I am Bassem Youssef, the "Jon Stewart of the Middle East!" and I host a podcast called "Remade in America", presented by CAFE which is available for download now. Ask me anything!

I'm doing a PowerPoint on you for my Arabic class, anything you'd like me to include?

a nice looking photo?

Thank you everyone! Signing off....

I liked the sketch you did with college humour! Do you find it annoying when so many people ask you about your old profession ?

no because that is part of my life and I am proud to have been a doctor

Do you miss medicine?

not at all :)

خدت السبعة مليار يا باسييييم؟
Sorry I had to :P
Love you Bassem and I hope to see you back on TV soon

:)

What are your feelings on pineapple as a pizza topping?

an atrocity

Hey Bassem, how much politics do you think went behind the Egyptian national team's stay at Grozny? Do you think we (Egyptians) can ever have a successful person without the country trying to kick them out?

the whole thing was shameful, i THINK A LOT OF politics went into it, cant decide to what extend

Saba7 elfoll ya Bassem,

fellow Egyptian here, big fan of the Barnameg show, still watch it to this day, really sad that you had to quit

My question is what is your outlook regarding Egypt in the short & long term if it continues with the current leadership's vision?

Would it be an overstatement to call it a sinking ship and that we should abandon it if we could?

I really wanna be hopeful but I can't seem to find anything to be hopeful for...

sinking ship sounds about right

Bassem what do you think is the solution to the current state of affairs in Egypt? How can the opposition form an alliance strong enough to topple the military and brotherhood? How long will it take for them to realise that the economy is not going to improve unless you improve education, literacy and the mindset of corrupt unethical politicians? Are there any news about Wael Abbas?

it is not about just education, it is about a military junta who are willing to destroy the country if they are not in power (eg Syria) don't know where to start. unfortunately wael and others are still in custoday and detention illegally of course

Did you buy Twitter followers? It says you have 10 million but your posts rarely generate many engagements.

this really bugs me too, i never bought any followers, but you are right I think many are bots, in Egypt it is a common practice to have fake accounts

I have a great story peace for your podcast about the American experience and feeling out of place.
What’s the best way to send suggestions?

call the number provided and tell us

what will Sisi's downfall be like?

who knows, another coup, an assasination, but not peaceful

Hey bassem, would you ever consider going back to doing shows in egypt? Maybe not politics related since thats what caused you trouble? Or do you not see yourself diverging from political humor?

no

Will you have any talk show soon looks like your Old talk Show * the Pernamg * and if you are planning for new talk show , will you talk on it about Egypt problems and this stuff again ?
sorry for my English again .

I am focused on the political life in America

Every day more Egyptians start to diverge from supporting the regime. Do you think this is a good sign, or you find it just a hopeless case?

a good sign but again there are dictatroships in the world that hold their citizens under an iron grip, so more should we done,

How does it feel to start all over again in a far country away from the people you knew all your life?

scary and yet very exciting

Hi bassem, could I please get your opinion on the fact that a Moroccan court sentenced political activits for 20 years in prison each, today?

that is horrible of course, no ME country seems to be exempt from tyranny

your favorite movie and tv show ?

Shawshank Redemption WEstword

Hi Bassem! Watching what happen in Egypt I am really sorry about how things went down; however, I can't help but think that you were used in a way by president Sisi's regime to use your satire to normalize some of the crimes they committed as a part of their larger scheme to take over Egypt. And then to sort of threaten-ban you when they didn't need you anymore. Do you think there is any validity to this? If so how didn't you see that coming and if you go back in time what would you have done to prevent it?

suggesting that I was used is ridiculous, and you sitting here saying "oh how didnt you see it" as if you are an oracle is arrogant. if any one was used it was the islamists who were in bed with the army and they licked their shoes and if you dont beleive me go back to their shpws and see theor rhtoric. i did my job as a satirist and i STAYED A WHOLE YEAR STATRISIZING Sissi and his regime and his kifta machine and his media, the fact that one was stronger than the other in killing free speech is not my fault. and no i WOULD NEVER CHANGE A THING

If you have the ability to change any of the decision you made that lead to this moment, What decision do you regret and wish to change ?

not a single thing

Egyptian here. Would you advise a young Egyptian to stay inside the country and try to make the best out of the circumstances, or would you advise to leave at the first opportunity?

In other words, do you think there's any hope for things to get better in the near future?

if you have a chance, leave

Are you planning on holding any events in the UK, Bassem?

if I get invited to so a show there yes

Favourite sketch you did on the daily show?

Just being in the presence of jon Stewart is a treat by itself

Being BASSEM YOUSSEF , you must have seen some weird shit from famous people in media and/or politics , so what's the most fucked up shit you've seen from an Egyptian household name ? (i promise i'd only tell my friends )

can't tell :)

Hi Bassem, love you from Port Said!

Looking at what Egypt got into under the 3ars, if you could go back in time, would you change anything about criticizing Morsi’s regime? I’m not saying not fight them, they were horrible af, but would you be more cautious in your approach to the audience? Also, do you think if 30/6 hadn’t happen, would Egypt be in a better situation today? Cause I keep asking myself..

i wouldnt change anything, remember the Islamists had their media too, and they were using religion to attack me and the others, i think 30/6 would have happened anyways, it is the fault of the islamists they had the power and they abused it, don't blame it on a satirical show

Who was the better Egyptian President, Gamal Nasser or Abdel Nasser?

:)

Hi bassem I'm an iraqi living in Jordan and you and a lot of comedians like Jon Stewart, Ahmad Albasheer and Dave Chappell are a huge influences in my life and I wanted to thank you for being awsome My first question is what is your advice for the comedian youth starting out in publicly conservative places like the middle east and how can they handle doing satire about taboo subjects like politics and religion.

