All Things Bassem
The other day, I mentioned that Bassem Youssef was one of the guests on the new episode of Jon Stewart's new show, The Problem with Jon Stewart. I'm a particularly big fan of his (as I know is Stewart), so I was glad to see him as one of the guests. And we'll turn over today's column to him.
Bassem Youssef is a former surgeon who gave up his career to become a political satirist in Egypt, and began a wildly popular TV show there based openly on Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. He did it until the government went after him, he was arrested, and had to flee the country. And now lives in the United States.
There's a wonderful documentary on him, "Tickling Giants." It's available on DVD at Netflix, and also for streaming on Amazon Prime (though I can't tell if it's included with a subscription or not) -- and well-worth checking out. I wrote about it here at the time of its release, but can't find the article... However, here's the trailer.
Bassem Youssef appeared on Stewart's show several times -- and I thought it was always wonderful, very smart and very funny, from an extremely courageous guy. (As Stewart notes in the trailer above when Youssef asks him if his satire gets him in trouble, "I'll tell you, it doesn't get me into the kind of trouble it gets you into."
I also wrote about the time Stewart returned the favor and appeared on Bassem Youssef's show in Egypt, and was able to find that and the video. And so, here is Stewart's quite-wonderful 20-minute appearance in Egypt.
It starts out in Arabic -- yet is still a hoot -- but around 2:30 in, veers into English. For those who prefer your comedy and discussion in Arabic, however, feel free to read the subtitles. (If you click on the "Watch on YouTube" link, you can make this full screen and read the subtitles larger and much better. Though again, they're not needed after 2-1/2 minutes.)
And finally, here's a piece I wrote about when Bassem Youssef appeared as a guest contestant on the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! Along with the embedded audio of the appearance.
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