[inaudible conversations] you are doing great. i would like to spend a week to send a special thank you for hosting us and creating today's conversation. before we begin we are so pleased to share a trailer for the documentary that chronicles the experience launching this

show in egypt. protests in the street in cairo egypt. protesters. more than 1200 people have died. 20 million viewers. [inaudible] what we are saying to each other, things that are not usually on tv. prosecutors ordered the arrest of the producer saying that he has insulted the president and his law.

that a canadian would be a wanted man is astonishing. >> it doesn't get me into the kind of trouble that it gets you into the. [inaudible] i have no manuals to do this it is a critical moment. [inaudible] this show is about holding authority accountable regardless of who is in charge we are the voice of the people ladies and

gentlemen, please welcome the cofounder of madison wells media and comedian and tv host. ♪ [applause] >> hello. if it is a beautiful crowd. nothing much going on. thank you for coming to. [inaudible] [laughter] so we have something in common.

okay. >> he is often called jon stewart of egypt and this allows a quick point of reference but i know jon stewart would tell you wrong. i am when it comes to the influence and risking your life, you win. the weekly show broke barriers and was the first political satire show in egypt filmed in front of a live audience and the most viewed program with 30 million viewers per episode at its peak, point of reference that is more than donald trump as twitter followers. [applause] on top of all of that, the show was produced under an authoritarian regime in the middle of a revolution where he

was receiving death threats, protests and calls for his arrest. we don't have nearly enough time tonight. >> can i stop you for a second, john for me is an idle said to be mentioned in the same sentence is an honor and i think that's what he has done not just to inspire me but a lot of people, how many comedy shows and satire came out of that powerhouse of the daily show. numbers are nothing. the only reason we had more numbers as we were the only one. here you have a market so if you have a couple million you are amazing and that changed in the '90s. i represented the premiere of seinfeld with 10 million views and in the '90s that was considered very low viewership.

but now the comparison isn't fair. >> just to be in the same sentence with him is the greatest compliment i can get. i watched him for ten years and he was an inspiration so to be with him in the same camera frame -- >> how was that when he showed up on your show? >> we have to go back to 2012. in egypt, i planted that. i made it happen and i will tell you why. when i was still doing the show on youtube i was inspired by him and had a wild dream that maybe

someday i could go to the united states and meet him and be in the audience and watch him so i had kind of a plan which by the way is in my book. [laughter] do you see how i shamelessly promoted myself, isn't that american? [applause] but i will tell you how it happened. i made sure whenever someone would interview me and ask what made you inspired and go on, i would just mention jon stewart in any context. what kind of sitcom, friends, and also jon stewart. it's worked and i remember the first article about me was on

the daily beast in 2011 a few weeks after i went on youtube and it was titled jon stewart [inaudible] and then by the time i went to new york, he had already heard of me. [laughter] kind of brilliant. will you back up for a second, you are a surgeon and waiting for a visa to come to cleveland to work as a doctor. >> yes, out of all places. [laughter] >> it gets excoriated in the buck by the way. i hope that no one is from cleveland. [applause] [laughter] he's the only one from cleveland i can speak to.

>> so then youtube happened. explain that. >> there's a story that is rarely told about how i started my show on youtube. in 2010 there was no resolution in sight. i was a surgeon and i wanted to get out of egypt because i was frustrated with how the medical system was working there. i finished all of my medical exams and i wanted to go. i got accepted, came to the united states and give many interviews and i got accepted in cleveland and was very happy. that tells you how desperate i was to leave the country being excited about going to cleveland. [laughter] in my defense even at that time lebron james laughed.

[laughter] so i was just waiting and then a friend of mine was into youtube. in egypt in 2010 it was just stuff we saw from other people, we didn't have original content at that time. it sounds weird but we didn't have anything originally made, just bits and pieces taken so he said we wanted to produce. why don't you come to me. and that second coming he said he had a way with people.

at that time, politics was like -- i chose something else, religion. [laughter] so i came up with this idea which would explain a different religion to people, and i would show people that you are just looking into thinking there's your belief that there's others that are willing to fight for that kind of conviction.

then it was supposed to be released in 2011 but something happened. i know it is dark humor but it is something even worse so i said we couldn't hold back and wait for a couple of months and we had th a revolution and scrad the whole thing.

