Bassem Youssef takes down hasbara with sardonic humour
JVL Introduction
Bassem Youssef was a successful Egyptian cardiothoracic surgeon before he turned to satire in response to the media’s coverage of the Egyptian revolution in 2011.
His career was so successful he was forced to flee El-Sisi’s Egypt, ending up in the US where he has recreated his career as a comedian and performer.
Interviewed on Piers Morgan Uncensored soon after 7th October he won international renown for turning the tables, refusing to make the formulaic condemnation of Hamas before he was allowed to speak of anything else: “If you want to only hear your opinion, I can just condemn Hamas and go home.”
The result is the most viewed Pier’s Morgan interview of all time with over 22 million views (you can watch it here, and learn more about Youssef in a Nov 23 interview in The Feed here or even more recently in The Hollywood Reporter here).
The talk and interview with Youssef, linked to below, took place in mid-March as part of The India Today Conclave, described as “India’s premier thought forum [now in] its 21st year… for dissecting the complexities of our times, stimulating intellectual debates, and seeding the ideas that shape our world.
And making you laugh out loud.
RK
Bassem Youssef utter hero! First heard accidentally when switching channels arrived at Piers Morgan… Now no need to go that route: Bassem Youssef’s Middle Beast Tour starts tonight 17 April at Eventim Apollo London, then 4 May Apollo Manchester, then back to London on 27 April. Perhaps with luck also being recorded so we can learn from his truths a much as we can on this video from India Today’s conclave.
Humour and a razor sharp mind cuts through the propaganda
With giants like Bassem standing firm then there is hope, shame he isn’t British he would make a first class Independent candidate
Remember when the only person on the media actually showing us what Tony Blair was really like – was Rory Bremner? Humour requires a level of observation and intelligence , and a standard of delivery way beyond the capacity of the self seeking nothings that currently plague us