Egyptian comic Bassem Youssef uses laughs, education

When Bassem Youssef saw the droves of wounded citizens at Tahrir Square on the television screen during the Egyptian revolution in early 2011, he knew that as a heart surgeon he could help save lives. But he felt there was more that needed to be done, and he turned to another craft: comedy.

In the days after the revolution began, Youssef made YouTube videos poking fun at the media, Egyptian politics, and culture. The videos were a hit, with some attracting over 5 million views, and eventually led to a comedy news show, the first of its kind on Egyptian television.

“I thought maybe we would get 10,000 hits, but it just exploded,” Youssef said. “We couldn’t keep up with the demand.”

He has been in the United States for the past 30 days, filming the lives of Arab-Americans in an attempt to break stereotypes held by some of his viewers back home, such as the idea that Arabs and Muslims cannot truly be American.