i'm sorry i get long answers. >> i don't think it is a problem. so, you do the videos after the revolution ends and what happens when you release the videos? >> i ended up with 5 million. [laughter] in the three-week, every single network in egypt wanted to hire me to do a show. i didn't plan for this.

it was a difficult decision at the time because in 2011, on the same day that i was signing my tv deal the papers from cleveland arrived for my visa which people like me will never see again. >> so you decided going to the united states wasn't the four most important thing, doing the show was. >> i thought i would give it a try and put cleveland on the side and i would give it a year and see how it goes and if i failed i would go back to medicine. since my mother is a strong middle eastern lady who welcomed the fact i wouldn't leave her

and go to america she said you can stay but you shouldn't forget that you are a doctor so to please her, i continued during mdoingmy hospital shiftss doing the show for the first year and it was difficult for the patients to take me seriously. [laughter] >> so you would sedate them. [laughter] yeah. [laughter] >> social media, facebook, twitter, all of those things have been given credit for helping the revolutions, youtube. what role do you think the tab? >> is bypassed the gatekeeper as you said and people started to take their news from facebook

and twitter which is a good thing or can be a bad thing but it helped make people feel they were not alone in that they can relate to other people and this made the opposition much stronger so yes affect time it was very helpful. >> do you feel that you were able to get the networks to agree to you because of the popularity of youtube? >> we were the first ones that came from the people and there were others that were deciding what. it was already a tried concept on youtube and i know now this sounds very redundant this is what happens now but at that time it was unusual for us.

this is why in my relationship with many do not look as me as a celebritcelebrity fame academy f them, so the dynamic is totally different. it is like we have known each other for years. we do not have barriers and i'm glad that is the case because i was famous at the age of 37, 38 so i wasn't born into it and spoiled by being a celebrity at a young age i was abused as a doctor for 18 years. [laughter] so being humble comes with that. >> is satire the medium that you are always going to do what you were going to do whether it was religion or politics --

>> the one about religion was more informative but it's a big part of all of our lives in egypt we speak of politics a lot but we always had this smirky outlook on things. [laughter] [applause] when you started to show it was well received when you spoke out about the president and the muslim brotherhood and then you continue to critique the government and the general came in and started to change an in e tide turned a little bit so how is it trying to do comedy and satire with the tides turning or does it feel the same?

>> there's always pressure associated in the show and diffuse all the movie i didn't have the chance to to see the early haircut. i went in not knowing what to expect and it was an emotional experience. i can now see how depressed i was and when the camera rolled i was a totally different creature when it was time to performance of it was almost living a split personality. if you do a bad show you can't be like i'm sorry i am not

feeling well. what you mentioned the changing of the tide, that added a and additional layer of stress because there were the people closer to you that would turn against you, people that were my family, my closest friends, those that knew me since high school and considered me to be an enemy of the state and the people of this crazy propaganda said about me. in aland all the crazy stories d before and especially in my book -- [laughter] it is too absurd to be true but it was in print in black and

white they accused me of being in the cia recruited by jon stewart. [laughter] you'd have to think either he is extremely smart or the cia is broke. [laughter] people believed a lot of that stuff. the islamists. either someone who is an anti-islam operative of the last, promilitary operative of the west. [inaudible] [laughter]

>> watching the movie, and it's really good if you get the chance to watch it it is terrific. you do get the sense that things turned and it was difficult for you in the end. the other thing is you are very protective and supportive of the team doing the show. is that indicative of how things are in egypt? >> there is not a single interview. people here are sensitive. we hired them because they were better. we have add% of our team because they are more dedicated and work harder and they stuck around and

did their job. we fired men and women alike and hired men and women alike. they were better at the job and my senior producer basically she's ten years younger than me but i called her mother hen because she was the leader of the team and i trusted her with my life but i didn't think of these people as men and women. it was just whoever did the job. [applause] so today can you return to egypt? the >> it's like hotel california you can check in anytime you want but you can never leave. [laughter]

is there something official, no but do they need something official? every day i hear about another friend that is being banned and confiscated so why would i put myself in that situation and risk it and plus, why would i go back? there's two reasons. first, i like surfing and we have the best beaches in the world and i miss-serving. at least you can go there in the water without wearing a wetsuit which is something i really mi miss. you should be there in your swimming trunks, not a wetsuit and the second thing, i loved egyptian mango and you do not have this. what you think is a mango tastes

like a cucumber. [laughter] you need to be re- educated about your position. so these are the two things. otherwise, all of the things that i have actually my family, both of my parents died recent recently. ever since i worked for this success it was taken away from me so i would thin think why woi go back. when people ask me don't you miss egypt of course i do but the egypt i loved and missed isn't there anymore. you can be in exile living in your own country. you can become an outsider even when you are inside.

