Love-him-or-hate-him Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef is set to debut a new 10-episode series in partnership with American cable network Fusion’s online arm, F-Digital.
“I’m very worried that people will say the show has someone not American talking about American issues or back home people thinking ‘oh this joke was directed at us’,” Youssef told Mashable. “But I hope people take away how democratic policies work as we uncover the fifty shades of democracy. We want to explore those shades and put it all out there. It’s more of a dialogue between us and the people.”
The show, called The Democracy Handbook, follows Youssef in five-minute episodes as he journeys through the U.S. from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. A televised special is also in the works, with the entire project debuting in the spring as part of Fusion’s election coverage.
“It’s the journey of me trying to figure out how we can learn from the people,” Youssef said. “It’s going to be informative and funny because there is both a dark side of democracy and a funny side.”
“Between issues like guns, white supremacist militias and Donald Trump, I am certain we won’t be lacking in any material,” he added in another statement.
Strengthening the show’s satirical spirit, it will be produced by former The Daily Show executive producer Kathy Egan.
“Our brand of comedy is dedicated to challenging the status quo and trying to provoke shifts in the way people look at the world around them,” Bryan Carmel, head of comedy for Fusion, said in a statement. “Bassem is one of the world’s most astute and therefore dangerous satirists — he knows how to get people fired up about important issues. We can’t wait to see what he learns about American democracy during this unique election year.”
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