[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: Please join
me in welcoming Bassem Youssef and Sarah Taksler. [APPLAUSE] SARA TAKSLER: No, you go. BASSEM YOUSSEF: No,
no, you're here. You're the director. OK? Hi. Hi, guys. SPEAKER 1: Hi,
welcome to Google. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh, guys, the
voice quality here is amazing. SARA TAKSLER: It is. SPEAKER 1: I know, right? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Damn, I mean,
you do pay a lot of money to do stuff very nicely here. SPEAKER 1: Spare no expense. Thank you. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Everything-- actually, I'm very surprised and very
happy that many of you left all of the temptations and
the restaurants and the food and the ping pong tables
to come here, so thank you. SPEAKER 1: There's free food,
literally, across the hall. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I know. I have seen it. SPEAKER 1: And all these
people forewent that. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I have
eaten in like, five different restaurants today. SPEAKER 1: Perfect,
perfect, perfect. SARA TAKSLER: We've
already decided that we're going to finish this
and eat again before we leave. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes. SPEAKER 1: Absolutely, take a
to-go bag, line your pockets, the whole lot. SARA TAKSLER: Exactly. SPEAKER 1: Well, so thank
you for coming, first of all. I want to start by
just saying there's a scene in this film where
two of your producers are sitting on a couch. And they say to each
other, you know, I remember when we
were afraid to talk about politics in a taxi. We were afraid to talk
about politics in public, and then Bassem happened. So that Bassem is our
guest, of course, today. And you were trained as
a cardiothoracic surgeon, but you're best known
throughout the Middle East, and in Egypt especially, as
the host of "Al-Bernameg." If any of you haven't
seen the film, it's hard to
overstate exactly how popular this series has been-- 40 million weekly views? OK, so to put that
in perspective, Jon Stewart's "Daily
Show," at its height, got about 2 million. And the population of
Egypt is about 90 million. BASSEM YOUSSEF: 100, now. SPEAKER 1: A now? BASSEM YOUSSEF: We
reproduce very fast. SPEAKER 1: OK, very good. Good on you. BASSEM YOUSSEF: He tuned-- SARA TAKSLER: Now
that the show's off, they have nothing to do. SPEAKER 1: That's exactly right. SARA TAKSLER: Yeah, I mean,
they have nothing else to do. SPEAKER 1: Now that you've
left, they've really kicked it into high gear. BASSEM YOUSSEF: They
need to fill their time with other
productive-- literally, productive-- activities. SPEAKER 1: So the
story of the film is, really, it chronicles
your rise to stardom and your first encounters
with the government. It starts as sort of
a trickle and then it becomes more serious as the
Arab Spring, and the transition from the Mubarak to the Morsi,
to the Sisi governments. Can you just catch
us up on all of this? What is the state of
politics in Egypt today, and where has it
come since Mubarak? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Do
you have five hours? SPEAKER 1: You have
about 30 seconds. BASSEM YOUSSEF: All right. Very, very-- SPEAKER 1: The Arab
Spring, in a sense. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Very fast. OK, so since 1950s, Egypt and
most of the Arab countries are under military
dictatorship, that-- we were told from a very
young age that these were amazing revolutions, but
these were military coups that were turned into military rule. And there was always this
kind of very delicate balance between a dictatorship and
a cartoonish or fake kind of opposition. They were allowed to be
present, but it's not really, it's just like-- it's
event, it's an act. And when the
revolution happened, it was the first time that
authorities were afraid of the people, not the opposite. For the first time, comedy
was directed to authority, not towards people. We have a very long tradition
of comedy in the Middle East, especially in Egypt. But mostly, it was
only social comedy. We were allowed to make
fun of ourselves, but-- and kind of like, hint,
very remotely, to authority. But that was the first time
that we would go heads-on against the authorities. SPEAKER 1: And the revolution
you're talking about is the overthrow
of Hosni Mubarak. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes. SPEAKER 1: So what were
you doing at that point? BASSEM YOUSSEF: At that time,
I was just, like, a doctor, trying to stitch people
in Tahrir Square. Like, stitch as in
taking stitches, not as-- is there other meanings? Anyway, so at that time,
what inspired us to start this is that there were
two different realities. There's the reality in
Tahrir Square-- what you see, it's a revolution, people
standing up, people rising. And there's their reality-- anti-revolution, which is a
state-run, absolutely skewed false information. So we had fake news before
you ever heard this term. And I'm glad that you
are following suit and you're catching up with
our leadership and our-- SPEAKER 1: And
we'll get into that. BASSEM YOUSSEF: For once, we
are pioneers at something. [LAUGHTER] No, seriously, all of
that stuff about Obama being a secret Muslim
and he found ISIS? We had that way before you. So it's time for
you to catch up. We had this old, kind
of, conspiracy talk. And like, how there's not a
revolution, it's a conspiracy. So this was making me and
a lot of people very angry. And after everything
settled down, something had to be made
to remind people that this is what they were consuming. And we made fun and
we showed what kind of pointed, direct
propaganda that was used in order to alienate
people against the revolution. And this is how it all started. At that time, I didn't
expect that a lot of people would watch it. I mean-- SPEAKER 1: So how did it start? How did you do your first show? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Uh,
in my laundry room, I got one table and one
camera, and a $100 banner behind me that showed
pictures, like a collage from the Tahrir Square scenes. And at that time, I was getting
ready to leave to the United States, because I was accepted
in a [INAUDIBLE] surgery fellowship in Cleveland,
out of all places. And nothing tells you how
excited I was to leave, are or how desperate I was, to be
excited to go to Cleveland. Yeah. SPEAKER 1: And what was
your success like early on? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Not
going to Cleveland. Sorry, go ahead. SPEAKER 1: No, so
you started your show and how did people receive it? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Well, I
was expecting 10,000 views. And in less than-- after very few weeks,
I had 5 million. And I know that 5 million
doesn't sound like a lot now. You can get those kind of views. But at that time, 2011,
Egypt, that was a big deal. And suddenly, I had every
single TV station coming up and trying to sign me up. And I was put in a choice--
should I go and continue my work as a doctor and heal
hearts, or sell out and take the money, which I did. And I did that and I
continued and stayed in Egypt. And I was terrified, I
didn't know the first thing about doing a show-- or, let alone, doing a TV show. And we started from
a small TV show. Then after one season,
I decided that I am done with small shows on television. I want to do live audience. And again, that was a concept
that was not even [INAUDIBLE].. Having people coming-- real
people, not paid people. People coming in
and watch a show, and follow and react and
laugh and clap-- that was not a concept that