>> so, you never expected to leave egypt early on. >> no. for me it was scary thinking to the move. i had to go to dubai and the united states and i couldn't get employed in los angeles. >> you are raising a daughter. >> she is five. >> how is it raising a daughter in exile in another country? >> children don't really feel exile. they know there is something called egypt and this is america but she is comfortable. children are very flexible. and she knows she's much more fluent in english and hardly speaks arabic. that's why when she goes back to egypt to get some arabic fed to

her, she tells really good jokes in english. do you want to hear one? the >> i asked her this yesterday. she went to her mom and said why did the little boy eats his home work, because the teacher told him it's a piece of cake. [laughter] and she's five. she's smarter than me. do you counsel her towards medical or standup? >> no, that is a death sentence now. why. just know. but what if she wants to, she can do whatever she. during the last presidential election season you traveled the

country and did a series. we would be curious to know what did you learn about us during those interviews and a traveling through the country, you solving some of us don't actually see. >> i didn't learn anything new because i was a big follower of american politics. it just was george w. bush 2.0. the same rhetoric that more this time. i came from a place everybody is living in this chamber and refused to deal with facts if it would contradict with their ideology. so, for them, ideology is much more important and what i found is more interesting that when you sit here and if you are

using facts and want to tell the truth, you need to convince people. but there's others who don't care. it doesn't matter as long as they confuse people so it's not about like who is believable anymore. it's what kind of confusion can i cause. it's a lot of smoking mirror and i found this interesting. there was a rally i went to in a small town in georgia and trump was there and i remember the guy that came before him. he was, you know, people were just cheering for anything he would say. but then he would say if trump didn't repeal obamacare or do this or that, didn't do any of

his promises, but he built the wall. it was just this hyperbole. we have the same thing in egypt. we are greater than everybody and they want to take us out and they are jealous of us and the same thing. it's the same. we have the same narrative in the media. americans just want to destroy europe. it's the same rhetoric, no difference whatsoever. >> dude you have pointers for us? >> this is for them to buy the book. [laughter] since we are doing very well in

egypt, yes. i think the only thing i can say, and i repeat myself a lot on this, from a political satire point of view, people have this sense that it can solve everything. it is a starting point where you can get people more aware of what is happening. but we have a limit. we are not activists, freedom fighters, journalists. we have a limit and actually an review. if people continue using it and just laugh and they are very happy, it's not going to make a difference. but if you use it as one of many tools to organize and go out and

vote, now you make a difference. in california after all of this the turnout was 12%. although people were so upon going to the march march when it came to casting the vote, people were lazy. this is how john kerry lost for the second term in 2004. the same thing happened in the election in michigan so and i had this, too. people were watching and laughing but they wouldn't go further. succumbing to just are operating in a vacuum and that is dangerous. >> on that note, one last question and that is what are you going to do now that you are here, what are you continuing?

>> i'm driving a previous. [laughter] i'm trying to become glued insensitive. [laughter] i wake up every morning finding a new thing to offend me. [laughter] living the california life. [laughter] but right now, i am trying to find my own foothold and it's hard to come at the age of 43 to leave everything behind and start. it's difficult for the different language and audience. it's like i have to unlearn everything and start again from the beginning. and there is someone on his phone.

hello. people get to move [inaudible] [laughter] let's not get people scared he here. [laughter] i think you do pretty well with english. >> but it will never be like someone who -- you live in los angeles and it is a competition people are younger, more talented, they've been struggling for longer then i come here and people that call this a crisis i do stuff but like people who are half my age or weight tables do. i take lessons and try to be not looked at as terrorists number three. [laughter]

i'm trying to pitch ideas that you get rejected, people ask what do you do in hollywood and it's like i'm working on a script. [laughter] i have projects which is a way of doing anything but meanwhile, i'm having troops around the country with a one-man show to give people a sense it is a mixture of standup and storytelling and talk. i pitch his ideas and get rejected. [laughter] and i'm supporting the documentary. we will never know. two years ago i never thought i would be here and the only theater i was an visited was ine

