The Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef jokes that his compatriots joined the Arab spring revolt not because they wanted justice or democracy, but out of jealousy.
“We looked at Tunisia and told ourselves, ‘We will not be upstaged by those motherfuckers,’” he told a Sydney audience on Monday.
He added: “Since then we’ve continued to occupy a good chunk of international media. We were the drama queens of international politics, there is always something happening. The Kardashians had nothing on Egypt.”
Youssef, giving the “16th inaugural Chaser lecture”, spoke in both serious and light-hearted terms about hosting his wildly popular political satire al-Bernameg (The Show) under both religious and secular authoritarian regimes.
Reflecting on the show’s enforced demise and Egypt’s slide back into dictatorship, he paid homage to the rider of this year’s Melbourne Cup winner.
“For those who come to me now and say, ‘Well, the Arab spring has failed or the Middle East is not ready for democracy,’ I just answer back in Michelle Payne’s words, ‘Get stuffed.’”
“The joke is mightier than the sword,” Youssef insisted.
Youssef said he was born to a middle-class Egyptian family. “We are two brothers: I am a doctor, my brother is an engineer. If we had two more brothers they would be a lawyer and a dentist [and] this family would be almost Jewish.”
In spearing Egyptian political life, the comedian also took gentle swipes at Australian and US politics. “Our dictator Mubarak stepped down after a brief time in office of 30 years, which is an average lifespan of the Middle Eastern rulers and equals the combined terms of 100 Australian prime ministers.”
He said this proved the Middle East was more politically savvy than the rest of the democratic world. “I mean, look at a backwards western country like the United States. They are spending $5m on a presidential campaign just to get a president for four years. In my region it only needs a couple of tanks and a media statement and you get a president for life.
“And in the States after spending that much money you might ending up having Donald Trump as president.”
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