was in the Arab world. And I said, I want
to go to the source. I want to know how this is done. I went to New York and I
met with Jon Stewart's team, and this is where I met Sarah. And Sarah said, for some reason,
which she will explain why, now, that she wanted to
do a documentary about me. SPEAKER 1: So Sara
knew then that-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: No, no-- she found that my story
is very interesting. She's like, would you like me-- can I do a
documentary about you? I was like, yeah, sure, why not? SARA TAKSLER: This
was the day we met. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I mean,
who would say 'no' to this? I mean, if there is a
documentary done about you, you are either dead or
an endangered species. So for me to have a
documentary done about-- SARA TAKSLER: And he
is one of the two. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes, and
almost was the other. So she said can you do that? And we thought that this would
be like, a nine month project, and it continued. SARA TAKSLER: Well, his
show wasn't on the air yet, in front of a live audience-- SPEAKER 1: Why this guy? SARA TAKSLER: So
there was no way to know that it was going
to be such a huge story. And I mean, I was
interested that they were doing the same thing
that I do at "The Daily Show," but with such high stakes. But also, I just couldn't
imagine Jon Stewart being a heart surgeon during
the day, and then at night, hosting the show. And that was Bassem was
still doing at the time. He was still a heart surgeon. So I knew they were going
to leave the next day and I just didn't want to
regret not having asked. And I felt like he would be
a really great character. So I asked if we
could make a movie. But neither of us knew
that the story would become even such higher stakes. And pretty soon after
that, he started to get called in for questioning
by the government jokes. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yeah, but
what's the other reason you did the movie? My crew. SARA TAKSLER: Oh, yeah. Well, another thing I thought
was really interesting was he came with maybe four
producers, and two of them were women. And I was just very curious-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: And
they're like, oh my god, women in the Middle East
are allowed to leave home? SARA TAKSLER: And I
was-- no, not that. I was just curious
what it would be like to be my counterpart,
as like, a woman working at a comedy show in Egypt. I was very curious with that
atmosphere will be like. And then when I got there,
it was such a nonevent. Like, at least half the
office, maybe 3/4 of the office were actually women. And it didn't end
up becoming part of the story we told, because
it was not really a big deal there. SPEAKER 1: So this was
when his fame was rising. But when did the
stakes start to rise? When did you start to feel
a little sense of friction between you and the government? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Right
after the second episode of the new season
of the live show. Because at that time, the
Muslim Brotherhood kind of took control of the presidency. And I was just
making fun of them and everybody was starting
to watch the show, and it was increasing by the
millions like, two, three, four, five, six, 10 millions,
and it was increasing. And I became kind of
a thorn in the side of authority and their media. There were Islamic
media that were hated me and yet would play hours
and hours of my show. It was like as if they
were doing my second run. So half of the people
who were watching me were hate-watching me. And they were doing very
well for the ratings, which is great. SPEAKER 1: Do you think it was
your fame or the content that sort of caught their
attention first? BASSEM YOUSSEF: No, it's. More complex than this you see
we belong to a certain culture where making fun-- not even making fun-- opposing or arguing, or going
against the power and authority is something that's
not very popular. From a very young
age, we are taught that there's the father
figure, and then the teacher, who's another father figure. And then there is the
headmaster and then your boss, and then
your leader and then your president, and
then your sheik. All of these authorities are-- there's some kind of a taboo
to go against the authority. And there's also a tendency
in the Middle East, where someone who would attain
a certain type of authority that he would link
himself to the ideology. So if he's an Islamic
president, you make fun of him-- you
make fun of Islam. If he is a military president,
you make fun of him-- you're making fun of
patriotism and the military. So that was the biggest thing. So you go in,
people are like, oh, how come you make fun of Islamic
[INAUDIBLE] Muslim president? And the same thing
happened when Sisi came up, it was like, oh my god, you're
making fun of our president. You're a spy, you're
a CIA operative-- which was published
in black and white, that I was trained by the
CIA, recruited by Jon Stewart. SPEAKER 1: That's right. SARA TAKSLER: That's true. BASSEM YOUSSEF: It's true,
I'm not making this up-- SPEAKER 1: "Zionist Operative
Jon Stewart Trains CIA Operative, Bassem Youssef. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes, yeah. SPEAKER 1: We'll get to that. SARA TAKSLER: That's
why Jon didn't have time to be a heart surgeon, because
he had to work at the CIA-- SPEAKER 1: That's right, all
the training, the recruiting-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: That's why the
CIA are l actually going down, because if they
can only find Jon-- SPEAKER 1: I mean,
40 million a week-- that's pretty good
for government work. So why were you arrested? BASSEM YOUSSEF: There was
a warrant for my arrest and I went to questioning
for six hours. And I ended up paying
bail, and I went out. So I was released on bail. And there was accusations
that I insulted Islam, that I have insulted the
president, of spreading rumors, disturbing the peace-- which is
a very vague accusation-- it's very easy to get you in jail. Yeah, and it was funny,
because for six hours, I was being asked about,
why are these jokes funny? Which is the worst thing that
you can do to any comedian. And I think they didn't care
about actually arresting me, they wanted to demoralize,
they want to destroy my morals. SPEAKER 1: So I think this is
a really interesting point, because for those of
us who pay attention to of the struggle for human
rights around the world, there's a tendency
to sort of glaze over the mechanics of censorship,
and to present it as very much like, there are heroes in
a struggle against bad people. But one thing that this
film does really well, and I'd love it if you
could talk about it, Sara, is it explores the day-to
day life of somebody making controversial content. The sort of, like, quotidian
experiences of somebody yelling at you on the
street, or of your parents saying maybe you shouldn't do
this, or of a studio executive applying subtle pressure
before the government actually comes and censors. What is it like in the
journey of working your way up to having the
government arrest you? SARA TAKSLER:
Well, in terms of-- SPEAKER 1: And
what was that like, capturing that experience? SARA TAKSLER: The
story-telling of it? Yeah, I mean, for me, "Tickling
Giants" is about Bassem, but it happens to
be about Bassem, and it's about Egypt
and the Arab Spring, but that just happens
to be the backdrop. To The story, for
me, was that's so cool, this guy, who's
a very ordinary guy, sees his country going
through a hard time and decides to do
something about it. That's what the story is. And most people are not
