Bassem Youssef

The heart surgeon behind the nation’s hit show El Bernameg took satire to a whole new level in 2013, making the Time list of most influential people and snagging an award at the end of the year.

by Noha Mohammed

  Hot on the heels of his success on YouTube and then OnTV, this year has seen the rise of Bassem Youssef as the nation’s best-loved satirist. Feeding off the Mursi regime and its pitfalls, Youssef’s show El Bernameg, modeled on Jon Stewart’s The Late Show, saw his carrier CBC’s ratings skyrocket as every Friday all eyes turned to his show. This year Youssef found himself in hot water more than once when he got called in for questioning over the mocking tone he took when talking about Mursi, his Brotherhood and, in particular, the media outlets that came to their support. But despite the proverbial smack on the hand for “deriding religion” and “slandering the president,” Youssef kept coming back stronger than ever, nudging his bar with his sharp criticism and satire. This year’s most memorable shows featured an episode in which he hosted an operette mimicking nationalist Arab song “Watany Habibi,” in which Youssef’s troupe made fun of Qatar’s promised loan to Egypt, and another operette spoofing “Ektarnah” (We’ve Chosen You) which was sung to Mubarak at an official celebration. Just before Ramadan, Youssef had announced he would be taking time off and returning after the Eid holidays but the hiatus was extended when Mursi was overthrown at the beginning of July. Appearing for interviews on talk shows Youssef strongly opposed the decision to take pro-Mursi channels off air, arguing it was a huge blow for freedom of expression in Egypt. What authorities should have done, Youssef felt, was hold presenters spewing hate speech accountable and taking legal action against them instead of shutting them down completely. In April, Time magazine listed Youssef as one of 2013’s most influential people in the world.  Writing in Time on April 18, his mentor, Stewart published this tribute piece to Youssef: “My job is hard. I have to sift through pages of political- and media-themed satirical material from exceptional writers and figure out what amusing face I can make to accompany each jab. Then I must perform them, 22 minutes a day, four days a week, with only our caterer’s spread to sustain me. Bassem Youssef does my job in Egypt. The only real difference between him and me is that he performs his satire in a country still testing the limits of its hard-earned freedom, where those who speak out against the powerful still have much to fear. Yet even under these difficult circumstances, he manages to produce an incredible show: a hilarious blend of mimicry, confusion, outrage and bemusement, highlighting the absurdities and hypocrisies of his country’s rebirth, all wielded with the precision of a scalpel, which, by the way, he should know how to wield because he’s a former heart surgeon. Yeah. And his family is beautiful and he’s a kind and generous friend. I am an American satirist, and Bassem Youssef is my hero.” After ousted president Mursi’s removal, Youssef reportedly lay low, feeling that his show would be inappropriate given the tense political situation. Rumor had it he had been asked to back off and would not be returning to the small screen. Yet return he did, stronger, wittier and more scathing than ever. Although detractors were sure Youssef would not have the gumption to make fun of the Armed Forces or its leader, General Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, Youssef surprised audiences when he did just that, balancing it out by taking a bash at pro-Mursi figures to balance things out. The episode was a huge success among some viewers but managed to irk both pro-Mursi and pro-Sisi supporters who felt that Youssef had finally gone too far. Minutes before the second show of the season went on air, host channel CBC ran a notice that El Bernameg had been suspended indefinitely for failing to comply with CBC regulations. At press time there were unconfirmed rumors that Youssef had indeed split with CBC but was in serious negotiations with other channels to host his show. Also at press time Youssef had snagged a Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as one of four figures who “face imprisonment and other threats for exposing realities.” After the announcement, CPJ noted that, “Youssef has taken on political conservatives and liberals alike, in a quest to inform and shatter stereotypes.” The NGO’s annual awards ceremony recognizes journalists who work to defend press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, and risking their own freedom.et