BREAKING NEWS

Egypt's top TV satirist back on air, pokes fun at all political camps

By REUTERS

OCTOBER 26, 2013 06:41

CAIRO - Egypt's most prominent television satirist, Bassem Youssef, known for his fierce jabs at ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, returned to the airwaves on Friday following a summer break, poking equal fun at the fan frenzy surrounding Egypt's defense minister that has gripped the nation in recent months.

Youssef rose to fame with a satirical online show after the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. His program, which has been compared to the US satirical comedy "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", is now broadcast on Egyptian TV.

Youssef had not been on air since July, when the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi in response to nationwide protests against his rule, fueling speculation the show had been halted for fear of reprisal if Youssef were to make satirical remarks about the general.

But on Friday the comedian, along with his team of entertainers, poked fun at all camps - Mubarak loyalists, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters who have staged frequent protests since July, and Sisi's fans.

Early in the show, Youssef and others on the program broke into a comic song-and-dance routine to the tune of the nursery rhyme "Old MacDonald had a Farm", which he said aimed to explain to Egypt's children the country's political events this summer.

"After the revolution we got a president who thought we would be duped", they sang in rhyme in Arabic, with the sound of drum beats in the background. "His Renaissance program was a terrible idea ... so the people decided to revolt."

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