And also who would you like to have as a guest on your podcast?

it is tough and challenging . My advice is to do it, but you need to be careful about your personal safety above all else

Jon Stewart has been out of the game for a while now. Is there any one else you aspire to be in the same regard?

I like Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert. Stewart's replacement is Trevor Noah but he's not the best thing in late night IMO.

I have to say I like all of them, I learn different styles and different energies and techniques from each

Who's your favorite Hollywood actor?

Al Pacino

Do you have any hope in Egypt? I feel that the darkest hours didn't even start yet.

yes, but it might take time

How's plant-based diet going Bassem? I've been following you back from the Youtube days and loved your recent democracy handbook series. Also, how open are you about making an online resource on healthy eating/plant-based diet?

PLANT BASED DIET is going great, yes i intend to do a short docuseries about it soon

Hey Bassem

Any plans of doing stand up shows?

And who’s your favorite comedian?

already doing them, George Carlin

George Carlin is a legend and I hope someday you will be one too.

How can we see your stand up shows ?

will be in NY soon

Do you miss Egypt at all? If you got a chance would you go back and restart your show?

no

What is the last book you read?

1984 for the third time

What do you think of the freedom of speech situation in Turkey right now?

better than many Arab countries, but i don't like Erdogan direction, also many jounralists have been jailed

I kept pretty close tabs on the Arab Spring, especially Egypt, and I laughed in amazement at the hamfisted, transparent asshole leaders like Mubarak. Then I watched the globe respond to Syrian refugees not with compassion and help but with right wing xenophobia. Now America has the stupidest and least qualified elected head of state in history...do you feel like it's kind of karmic turnabout for the west's meddling in MENA and how annoying is it to have happened right after you moved here?

I am lucky to be in LA a very liberal city so not very annoyed, yet I am thinking about this Karma thing

Hi Bassem! Thanks for doing this AMA! I'm a huge fan, and fell in love with the show since the episode you talked about the girl who got beaten in Tahrir Square, and you were basically the only one on TV to stand up for her. My questions:

1. When you started doing YouTube videos, did you ever imagine reaching what you reached today?
2. Do you have any regrets since our revolution? or rather, would you do anything differently if you could?
3. Do you have any hope that Egypt could make a U-turn and become ours again?

Thank you.

1. never dreamed of that
2. no regrets
3. we have to have hope but maybe things will not change soon, who knows

Bassem - thank you for all you've done, from the bottom of my heart.

Moving forwards, what do you view as the biggest threat to free speech currently, and how do you advise opposing that?

oppose it by voting out the people who have been in office because of the hateful speech votes

Will you consider making an online live show ? if it was funded by a patreon, twitch subscriber as an example or a merch store.

I prefer to do it with a streaming service like netflix

What are your thoughts on Philosophy? And What is your humour like?

My humor is aleasy about politics, maybe a bit limiting but i enjoy it

Are you enjoying your time in America? Any future projects in the making?

yes very maybe get my own show?

Hi Bassem, I'm a 20 year old college student living in Munich (Egyptian tho el7amdulellah tab3an). My question is, would you ever consider going back to Egypt if you could, even after everything that happened to you? And I also wanted to thank you for your show I hope the best for you. (And by going back I don't mean to AlBernameg, just Egypt in general)

NO i WONT

If you were to be the president of the United States, what are the things you would first do?

put Trump in Jail (after a fair trial of course :)

Hey Bassem! Love your podcast and collaboration with CollegeHumour :D Hope your Reddit experience is awesome!

1. Were you the “funny kid” growing up?

2. What do Egyptians find funny? I’ve recently been living in Japan and no one here gets self-deprecating comedy.

3. You know your eyes are amazing, right?

1 I was a bit funny 2. Egyptians like many others enjoy jokes about sex, politcs and religion 3. thank you

Hey bassem really big fan of you and missed you alot that i rewatch the old episodes every couple of months here is some questions i was curious about -Did you get an offer from the comedy show to continue after jon Stewart? -You said that the king of Saudi arab was involced in shuting you down how was that ? -Do you consider spend more time at reddit i mean like starting a subreddit or any way to communicate with your reddit fan ?

no offer from comedy central many regimes were invovled not thinking about subreddit now

no offer many were involved no plans for subreddit

[deleted]

i have answered this too many times already

Hi Bassem. After moving to America from an authoritarian state like Egypt what are feeling about what is going on in America right now? Politically and in terms of civil liberties. I am from another similarly authoritarian country originally too( although we just pulled off a massively successfull and peacefull revolution), so I would be interested to hear your persepective.

At least in America people can change things up every two years, it is not a perfect democracy but if enough people moved they can make a difference

Bassem , in 2015 there was this twitter quarrel between you and your "friend" Youssef El houseny , in which he hinted that you were paid to stop attacking the Egyptian regime (sit at home in his words) , now, was that true ? and if so how much were you paid and by whom? If not ,with you safely residing in LA why stop roasting the regime with all the dumb shit that is currently going on in Egypt ?

accusing people that they "got paid" is an easy way to smear people, pn the contraryI have refused many bribes from teh regimes. I might be in LA but there are family members that weere threatened because of me, and they can pay the price for my actions, would you do that to your family?

I still have family members in egypt that can be hurt because of me, also being paid is a ridiculous bullshit claim, on the contrary I refused to be bribed many times by the regime

Are there any other famous "X of the Middle East"? Is there a Jay Leno or Conan of the Middle East?

so far no

Tefteker Fe amal fe masr delwa2ty aw 7ata fel 5 seneen l gayeen wala 5alas hopeless case?

maybe who knows