going to have their country fall into revolution and then
decide to start a comedy show and have it be the most
popular comedy show in history. That's not going to be a
very common experience. But-- SPEAKER 1: And you didn't
know any of that when you started filming, right? SARA TAKSLER: No, I didn't. I just knew that I found him
to be an interesting character. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Not even funny--
she doesn't think I'm funny. SARA TAKSLER: I don't find
him funny, personally. SPEAKER 1: An excuse to
travel to Egypt, yeah. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I don't find-- SARA TAKSLER: It's
not my taste, but-- no, I-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: I
don't blame you. SARA TAKSLER: I
like the idea of-- "Tickling Giants" is like
finding a creative nonviolent way to express yourself. And less than a mile away
from Bassem's office, people were killing each other
in Tahrir Square to be heard. And his team was finding a
creative way to be heard. And because they were
choosing nonviolence, their voices were
so much louder, and that really intrigued me. SPEAKER 1: What is it like
when you have a conversation with your studio exec? Are they saying, can
you tone it down? Look, if you-- look, let's be
real, if you keep up with this, they're going to
throw you in jail. BASSEM YOUSSEF: There were
hardly any conversation there, because once-- so during the Muslim
Brotherhood, I was like, the darling of the
studio, because they were against the
Muslim Brotherhood, so they kind of like let
me do whatever I want. And then once the revolution
or slash coup happened, after the Muslim
Brotherhood, they were pretty much pro-military. And the military, you
would understand-- if you live in the Middle
East, and especially Egypt, long enough, you
understand and you realize that the military is
even more sacred than religion. People revere
military above all. The army is just untouchable. And the dynamics were different,
because under Morsi, there were like pro-Islamic
and anti-Islamic media. So it was equal, people are
just clashing at each other. SPEAKER 1: And they
sort of made gestures that they were going to
expand freedom of expression under Morsi, right? BASSEM YOUSSEF: To what? SPEAKER 1: To expand freedom
of speech under Morsi, right? Where that was-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: To expand? SPEAKER 1: Right. I thought I read that when
Morsi became president, that he made gestures that he
was actually willing to have more free speech-- BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Yeah, he was willing. But what was happening
was more pressure on freedom of expression. But at least there
was, like, a conflict. But with the military,
there's no conflict, because all of the pro-Islamic
channels were closed down. And I was happy
at the beginning, because there were channels that
were spreading hate and racism. But then the pro-military
channel did the same thing. And under the military, we were
the only dissenting voice-- there was no other. Everybody was
praising the military. And then it took them one show,
one episode, to close me down. Just to suggest some satirical
jokes about what happened, and I found myself
unemployed for four months. I found another channel
and then 11 weeks into, that I got
shot down again. And people were either
apathetic or welcoming, or just, like, very angry, but
couldn't do anything. Under the military,
it's just, like, this is the one force that
you cannot really go against. SPEAKER 1: So you just get
an email one day that says, you're done. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Not an e-mail-- no, we they actually broke
up with me on national TV. SARA TAKSLER: Post-it note. BASSEM YOUSSEF: We
didn't know-- we used to air at 10:00 PM, Fridays. So 10:05, Friday, the
show was not aired. And then they came up
with a statement, like, we regret that we
cannot continue. And we had shot the episode
and waiting for it-- we didn't know we. Were watching it, and I'm
having calls of what happened? I don't know. So that was-- SPEAKER 1: That's
one way to do it. SARA TAKSLER: We thought there
were technical difficulties, because there were watch
parties where people would just gather in the streets
to watch the episode-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yeah, they
were kind of like Super Bowl-- people watching and waiting. And then they said, well,
the show is canceled. And everyone-- there
was like, whole anger. So it's kind of like two
levels of being someone breaking up with
you on WhatsApp. SPEAKER 1: But-- [LAUGHTER] --throughout this process--
or Google Hangouts-- throughout this process your-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh, sorry-- oh, sorry. SPEAKER 1: We're on brand here. Yeah, come on. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Sorry. SPEAKER 1: They're
just going to yank me off stage if I don't do that. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh my god. I shouldn't even
mention Facebook, then. SPEAKER 1: That's OK, that's OK. Throughout this process,
you're experiencing pressure from the government, but there
must be societal, cultural-- your friends, people you know. The film portrays
really vividly, sort of, the experience of your
staff walking in and out of the office. And having to go around
and not be seen together, and not be seen looking
out the windows. What was it like
producing this documentary and producing the show
in that kind of climate? BASSEM YOUSSEF:
So for me, we had kind of a cultural and
generational divide, because many of my
staff had to come against the will
of their parents. SPEAKER 1: Right. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Because, like,
especially under the military, many of my family kind
of went against me, and they believed the
fact that I was a spy and I was paid by America. And people that I went
to school-- for 20 years, known these friends
for 20 years, started to doubt my intentions. The amount of people that I
lost, that came out of my life, that I blocked on
Facebook was a lot. And it was very
hard, because here-- [INAUDIBLE] like,
a bunch of people shouting death threats
to you in the streets, and that's not even [INAUDIBLE]. It's people that you knew all
throughout your life, people that were your flesh and
blood, who went against you. And that was very difficult. But
then I was like, you know what? Screw them. SPEAKER 1: So
Sara, you start off wanting to make a documentary
about an interesting person that sort of exemplifies
the story of using comedy as a weapon in politics,
did you ever have a moment where you said, uh-oh. I might need to get out
of here, this is not safe. Or-- SARA TAKSLER: There
were a few moments where it felt a little questionable. I mean, one, Bassem
mentioned, right, that I was there when the show
got canceled the first time. And I was sitting in someone's
house who works for the show, and we were watching it on TV. And she was like,
you should leave. You have footage that they're
not going to want you to have. And I was supposed to
fly out two days later, and I was at the airport. And as my drives were
going through security, I had just seen "Argo"-- that was out the time. I just couldn't wait for the
plane to get into the air. SPEAKER 1: The filmmaker-- SARA TAKSLER: Yeah. But within the office,
I mostly felt very safe, because the people I was
with were the people who like to work at a comedy show. It was very familiar for me. But there were certain times,
like when they were first told that they were going to
be some protesters showing up, there had been people
posting on the internet, and there were concerns
