Famed Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef has never been afraid to speak truth to power, but it is through comedy that he finds what he says has the biggest impact. The former Esquire Middle East cover star recently took to Snapchat to answer some fan questions to shed some insight into his process, and he even ended up doing a little impromptu karaoke.
In a short-but-sweet Q&A session, starts Youssef by sharing a story about a strange encounter with a stalker-fan. “I had an interesting encounter with a fan – well, not a fan – but a stalker. Someone appeared in my shows multiple times and kind of disrupted the show,” Youssef says. “I managed to kind of make this part of the show but it was very, very uncomfortable.”
Youssef also mentions that while his favourite comedian is George Carlin, he also wouldn’t mind being trapped on a desert island with Russell Peters and Jim Jefferies.
The Youssef is also known for being the former host of Al Bernameg, a satirical comedy show focused on Egyptian politics. When asked what food Al Bernameg would be, the comedian gave a cleverly thought-out response: “Tofu. Because tofu has absolutely no taste and it gets its taste from the stuff that you add to it. So basically, Al Bernameg gets its flavour and its colour from the events around it.”
Speaking of his former talk show Youssef’s dream satirical interviewee would be… the Genie from Aladdin? “I really want to know his life… What’s it like in that lamp? I’m serious, it’s like how is he there for 3000 years and how is he passing his time.”
Oh, and in case you ever find yourself at a karaoke bar with Youssef, you’ll probably hear him belting out Prince’s ‘Kiss‘ or in Arabic Wasa3 Wasa3 by Ahmed Saad.
The Egyptian television host is famously plant-based and let us in on the reason behind his plant-based lifestyle choice. “I chose to be plant-based because I had a friend of mine who had an autoimmune disease who reversed his symptoms by going on a plant-based diet. So I got intrigued and I read into it and I just liked it; I adopted the diet and I feel much better on it.” Youssef has shared that people don’t always react kindly when he mentions his plant-based diet and he doesn’t quite understand why, “I just do my thing. I did my diet for myself and it seems that people are just annoyed and I don’t know why. Just be you!”
Youssef closed his Snapchat Q&A session with some insight on how he navigates the fine line between comedy and conveying important messages. “I just talk about stuff that matters to me in a funny way, like we do every single day. We do that every single day without knowing. I just make this a performance, but at the end of the day, I do what we do in life. The more authentic you are, the more unpretentious you are, people will actually connect with you.”
The comedian has teased a potential return to the Middle East next year for new live shows, but for now, you can catch Bassem Youssef on his upcoming shows in cities across the US and UK.