Bassem Youssef

The bigger you become of a celebrity, the bigger the expectations, the pressure on you - to make change, to say what people want, to target the people they want to target. Fame is toxic; it is quite toxic.

I do think that this planet is a totally unjust planet. I mean throughout history - history paints a beautiful picture when it's written by the victorious, but it's a planet that belongs to the strong and the more able, and usually they are tyrants. So basically, I don't see justice happening to the crushed and the weak.

I can go back to Egypt anytime I want. Can I leave Egypt anytime I want? I think I can. I think I can.

Sarcasm all around the world is always against right wing and against people in power. That's the definition of political sarcasm.

I get very confused about being called a comedian, because when you say 'I'm a comedian,' people expect you to crack a joke. Maybe I use laughter and humour to make people think. I don't know what you call that - a humourist? A satirist? A pessimistic comedian? I don't know. Satirists can be very dark.

It's kinda me and Jon Stewart have a pact together - so he's making me famous in the Western world and I'm making him famous in Egypt!

Countries aren't built by boring people.

There's no glory and no respect in making fun of the weak, the powerless.

Part of the reason why people get radicalized is because they feel they are disenfranchised; that they not there; that they are bullied. But if they are represented, they can't go and say to themselves: 'Oh, this society hates us!'

Theocratic and military authorities share one thing: they have no sense of humour.

I chose the Egyptian dream: the dream to make a TV show, and then be called an infidel by the end.

What I hope to do in the States is to break up this stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs. I mean, we are basically the only sub-culture that is not represented in Hollywood. And it's funny because everybody is talking about the Muslim world and the Arab world, and we are not represented.