that it might be violent. And so they told
the staff that they didn't have to come in the
next day of the taping. And so some people on the
staff looked pretty nervous. And I was like, oh,
if they don't come in, I don't have to come. And so I was kind of like,
(WHISPERS) don't come in! Because I was scared. And they went around the
room, and they were like, are you going to come? Are you going to come? And everyone was like,
yeah, I'll be here. I'll be here. And I was like, oh
man, if they're brave, I have to be brave. So I really took my
cues from the staff, and they consistently
stepped up. BASSEM YOUSSEF: And
there was one time that was really violent, and I
was calling Sara to come, and she was in America. SARA TAKSLER: Yeah, so
someone from his staff was like, you might not
want to come right now, things are really bad. So I talked to Bassem to ask
his opinion, and he said, look, I'm going to be there. My staff is going to be there. Worst case scenario-- a
producer from "The Daily Show" gets blown up and I
get tons of press. So I think you should come. And I went, so-- SPEAKER 1: It'd be huge. So this segues, I
think, to another topic that I wanted to cover. Which is the Committee to
Protect Journalists awarded Bassem the International
Press Freedom Award, I think, in 2013. And there's a
tendency with people who advocate for free speech to,
sort of, lionize these people. Declare them living saints,
like they can do no wrong, they have to never be afraid. And something that I
think the film touches on, in a really human way,
is the personal cost of this day-to-day-- the cost on
your family, on your daughter, on the staff. And it makes real the fact
that this is a really stressful situation, and
acknowledging that you're going to have to go off-air. Bassem, when you were doing
the Q&A on your last live show, and the audience was
heckling you, basically, at one point, saying, why
aren't you doing this? Why aren't you doing this? Stand up to them. You very earnestly,
say, I'm working on it, but I can't right now. BASSEM YOUSSEF: So
this was not the only-- this was actually
members of the press who showed their disappointment
with me, how I'm not brave enough to stand up. And the guy who was
leading that heckling, I met him in Germany three
days later, and he came up and he apologized. And was like, I'm sorry,
I escaped to Egypt shortly after you did. SARA TAKSLER: From Egypt. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
From Egypt-- and I'm very sorry that I
didn't understand. I didn't understand that kind
of pressure that you were under. People were hanging on-- it was not anger at
me, as much as anger of the whole situation--
that this hope that we had been taken away. Because I was not the first
to be taken off the air. They would-- it
happened very slowly. But we were the biggest,
so when that happened-- people were just waiting. They looked at us as the
thermometer of freedom. If that show is off
the air, that's it, we are back to square one again. And when that happened, people
were even more angry at me, not at what happened. It's like, guys, I'm
not the bad guy here. SPEAKER 1: And that's kind
of what I want to get at. I mean, can you talk about-- how do you calibrate
sticking with it versus knowing that you
need to sort of accede to the government's demands? Or when do you decide to leave-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: No demands-- you either say what's right,
or you don't say it at all. Because I was given
other options. I was giving an option
to stay and play along, and be part of that
pre-revolution-- SPEAKER 1: So they were
going to let you keep the show if you basically-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh yeah,
and tripled my salary and everything. It was on the table. And And even after I left, they
were tries to bring me back. Like every couple
of months, there was someone who'd
call me, and it's like, we'd like to get you back. And it's like, what do
you mean, 'get back'? Well, you can come back
and say whatever you want, but there's going to
be some understanding. And understanding,
in that lingo, means that we're going
to review your script. SPEAKER 1: Do you
still get those calls? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, not very recently. And the thing is, my answer
was always the same-- I cannot be a makeup on
the face of your regime. You want me back
just to save face, to tell people that
we have democracy. Here's "Al-Bernameg"
and Bassem Youssef, he's always back and
everything is good. But it's not, because many
of my friends, many of them are in jail. Many of them are disappeared. Many of them are
not living anymore. They got killed
[INAUDIBLE] because of it. So you cannot go back with
a good heart and say, hey, let's make fun of
things, you know? First of all, I always say this,
and I make some people angry when I say, comedians
and satirists, they're not freedom fighters,
they're not activists. They are someone who
try to say their opinion in a different way. Nobody should get hurt if
they would tell their opinion. And even when Jon
Stewart, in the middle, between the first and the
second time I was banned, he said, man, it's not--
he was calling me, saying, it's not worth it. Your safety is more important. So it is not-- there's no reason to play
chicken and jeopardize your life and other
lives around you. SARA TAKSLER: And that was
towards the end of the show. It was hard, because I
didn't know what to root for. As someone who has lived my life
in comedy and who loves satire, the show was very
symbolic for me, too, like, I think, a lot
of the people in Egypt. But once you become friends
with Bassem and the team-- that's more important. And so you kind of
hope the show ends, so that they can be safe,
and mentally safe, as well. SPEAKER 1: Is that your advice-- that was your
advice at the time-- SARA TAKSLER: No, I wasn't-- we didn't know what
was going to happen. And the way we
ended up structuring the film was the
first part of the film is about what the situation is
and this fight for free speech. And then the middle of the
film is this external battle, and the government
and protesters and different people
putting pressure. And then the third
part of the film is the internal
battle, where you think you're just
doing something that sounds fun and feels
important and feels good, and then suddenly, everyone
has an opinion on it, and not just strangers,
like his family. And his wife and his daughter
and his parents were affected. And so it becomes
harder to do a job just because it matters to you-- you're dealing with safety. SPEAKER 1: I think that one
of the most powerful scenes in the film-- you could blink
and miss it-- but it's when, I think, your grandfather-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: My father. SPEAKER 1: Your father just
says, I'm proud of you. And imagining the
context of the Egypt that he grew up in,
standing backstage at a huge shiny studio, and he
just said, I'm proud of you, and it was very matter of fact. But I think it exemplified
a lot of people's feelings. I do want to be
conscious of time. And I know there are probably
questions in the audience. If you do, line up at
one of these microphones, and depending on how friendly
you look, we'll call on you. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes, please, can
I have one friendly reporter-- SPEAKER 1: Some softballs first. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I mean-- SPEAKER 1: OK, so
here's a softball. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Somebody
can give me a friendly-- I don't want anybody's who's-- SPEAKER 1: You live in
