Heart surgeons don’t often ditch the scalpel for the stand-up mic, but for comedian and satirist Bassem Youssef, it was medicine that brought him to comedy.
At the height of the Egyptian revolution, Youssef, later dubbed "the Jon Stewart of Egypt," offered medical assistance to demonstrators at Tahir Square in his native country. Frustrated by how protesters were delegitimized by the Egyptian media, Youssef started a satirical video series on YouTube mocking the media coverage of the revolution.
In short order, Youssef’s program "al-Bernameg" pulled in more than 30 million viewers a show.
"It wasn’t planned," Youssef said. "It was very exciting. Suddenly I am having to choose between an American career and a career in entertainment. I had 30 million people watching me each episode, so that means 30 million people will have an opinion of you, and it’s very scary."
The 46-year-old comic will appear Thursday through Saturday at The Funny Stop in Cuyahoga Falls.
"I was enjoying creating things every week, but the pressure was just unbearable," Youssef said.
While fearful of Egypt’s authoritarian regime, Youssef brought complex and sensitive topics into public conversation via political satire, interviews and skits. He re-directed his own anxiety and shook Egyptian leadership to its core.
"If you make fun of fear, you can’t be afraid anymore," Youssef said. "Being an authoritarian leader requires fear. If you take this away from them, they have nothing."
Under growing government pressure, the political climate became more dangerous, and eventually Youssef left Egypt and came to America where he has built a career with a podcast, a children’s book and stand-up. He appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" four times, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," and in 2013 was named one of the "100 most influential people in the world" by TIME magazine.
Recently Youssef chatted by phone about comedy and his career ahead of his Funny Stop shows.
Q: You’ve been one of the few comics out on the road during the pandemic. Has there been any trepidation to traveling around the country?
A: There are different capacities for each club in each state, so it’s been interesting. But it was really good to find that people wanted to come out and wanted to laugh. It’s been very, very rewarding.
Q: Was it a challenging transition going from satire to stand-up?
A: Absolutely. Especially with English as your second language. So I was doing a show in Arabic. Now suddenly, I was challenging myself to do stand-up in English, which means I have to rewire my brain, and I have to rethink everything I know about how to utter the words, when to utter the words, the speed, the cadence, it was very, very, very challenging.
Q: What does your live show consist of? Is it mostly stories from your life?
A: Think of it like a two-act play. The first act is my life in Egypt about the hardship. Coming here as an immigrant under Trump, that’s my second act, and all the things that happened to me personally. But it’s really my story. Every joke I say and every situation I tell, it is something that happened to me. For example, one day I was interrogated in Egypt for six hours about my jokes, and I had to explain my jokes to them. This is part of the show. These are all real life situations.
Q: You’re called the "Jon Stewart of Egypt," but you catered to a difference audience than "The Daily Show." Do you see any differences in the humor?
A: The humor is the same but the context is always different. Humor is a third language. The stakes might be a little bit higher back in Egypt, but satire is the same everywhere. Sarcasm is known as the offending art. You offend people. It is even better when you offend people in power. But the context, language, and references are different. I find it very difficult to explain humor to someone who doesn’t speak the language, who doesn’t know the culture. Egyptians are known to be very satirical people. After the revolution was the first time there was a window of opportunity to actually satirize authority.
Q: Americans tend to think of themselves at the center of the universe. With your background and also having lived in America for a few years now, are you able to give audiences more of a world view?
A: Being the center of the universe is very common for everybody. It’s not really exclusive to America. But yes, there are other Arabic comedians, but most of them are raised or born. I am really someone who came from where I used to live. I have this opportunity to look at things in a dual lens and show how we’re not really different at all.
Q: Talk about your children’s book, "The Magical Reality of Nadia."
A: It’s about immigrant families. My daughter’s name is Nadia, and it talks about things younger children should start to address and be aware of like being different and being accepted. We use magic and storytelling and time travel. It’s about empathy, courage and friendship.
Q: Who are some of the comedians you look up to?
A: From the older school, George Carlin. I love Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, Jim Jefferies and Dave Chapelle, of course. They are all amazing comedians.
Digital Planning Editor B.J. Lisko can be reached at bjlisko@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @BJLisko
If you go …
Who: Bassem Youssef
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:20 and 9:20 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: The Funny Stop, 1757 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls
Tickets: $30 at FunnyStop.online
The Link LonkMarch 10, 2021 at 06:07PM
https://ift.tt/38nEyis
From scalpel to satire and stand-up: Comedian Bassem Youssef set for Funny Stop shows - Akron Beacon Journal
https://ift.tt/3eOfySK
Funny
No comments:
Post a Comment