Bas­sem Yous­sef

Bassem Youssef was the host of popular TV show Al Bernameg – the first political satire show in the Middle East. Originally a 5-minute show on YouTube, Al Bernameg became the first online-to-TV conversion in the Middle East and the most-watched show across the region with 30 million viewers every week, and over a million subscribers to its YouTube channel. In recognition of his success, Youssef was named among the Time Magazine most influential list for 2013 – under the “Pioneers” category, was awarded the International Press Freedom Award by the CPJ, and was chosen by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the global thinkers during the same year. Youssef currently performs his one-man show, THE MIDDLE BEAST around the globe and the first title in Bassem’s children’s book series, The Magical Reality of Nadia published on February 2nd, 2021 by Scholastic and is currently being developed as an animated series. Bassem can be seen in MO (Netflix), RAMY (Hulu), LIONESS (Paramount+) and UPLOAD (Amazon). In October, 2023 Bassem’s interview with Piers Morgan saw worldwide acclaim and was shared and reposted on the internet all over the world – it is now the most viewed interview in the history of Piers Morgan Uncensored.

Bassem's Arabic standup show is a unique and new experience showcasing a 90 minute show of ground breaking Arabic comedy. Standup comedy a relatively new art form for the Arabic culture. The show challenges the audience with subversive narratives that uses very “strong” language that is not usually are not heard on Arabic live show. That is why there is a clear warning for Arabic audiences to attend “at their own risk”. Bassem connects with all Arabic audiences from all the Arab countries which is almost an impossible task knowing that Arab dialects extremely vary from one country to another with totally cultural references making each dialect almost have its own comedic language. Bassem takes the audience into a very personal journey for Hal life before the fame touching on hilarious nuances that connect different generations and cultures. A unique performance of Arabic comedy that has had massive success in the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.