operation so life is full of surprises. >> absolutely. >> on that note, thank you very much. [applause] they tell me that there are microphones. can we have the lights. [laughter] so apparently there is microphones over here and anyone with questions you are supposed to walk to the microphone is that how we are doing this? okay. and there's going to be a book signing afterwards. >> in the lobby. >> you don't have to buy the book if you want a picture i would be happy to take a picture

with every single one of you and it isn't a prerequisite, that if you buy into push me up to "the new york times" bestseller, that would make donald trump madd. [laughter] the egypt that you love and america that you love, what do those two places have in common? >> what do the countries have in common? it's like people trying to change but the difference is people are trying to make a change that are oppressed and people here still have the freedom of expression to do it they just need to organize. it's like it's the same good chamber and going back home

every night isn't going to happen. has anybody taken the torch on your behalf and what is your opinion about the media and the satire there now and how people are making their statements? >> there are people that attend as these tapings of comedy shows a. it's from the highest officials

to go back to my show for political satire but with a certain understanding which of course you can read right through that they wanted but it wasn't going to happen so they were not going to allow this kind of satire. this is what they can do they cannot do anything more about it doesn't deal with people. it isn't comedy it is a distraction and that is how it is used where i am from. an example of that biggest thing

in the news was us setting up and they found [inaudible] people went and protested and they were arrested for protesting a piece of land being given to another country and not a single comedy show mentioned a single joke about it. so if you have a hot political environment and you crack jokes about traffic or marriage or bureaucracy, you are betraying your audience and this is why. the second half of the question, how is comedy doing here?

[inaudible] >> it was very difficult. many of them were picked up and arrested. >> many canadians -- >> that would be a nice game. many comedians here tell a lot of political jokes and others get involved in the political process. where do you find that balance and do you see yourself getting involved in the egyptian politics to a further extent than just making jokes? >> it is something i can't even imagine i've already suffered enough as a satirist i can't

imagine myself in the political fight because it is horrible, dirty, and your family gets even more effective when that happens. five years ago i didn't think that i would prefer comedians would stay in their own zone but outside for example he made the switch and became a full-time politician. i think it is different for me. my question is do you have any advice now and i'm asking this because in egypt for the past few years, there's been a wave of depression and they don't know if we should fight the government had on or seek the positions to change over time or should we leave it as a whole because they don't respect

people and ideas are changed. >> i try to stay away from giving people advice. i'm noi am not the best person e advice. but i think it is going to be stupid to fight the government had on right now. i think what you can do is make yourself better at what you do because the time will come when your expertise will be needed and instead of being pulled into this endless list of depression that is happening and i'm sure many of us here feel exactly what i'm saying -- [applause] depressed people, yes.

[laughter] we need to work to be better and if time allows because sometimes you could be on the right side of history and have the better argument and circumstances. so it is a matter of when the time comes. i only ask this because i've met so many in the u.s. that are professionals. so many have told me the government doesn't allow me to go further. >> if you work for the government, it's something else. >> for many of us when we had connections were basic empathy,

there's a lot of excitement and thought of the promise and even some of the things happening it seems there was a lot after that. i wondered if looking back sort of living through these things is to transition to the regime and after that it was taken down, even worse things happening. looking back at the process what do you think we can learn both as critic observers for the egyptian people what might have gone differently, what might have been overdue you see it as an open process that we are working through the case of getting out of this. >> the worst thing that happened is people would get an instant gram account.

revolution doesn't work in 18 days. they were like we've got to move over it doesn't work. i wonder what will be facebook and twitter after 200 years. [laughter] people 70 years ago europeans were telling each other and 200 years before that for the religious dictatorship. this is a process and just by removing hosni mubarak, you cannot take it out and even

after pet days the revolution was never in control. it was in the hands of the military that the rulers of the country looking back i still think we never had a chance because they would just think about what they want and they were loaded with the military and the same thing for us we thought we could get rid of our democratic process and we were naïve but i think it is a generational issue but maybe it will take longer and take more than this fantasy that is not really a real.

