Egypt’s self-titled “dark satirist”, Bassem Youssef, has said that whilst he hopes the wildly popular El Bernameg will eventually make a return, current circumstances “are not suitable” for a comeback. In an interview with BBC’s James Reevell, the heart surgeon-turned-comedian opened up about Egypt, political satire and – the topic of his new film – the cost of “tickling giants”. “People think that revolutions are easy, but there is no revolution that can happen in 18 days. It’s a process, a very long process, it doesn’t happen in a few days” he tells Reevell. “We have passed through four very tough years, it was a rollercoaster, like a rollercoaster of emotions, of feelings, of political change, and it affected everybody.” Despite being the most watched television show in Egypt during the presidency of the deposed Mohamed Morsi, El Bernameg was suspended in April 2014 by regional satellite broadcaster MBC. Shortly after, Dr Youssef announced he would not continue to produce the show due to safety pressures faced by him and his family – a sentiment that he confirmed during the BBC interview. On the topic of whether or not it…
