Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef speaks about revolutionary experience

This post was updated on Jan. 23 at 1:50 p.m.

An Egyptian comedian spoke about satire’s role in bringing down a dictatorship during his comedy show Wednesday night.

More than 1,500 students, faculty, alumni and community members attended Bassem Youssef’s show at Royce Hall, where he shared his experience as a satirist during the Egyptian revolution. The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA helped organize Youssef’s show, “The Joke Is Mightier than the Sword.”

Youssef said he was previously a heart surgeon, but decided to start his own television show in 2011 because he felt the media’s negative portrayal of protests against president Hosni Mubarak misled Egyptian citizens to oppose the revolution. Egyptian media portrayed pro-democracy protesters as violators of the country’s values.

“For the media, it was not a revolution,” Youssef said. “It was a conspiracy.”

Youssef played some clips of Egyptian news footage, in which Egyptian reporters claimed the revolution was caused by various foreign agents including the CIA, Israel and Iran.

Inspired by Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” Youssef began to record YouTube videos in his laundry room where he criticized the government and the media for their efforts to suppress democracy.

Youssef’s show eventually became the most-watched Egyptian channel on YouTube, leading him to launch the satire news show Al-Bernameg on Egyptian television. Al-Bernameg became the most popular show in Egypt, with more than 30 million people tuning in to watch every week.

Over the course of the show’s three-year run, Youssef faced pressure from the government to stop airing his show. He was once arrested for making fun of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Youssef said he was interrogated for six hours and was accused by the Egyptian government of being a spy.

“They accused me of being an operative of Jon Stewart, who they thought was working for the CIA,” Youssef said.

Though Egyptians initially supported Youssef’s show, they began to be more critical when he attacked the military and Egypt’s current ruler, then-General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Youssef said people were reluctant to believe him because the military has always been a well-respected institution in Egypt.

“The army is even more sacred than religion,” Youssef said. “People believed in the army so much that they couldn’t believe they could lie.”

Eventually, Youssef decided to leave Egypt because of mounting pressure from the government and safety concerns for his family.

Near the end of the show, Youssef encouraged the audience to question the political climate around them and use humor to cope with difficult situations.

“Sarcasm is a great antidote for fear,” Youssef said. “When you are laughing, you are no longer scared.”

After the show concluded, Youssef answered questions from the audience and encouraged them to read his book, “Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring,” which will be released March 21.

Marwa Aboubaker, a graduate student in comparative literature, said she enjoyed the show and liked that Youssef led the audience through the history of the Egyptian revolution.

“I thought it was really great in terms of content,” Aboubaker said. “He’s also really funny, and he has a way of merging comedy with political commentary.”

Kristy Edmunds, executive and artistic director of CAP UCLA, said in a statement she thinks Youssef was brave to share his perspective.

“Bassem Youssef is a remarkable man,” Edmunds said. “(He) took the stage at Royce Hall to share perspectives gleaned from his five-year journey through a particular time, a series of places and an unexpected life path that is nothing short of astonishing.”

Youssef will speak to students in Arts and Architecture 10: “Arts Encounters: Exploring Arts Literacy in 21st Century” later this week.