was it always a focus for you?
BASSEM: When you live under the same president for 30 years you lose interest. You become indifferent. The 2011 Egyptian revolution got millions of people, including me, interested in politics. I mean, we were aware of politics but we had the feeling that nothing will ever change. In 2011 we felt that we had a stake in this country and anything was possible.
Similarly, do you look at humor as something that has always been a part of your life, or did you come it it at a specific time? Has your humor always been trained on the political sphere?
I think humor is part of everyone’s life, unless you are extremely dull or a sociopath! Humor has always been an outlet. And when you live under oppressive regimes you develop this dark snarky sense of humor. In your mind it will not make a difference but still it is a kind of a passive aggressive resistance.
Growing up in Egypt and becoming a surgeon, you traveled for your education and career before returning — how did your travels and experiences affect your perspective, and how did it translate to your comedy?
As for comedy I actually started watching Jon Stewart in the early 2000s when I traveled to America and that shaped my thinking about political satire. I didn’t understand at first what he was talking about, I needed to educate myself about the American Political structure. What are Democrats, Republicans, and Fox News? As for perspective, I think traveling changed me a lot. It opened my eyes to be more accepting of other cultures, beliefs, and convictions. In that area I believe I was a very late bloomer. It takes time and will to change habits and ideas. I am happy where I am now. I think I am a much more accepting and much less judging person than I was before I started traveling. As a matter of fact, I am a totally different person now.
When you began broadcasting Albernameg from your apartment in 2011, what were your expectations? Did you foresee any international audience for the show, or were you broadcasting with your countrymen in mind?
No, I thought that I will get 10,000 views and maybe after a couple of years, after I get back from my medical fellowship in the States, some producer will discover me. But in less than 8 week I had 5 million views, a TV deal, and a whole new life ahead of me.
Before your arrest and interrogation under accusations of sedition and blasphemy, did you have any sense of what comedy means to the state? How did your experience under Mohamed Morsi’s authoritarian government change how you looked and and performed your work?
Comedy and satire are always a thorn in the side of authority. What makes it work here is that authority is forced to accept it, or at least doesn’t have the power to shut it down. But back in Egypt, the Islamic regime and the military regime are quite similar. It’s just that one of them is more brutal than the other. In the Middle East, tyrants live on fake respect and fear. Someone making fun of them will shatter the very thing that they hide behind. You can’t be afraid of someone you are laughing at. This is why both have very severe reactions to satire. They want you scared not laughing at them.
It didn’t change anything in my work. I knew my days were numbered so I better go out with a bang.
When you came to America after having fled Egypt for Dubai in 2014, did you expect to have as much material as the past year and change have provided?
Like many Americans, I never thought Trump would win. But in the last week leading to elections it started to dawn on me. So now, I think there is too much material actually. Very difficult to compete with this nonsense.
Do you think the current American administration is capable of, or even on their way to, “creating an atmosphere where [they]…accuse people of whatever crazy stuff because of what they say,” as you said of the Morsi government?
Well it is already happening. The atmosphere is there. And because of it people are being killed in their driveways by “patriotic” people shouting at them to “leave my country.” They don’t really have to say anything, their skin color, accent, and names are enough to judge and punish them.
How do you view Democracy Handbook in relation to Al Bernameg?
It is a totally different experience. In Democracy Handbook, I was an outsider, looking at similarities between America and the Middle East and trying to make sense of things that are alien to me: like guns, or Trump. It was a journey of discovery not just for me but for many Americans too seeing it through my eyes.
Meet Bassem Youssef on March 21 at The Town Hall as he launches his new book Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring.