the United States now. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes. SPEAKER 1: How's
that for material? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh. I mean, there is no
shortage of that. SPEAKER 1: What
advice would you give to comedians who are thinking-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Oh
yes, what advice could I give, because, of course,
I did well with my life, yes. Because, of course, I
got it all figured out. I have no advice for you guys. I mean, God bless you. But hey, you know what? I mean, you went through
eight years of George W. Bush. And I know that now,
you look at George W. Bush as a good president. Compared to this
guy, anybody is. But I think it will pass. It's really up to-- here's
my thing, it's not advice, but it's an observation. You can laugh as much as
you want about Donald Trump and make fun of him. But if you don't go out
and vote every two years and change the dynamics in
the Congress, in the Senate, I mean, you can
laugh all you want. He's going to be there
for eight years-- he's going to be
laughing at you. So that's the whole thing. Because yeah, he's not
going to go away because you throw 15 jokes at him. SPEAKER 1: But what
do you make of comedy in the age of Donald Trump? The latest controversy
is Kathy Griffin, with-- staged a photo of her with the
severed head of the President. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yeah, and I
was very angry, because that's our thing, you know? We are the ones
who behead people. I mean, come on, you can't
take that away from us, too. I mean, you're even
white-washing beheadings-- it's horrible. SPEAKER 1: I'm going to pivot
away from this while I still have a job. Yes, sir? Please, as soon as possible. AUDIENCE: First of all,
I want to thank you, Bassem and Sara,
for coming here. This is really awesome. I have a question. So as, now, I guess, an
expatriate, and currently speaking as an Egyptian
living outside of Egypt, what do you think we
can do from the outside, and how realistically affective
do you think that will be? BASSEM YOUSSEF: As an
Egyptian living outside-- I mean, it is one of the
hardest questions that I get. Because when people
say, what should I do? I will give you personal advice. What you should do, as an
Egyptian living abroad, is to work on yourself to
be the best that you can, so when the country really
needs you, and it's available, you can come back
and make a change. But that right now, I
mean, all that you can do is rant on Facebook-- seriously. I mean, this is
an honest answer. I mean, I can give
you a very shiny-- AUDIENCE: I mean, if we stay
here, there will be no-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Well,
I mean, but lately-- AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] BASSEM YOUSSEF: Or like,
hopefully, you'll get a say. But seriously, I
mean, I can give you like a very shiny answer of,
like, go and organize and do-- It is honestly, practically,
the best thing that you can do is be the best person you can,
the best at what you can do. And hopefully,
when things change, and you are able to come
back and make a difference, you will. But seriously, focus on yourself
now-- and psychologically, it is much better. You, as an Egyptian,
you will understand-- you live outside and
Egypt still consumes you, everything that happens there. So you need to take
care of yourself. Now, I'm being like Dr. Phil. AUDIENCE: Thank you. SPEAKER 1: Can we talk a little
bit about offense-giving, and how you approach the
value of giving offense, and how it's
regarded differently in different cultures? I mean, you were arrested,
literally, for offending Islam, among other things. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Although,
I didn't offend Islam-- this was like
something even made up. But we were very conscious
about the culture difference. We had to be culture-conscious. I mean, here, you
don't care, because you are protected not just by-- SPEAKER 1: Well-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Laws, but
you're protected by society. Yeah, there's a backlash,
but you are still-- nobody will come and
arrest you from your house. So that's a big difference. So we had to be conscious
for one simple reason-- because we were speaking to a
vast majority of people who are still-- they might agree with us, but
they're very conservative. So you want you want
to win them over. So we didn't want to make the
mistake of making a joke that would be offending for
something that they believe in, so they can still
continue listening to you. That was the thin line
that we were walking. SPEAKER 1: So as long as
you're making them laugh, you think you can get away
with a little bit more. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Yes, but we also had to be very sensitive
about certain issues. I mean, the stuff that we were
discussing in the writers room, we had to edit half of it. SPEAKER 1: There's a scene where
a very serious man gets on, and there's subtitles, and
he says, does God order you to kill Bassem Youssef? Not yet. I mean, presumably,
you're skating pretty-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: Not
now-- he said 'not now.' SPEAKER 1: OK. BASSEM YOUSSEF: No, he said-- there was a sheik
giving a fatwa. People talk to me on the
internet or on the phone asking me, is it [NON-ENGLISH] for
me to kill Bassem Youssef? And I say, tell him, not now-- which is interesting. There's actually a chain of
emails with the subject-- "Can I kill Bassem Youssef?" SARA TAKSLER: If your
grandmother would forward you that one more time. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes, yes. And of course, all of these
emails were sent on Gmail. SPEAKER 1: Naturally. BASSEM YOUSSEF: And so-- SPEAKER 1: This is going
really well, I think. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Go ahead. AUDIENCE: Oh, hi. Thank you both for being here. I had a question for Sara. You were at "The Daily Show"
for over a decade, and-- SARA TAKSLER: I'm still there. AUDIENCE: Oh, there you go. SPEAKER 1: For now. AUDIENCE: You,
arguably, have seen this golden age in political
satire on television. And I was wondering
if you could just speak a bit to what
it's been like to write across these three
administrations? And what Jon Stewart's
hallmarks were that some of these other
shows are seeing now. SARA TAKSLER: Well, I've been
at "The Daily Show" since 2005. So when I came in,
Bush was president. And most of the time, I've been
there, Obama's been president. So this new shift is-- we're still kind of
figuring out how all of that will work, in terms
of production. But for me, the interesting
thing was sort of, because a lot of that time I
was doing the film on the side, I definitely didn't have
an awareness of how special it was to be able to tell jokes. And not just to work in a
place where you can make jokes about whoever is in power, or
whatever hypocrisies you see, but that there's
competitors doing the same thing, who make it
easier for each one to exist. Like, if there were five people
doing the same show Bassem was doing, his show would
probably still be on the air, because there's not so much
pressure on any one place. So I think through
doing the film, I've had a greater awareness of
an appreciation for this job. And I mean, I obviously cared
a lot about the power of satire to begin with, and
that's why I wanted to focus on Bassem's story. But I don't think I
understood until-- and this is speaking on
behalf of me, not the show, but this administration-- I really started to understand
the movie in a new way. I watched "Tickling
Giants" again the weekend after our election,