i was just wondering. what worked for people before me doesn't work. everyone has their own personal experience so this is how we do it, accept that spoke of course this isn't a book that tells you how to do it, it is my story. if i did the same thing six months later or before it may not have worked it was just the

right time and if everyone could find their own, i cannot advise you i don't know what you do. there is no manual for success on social media otherwise people would just read books and do it. it doesn't work this way. how old are you? >> 19. >> you are already in a different set of circumstances so you have may be a much better

understanding of what works for you. when i go to colleges and people ask my advice, my advice is don't take anybody's advice. [laughter] [applause] that is actually good advice. >> i was wondering if i could get some advice. [laughter] i host a late-night talk show in chicago and so self-promotion is the best. [laughter] a couple questions starting as a doctor and surgeon moving into comedy writing there's mor thero

it you have to manage people, understand your equipment. i'm wondering if you have something that was difficult in that transition and the other one is a little deeper to take your time. there's a couple ways of going about satire. you have someone like jon stewart who can have someone from the bush administration and ask them directly about the iraq war and then your show which was more we won't have people on the table talk about what they are doing so there's a difference between satire and accessible i wonder what you feel works better or would you like more. >> i didn't depend on talent as much of process, so i created a

process. working hard wa we would come up with something good. it was managing people but then they wouldn't be very disappointed so disciplined so e with a flip. the next question, i'm sorry. >> d. like more satire or access and having them on? >> i prefer satire. >> best evening after.com. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you for your wonderful

talk. [inaudible] it is into 15 minutes of fame it starts with why, when, how. why go back to the place we grew up and what we call home, so this day and age, is it a

natural sense or something that you get over when you grow up? you can publish articles. >> why go back in the first place and the second part, is there any reason to give back from the place you came from? >> i was there and tried to stay as much as possible for the extentextent of my safety and pe around me.

so these praises of getting back and whatever has to be executed in context. you have to look at the circumstances and decide. so yes, i wouldn't have even left if the program is allowed to continue. eitheby the way, i had a green . but i never even thought of leaving. so i came when i couldn't stay there anymore. it was just a matter of circumstance. >> [inaudible] i told you, do not speak in arabic. [laughter] >> [inaudible]

>> i migrated from chicago street fair. it was before the civil war so my dad migrated and it happened a year later. do you feel like it has to do with the poverty level? what do you think influenced to change the.

this is a mixture of education and awareness and openness. who would have controlled the educational program and who allowed it to be part of the constitution, it was in 1970. the military is the same mentality because it cannot speak back so they would use religion to.

we have a decline in education and awareness. so you use religion, that's what they did in the 1970s. all of these groups were made up by the imperial ministry. they did it too combat muslim brotherhood. the whole thing of how we got back or declined was a project of military dictatorship. >> i know it sounds difficult to understand that they are as concerned. if you were in egypt right now and taking a car to sinai. it is a course.

>> with you transitioning from a doctor to a comedian, how do you deal with the negatives people have to say about you? >> i don't read the comments on the comments section. i used to, and it gave me -- it's kind of depressed me. >> i think we have time for one more. [laughter] >> last one. >> as americans we have a love of freedom to express ourselves.

if you are going to be an american, living in the united states now, we have a great deal of freedom. if an egyptian would come to the united states today and have the freedom that we have, we should be going crazy on social media shouldn't we, should we be expressing ourselves? with much less re- strained or are we more free than we know? >> i didn't get the last part. >> we are more free than we know and have more liberty than we even take advantage of. would you advise us to make more use of that liberty? does that make sense? >> first of all i am not in the position to advise people on how to use their liberty, that is one thing and i think people should do whatever the hell they want. if they want to go crazy on social media, do it.

if you want to insult people, do it, even if you want to be a racist, we cannot stop it. and i will give an example. this is something i gave advice. when people were offended by that caricature and cartoons we said okay what do you think will happen you have the internet and it's never closed is on 24 hours for everyone. i'm sure one of the side effects of democracy is you have different ideas and opinions you don't like. it's part of the process. if you don't like it you choose what to see and not to see that it's people expressing opinion.

it's now everything is splattered all over social media and people can see what's inside and it's a scary place to be. [laughter] that's human nature people are expressing themselves saying whatever the hell they want and there is no way for you or me or anyone. it is absolutely impossible. is it good or bad i don't know but there is no practical way to stifle the freedom of expression on social media no matter how, knowing how horrible or excruciating it can get we just have to deal with it. i don't think any of you are ready to give up on the sense to grant pictures you take every day. we just have to live with it.

>> on that note, thank you again. [applause] ♪ i will be in the lobby of a. [inaudible conversations]

good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon, charlottesville. yes, you can clap. [applause]>> welcome to th welcome to the virginia festival of the book.