at a film festival. And I was like, I have seen
this movie 1,000 times, and suddenly I was
like, oh, I get that. I related to it in a
different way, because-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: I told
you we're ahead of you. SARA TAKSLER: Oh yeah,
you're ahead of me-- of us. And a person in
the audience said that the movie is a cautionary
tale for this country. And I felt like
that was correct, that was how I felt, too. Because the idea isn't-- we have
a very strong history of free speech in this country,
and comedy shows exists, and lots of different people
say lots of different things. And what I'm learning
through the film is that most people,
regardless of political party, actually really value that. They value different
things about it, but I've been surprised
that different people-- someone from Ted Cruz's
presidential campaign offered us support. Some people from the Koch
network have offered us support-- like, all different
people I didn't expect to reach out-- SPEAKER 1: As in Coca-Cola,
or Koch brothers? SARA TAKSLER: The
other one, the latter. Coca-Cola's welcome to come
on board. if they want to. SPEAKER 1: Yeah, if
they're listening. BASSEM YOUSSEF: And
the poster is red. SARA TAKSLER: But yeah,
all different groups are coming together. The poster is red. But people are supporting
the idea of free speech. And I think, like me,
a lot of Americans didn't realize until
this year that we really are happy that
free speech exists, and that now is the
time when we have to speak up for it to continue. When you start to see "Saturday
Night Live" being criticized, and things like that, that's
when you have to speak out. You don't wait for a
full-blown dictatorship. SPEAKER 1: Please. AUDIENCE: Hi, thank you
both for being here. Sara, thanks so much for all
the work, for "The Daily Show." SARA TAKSLER: Thank you. AUDIENCE: I'm a huge fan. Bassem, thanks for being
a beacon of revolution and the things that you do. I had a question about
how you feel as-- I mean, you were
a doctor, so how do you feel now, looking
back at your school years and everything like that, do you
ever think, like so many of us Americans do, what
did I do with my time? Where is my degree going? Does that ever happen to you? BASSEM YOUSSEF: That's a
very discouraging question. No, here's the thing-- I spent 19 years in
medicine-- seven years in medical school and
12 years practicing. And I don't regret
a single moment because, actually, it made
me the person who I am now. A lot of people say, how did
you discover your talent? How did you discover your-- I was not. I was just a nerd. And this is how I
actually managed a show-- I was a nerd. I was there, first one in in the
morning and last one to leave. I think my years in
the medical profession was a character-building tool. It was amazing, and I think
it made me appreciate a lot, I think, on a
personal level, too. I don't speak about
that a lot, but I rose to fame extremely
fast, and everything was taken from me, overnight. I think if I was a much
younger person, who didn't have that
kind of experience, I think I would have
killed myself by now, because this was a very
extreme experience for anybody. When I rose to fame
very fast, I remained grounded, because I thought
that all of this is not natural. I'm someone who used to
go to hospital shift study 18 hours a day-- all of this was weird. So I didn't embrace it. I never embraced it. So when it was taken away,
I was like, oh, now, it sounds normal. [LAUGHTER] So I think it guarded
me, psychologically, to go through that journey
as a medical doctor, and it helped me on
a personal level, on a psychological level,
more than anything. So it never went to waste. And plus, I can do emergency
procedure now very, very-- if you give me the right tools. AUDIENCE: I thought it was weird
you went four months unemployed with those qualifications. BASSEM YOUSSEF: No--
yeah, well, one thing happens when you go
to entertainment, it's kind of like you don't want
to go to the hard work again. AUDIENCE: Thank you. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Thank you so much. SPEAKER 1: What would it take
for you to go back to Egypt? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Ah-- not now-- a lot of things. And it doesn't-- it
has to be a huge shift, not just because of
a certain president, because I think I have burned
all my bridges with the current regime. Even if Sisi ceased
to exist tomorrow, I was vocal against all the
military regimes in the region. So I think I'm blacklisted
for a long time. However, I do miss some
stuff about the country, namely, two things-- mangoes, because you
guys don't have mangoes. And if you think that you
have mangoes, you don't. They are cucumbers. They taste like cucumber, they
have a texture of a cucumber, it's horrible. You don't know what
mango is until you come to Egypt, with all due respect. And the second thing is
our beautiful beaches and coast and kite-surfing. Because you guys
don't have beaches. Maybe in Miami, but if you
are in Los Angeles-- it's beautiful beach-- but you
can't even touch the water, it's so cold. SPEAKER 1: OK--
beaches, mangoes. BASSEM YOUSSEF: So
beaches and mangoes-- If you supplied
this here, I'm fine. SPEAKER 1: What about-- are you a political figure? BASSEM YOUSSEF: No. SPEAKER 1: Why not? BASSEM YOUSSEF: I don't like
to think of myself as that. SPEAKER 1: Ah, well,
that's not what I asked. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Well,
I mean, a lot of people think of me that way, which
I resist very strongly. SPEAKER 1: Do you think
that's productive resistance? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes, because
I don't like for comedians to be mixed up as politicians. SPEAKER 1: What is the cost
for a comedian, a host, to become more
explicitly political? BASSEM YOUSSEF: I
mean, I think it takes a lot from your satire. So if you have let someone
like Al Franken, when he did the shift, he left
career of comedy behind him. And then he became dedicated--
that's acceptable-- you can shift. You can shift from a doctor
to a comedian to a politician, but you can't-- I think it is counterproductive
to be both of them at the same time. SARA TAKSLER: I think, also,
at least in this country, maybe in Egypt, there is
a bit of a political act by watching "Al Bernameg,"
and sitting in public. Here here, I think
it's misguided to think that you're doing
something and speaking by watching a comedy segment? Like, hopefully, you
enjoy it and it makes you feel less alone
and you laugh, and maybe you learn something. But unless you do something
with that information and act in some way, it's passive. So if you think that
by supporting Bassem, you're active
politically, you're not. Laughing at a joke
is good for you, but if you want to
change something, you have to change it actively. SPEAKER 1: Can you imagine,
though, in your lifetime, returning to an Egypt where
you would be considered a political figure, and
where that level of support, that level of fame
that you enjoy would be a political asset? BASSEM YOUSSEF: No, I
wouldn't like to be-- no, it's horrible. I don't know. I mean, after watching
"House of Cards," I don't think I want
to be a politician. I don't know. It's-- no. SPEAKER 1: We may have you back
in a year and ask you again. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes. But you know what? Just because we're on record,
never say never, Bassem 2020. OK? SPEAKER 1: There you
have it-- please. AUDIENCE: All right, this is
a question for both of you. In the US, we have liberal
comedy shows at night. How come we don't have
conservative comedy shows? BASSEM YOUSSEF: Because
conservatives are not funny. Seriously, they're not. I mean, I'm sorry,
can you name one? There was what, Dennis Miller? SPEAKER 1: But that
was a transition. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Who
totally became unfunny after he supported-- SARA TAKSLER: I
think they've tried. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
There's something-- SARA TAKSLER: There's shows
that have tried to do it, but they haven't
found an audience. So I don't know if that's-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: No! It's not the audience-- they don't have it. SARA TAKSLER: But they haven't
found an audience because they haven't been good yet. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Because true comedy goes against taboos and
against those fake pillars of society and moralism that
people want to stick to. You have to be subversive,
and conservatives, the only way they could be
subversive is becoming rude. And I know that's pretty
much a generalization, but I stick to it. Look at Fox News-- every time
Fox News' "Fox and Friends" or Sean Hannity or-- the guy who is
harassing people left-- SARA TAKSLER: O'Reilly. BASSEM YOUSSEF: I know. I know. So look at them when
they try to be funny. They are offensive
and they are horrible. I mean, we can be offensive,
but we can be funny, I think. I think. But that's my opinion,
I could be wrong. AUDIENCE: Well,
do you see anybody in Egypt trying to
fill your shoes, who's more aligned
with the government? BASSEM YOUSSEF: There a lot of-- what? Aligned with the government? Oh, they're horrible. The same thing--
still conservative, bad sense of humor. But there are other
amazing talents in Egypt, but they're not allowed to cross
that line to political satire. They're only allowed
to do social comedy. SPEAKER 1: Please. AUDIENCE: Hi. First of all, thank you
so much for being here. I apologize if this
question's redundant, I haven't had a chance
to see the film yet, so I don't know if it covers,
sort of, what's next-- SARA TAKSLER: Well, we'll wait. Go watch it. AUDIENCE: But I wanted
to ask, one thing that I think is striking
over the last few years, with the hiring of Trevor Noah
and also John Oliver's show, is not just the golden age
of political satire, but of outsider
perspectives shining like a new view on
different issues. And I was wondering if you've
thought now that you are here in the US, of doing something
where you're not speaking to an Egyptian
audience, but really bringing these issues
more to the forefront for an American
audience, as well? BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Sure I mean, this is a classic example of us
taking white men's jobs. But-- [LAUGHTER] It's-- I think, coming here,
coming here to America was very-- I mean, I'm in Google-- which is very apparent, OK? So here's the-- I
think, at the age of 43, I'm reinventing myself,
maybe for the third time. I'm someone who is not just
making a career shift-- it's a career shift, a country shift,
a language shift-- everything is different, and
it is difficult. Speaking to someone
who-- like, I don't have perfect command
of the English language. I have a very apparent
accent, you can hear it. And you don't know if
you're going to be accepted. First of all, how you
look, how you sound, or the fact that
you are an outsider. And then, even if they do,
what can you do different than the other outsiders
who have already been there before you? So it is very
interesting, very scary. I look forward that I would
have my own space in media in the United
States, and hopefully offer a different
global perspective to comedy and satire. And especially, the way that I
feel is a little bit different is that, is that if you're going
to talk about people coming from the Middle East-- there
are a lot of amazing Middle Eastern comedians. But most of them,
or all of them, have been raised and born here. I'm the only one to actually
come fresh off the boat from that area and the war
that everybody's scared of. So hopefully, we'll
make a change. AUDIENCE: Thank you. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Yes. AUDIENCE: Hello. Thank you very much
both for being here and for all of your
work and sacrifices you've had to make to help
promote free speech and people thinking for themselves more. It's a very general
question, so please feel free to answer however-- whatever tangent you
feel fit, but you kind of hinted at before the idea of
people thinking from authority and not questioning. I assume, not questioning
the statements of authority for themselves. So I'm wondering--
very general question-- besides founding
my own comedy show or our own hit comedy show,
what things can we do, or what is the direction
to promote people to start to think for
themselves a bit more and ask more questions? SARA TAKSLER: Yeah, so the whole
point for "Tickling Giants" is not just to be
inspired by what he does, but to then internalize
that in your own life. So I mean, I don't know what
you're into, but, for example, I'll tell you two things
I saw this week that I thought were cool. One was there's a
woman who makes fonts-- that's her job. And she took Arabic
and Hebrew and realized that-- so like, in
English, all you need is the top half
of a word, and you know what word's being said. And so she studied
both languages and saw that, I forget
which was which. I think in Arabic, you needed
the top half of the word, and in Hebrew, you needed
the bottom half of the word. So she made a new font that's
half Hebrew and half Arabic, with the idea being that two
groups, if they can't even talk to each other, how are
they going to make peace? And that was just like, her own
cool thing to express herself. There was also some
campaign that I saw where people
made a video that was showing how if we treated
mental health the same way we treated physical health,
how ridiculous it would seem. And it was all these people
with physical ailments being told that they don't
need medication and they don't
need to do things, and it was a funny
video to express it. I don't know which
issues matter to you, but find your own way to
bring attention to that issue. And whether it's holding
a funny sign at a protest, or whether it's speaking out in
a room and asking a question, or whatever your thing
is, find a creative way to express that--
and a nonviolent way. And then, I would also
say, because we're in this particular room of a lot of
people who know more about the internet than I
do, which is isn't-- don't flatter yourself, that's
not that high a bar-- but I assume you're much higher
than that, as well. For us, we're trying
to get the message out about a few things,
which are free speech and abuses of power. But then also,
because of the timing of when this movie happens to
be coming out in our country, there's all this
talk of Muslim bans, and I want people
to realize when you're talking about these
scary foreign group of people-- Bassem is an example of that. And he's an example of an
immigrant who's been exiled. And so we have this
thing called the hashtag #MeetAMuslimAtTheMovies,
and the idea is supposed to be that in the
same way for a lot of people, Oprah was their
first black "friend," I'm hoping that if
you maybe haven't had an opportunity in
your life to meet people in the Muslim
community, that this could be an introduction
to who we're talking about when
we talk about Muslims coming from another country. But what I want is
as many people as possible to have conversations
about these issues, and people with different
backgrounds and ideas. So we're trying to get as
many people as possible to watch the movie. And then we have
a dialogue guide to kind of kick-off
these conversations. So just as a challenge
to this room, if you like the idea of those
conversations happening, if you have any suggestions or
ways that you can help drive people to the
trailer on YouTube, drive people to
Ticklinggiants.com, and encourage them to see the
film and then talk about it, that would be great. SPEAKER 1: And how can
people see the film, Sara? SARA TAKSLER: So
people can see the film if you go to
Ticklinggiants.com, their way is driving you to-- it's going
to be on a bunch of places, including Google Play. SPEAKER 1: Excellent. SARA TAKSLER: But it comes
out on iTunes, Amazon, and directly through
Ticklinggiants.com. BASSEM YOUSSEF: None
like Google Play. SPEAKER 1: That's right. SARA TAKSLER: And no one in
here has ever used Google Play. SPEAKER 1: It's a little
sharper on Google Play, right? And when does it come out? SARA TAKSLER: So June 6,
it's available on iTunes, and June 13, it's
available everywhere else. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Including the web site, plus a 30 minutes outtake. SARA TAKSLER: Yeah,
if you take the movie from Ticklinggiants.com,
you'll get 30 minutes of extra footage. SPEAKER 1: Is there
anything that you cut from the film that you really-- BASSEM YOUSSEF: It was like,
brief scenes of nudity. SARA TAKSLER: Yeah. BASSEM YOUSSEF: In the outtakes. SARA TAKSLER: We have a whole
nude version of the film. SPEAKER 1: The bath
scene, notwithstanding. Is there anything
else that you didn't get to include in the film
that you wish you had, or-- including the sequel? SARA TAKSLER: I mean,
there's a ton of-- so there's a few hundred
hours of footage, so there were a lot
of different stories that we could have told. There was one scene that
was really hard to remove, but it just kind of
kept not working, which was when the show was canceled
and the staff finds out, they're all out of a job. They were supposed
to be doing a song and dance on that next
episode that they never had a chance to
do, which was being critical of the president. And they decided, even
though they had all just lost their jobs, they went
up to the rehearsal studio and they did the dance
with just crazy energy. And this one guy looks in
the camera, and he says, the dream will not die. The dream will not die. And I loved that moment. Just that if you're a person who
expresses yourself creatively, you can take away free
speech and people may even choose for a period of time
to give up their free speech if they think it
will make them safe, but once you've tasted
free expression, you will always
have that desire. SPEAKER 1: And you cut that? SARA TAKSLER: I know. Think of how good the
other was, though. SPEAKER 1: That's--
oh my god, yeah. Great. SARA TAKSLER: That's the
worst scene in a movie, so you guys are going
to love the rest. SPEAKER 1: The least moving
part of the whole thing. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Is
it in the Outtakes SARA TAKSLER: It's
in the outtakes, yes. SPEAKER 1: OK, perfect. We have time for maybe
one or two more questions. Conveniently, there
one to two people. BASSEM YOUSSEF: And
before that, since we are in the business of
shamelessly promoting ourselves, there at the table
there, there's my book-- SPEAKER 1: I was
going to get to that. BASSEM YOUSSEF: "Revolution"? "Revolution For Dummies." OK, OK, I'm not going to say it. SPEAKER 1: It's
available in the back for purchase and
at fine bookstores everywhere, of course. BASSEM YOUSSEF: For purchase. You're already saving a
lot of money on your-- SARA TAKSLER: Your free lunches. BASSEM YOUSSEF: On
free lunches, so, yes. You can afford-- these are
like four lattes, down there. You can get it. And it's funny, and it has
never said before, never told before stories. There's also brief
nudity in the books. SPEAKER 1: Perfect. Last couple of questions. AUDIENCE: OK, this one will
be lighter than the other one, I promise. So you've done
the show in Egypt, and now you're here in America. Have you thought of
interesting differences between the sense of comedy
that the two cultures have? BASSEM YOUSSEF: It's
different everywhere. It's even different
within Egypt. So it's even different
within the same country, with different
socioeconomic levels, right? You are from Egypt and you know
that sometimes what's funny for a guy with a
certain education is different from another. AUDIENCE: Right. So how about just your
audience, compared to maybe, some population
here in America? BASSEM YOUSSEF: No, it's
different, of course, because even within
America, people allow for different things. For example, people
find it very easy to laugh at "Friends," right? It's very easy,
slapstick, whatever. But it takes you
much more thinking to laugh at "Frasier," because
it's much more compli-- and then, like another level,
to laugh at political satire, because you have to
be politically aware. So I think I will still
be choosing people who are much more aware of
political and global issues, because you know
that's my shtick. And I know I'm not the best
person to do this everyday, today social comedy
here, because there are people who have been
here all their lives and they do it much
better that I do. Yes. SPEAKER 1: Thank you. And you, sir, shall
have the last word-- quickly, please. AUDIENCE: So, I'm glad
to have the last word. So thank you, Bassem, thank
you, Sara for coming here and for making that movie. And it's not a question,
but as an Egyptian, and as I was following Bassem
Youssef from day one, his show, even my son was waiting
for it, because he has the same last name, so-- Youssef, Youssef,
Bassem Youssef. We miss his show a lot. My wife-- I didn't
watch the movie yet-- when my wife watched the
movie, she was in tears, because every time
we talk about him, every time we remember
what he has been doing, I mean, we remember this "phase"
in Egypt that we were all like, longing for, and
now we miss a lot. So I just want to give more
like, thank you for Bassem, for what he did. And our hearts are with him
in his "exile" in the US. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Well, it
can be your own country, and you can still be in
exile, mentally, right? You know this. AUDIENCE: Yeah, of course. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Well,
thank you so much. AUDIENCE: So, thank you, Bassem. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Thank you. [APPLAUSE] [INAUDIBLE] work. You know what? SPEAKER 1: Thank you, sir. Your check's in the mail. BASSEM YOUSSEF: You know what? I paid him. I paid him to do that. SPEAKER 1: Worth every penny. BASSEM YOUSSEF:
Dude-- I got you. I got you--later. SARA TAKSLER: I
want to point out that this guy was nodding
the entire time you explained how bad mangoes here are. So he's [INAUDIBLE]
level as well. I noticed that. SPEAKER 1: See him after class. I can't imagine a
better way to end. Thank you, Sara, you've
made a beautiful film. It, I think, has 100% on
Rotten Tomatoes at the moment? SARA TAKSLER: 100% on
Rotten Tomatoes, yeah. SPEAKER 1: So if
you don't believe me and you don't
believe the critics, go check it out on June
13, "Tickling Giants." Thank you, Sara Taksler
and Bassem Youssef. SARA TAKSLER: Thank you. And if you want to-- I forgot to say we
have a Thunderclap. So if you want to donate your
social media status on June 13, you can just go to
our Twitter, which is Tickling underscore
giants, and sign up now. And then it'll help
you spread the word about the movie on June 13. SPEAKER 1: Perfect. Thank you all for coming and
thank you both for being here. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Buy the book! SARA TAKSLER: Thank you. BASSEM YOUSSEF: Thank you.
