Celebrated Egyptian-American comedian and satirist Bassem Youssef is set to make his South African debut with The Middle Beast Tour in February 2025.  Brought to you by Blu Blood in association with Gift of the Givers Foundation, the tour kicks off on 7^th February at Durban ICC before heading to CTICC in Cape Town on 8^th February and wraps up on 9^th February at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.

In Bassem Youssef’s one of a kind solo comedy performance, the audience is taken on a personal journey from Bassem’s career as a heart surgeon in Egypt to finding himself in the middle of the Arab Spring and becoming the host of the largest political satire show in the history of the Arab World. His jokes earned him worldwide recognition as “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” but also got him arrested, interrogated, and ultimately prompted his escape to America just as the country was going through its very own identity crisis. 

Osman Osman and Shaaista Khan Osman, MD and CEO of Blu Blood, are eagerly awaiting the long-anticipated arrival of Bassem in South Africa: “We are honoured to host Bassem Youssef’s first tour in South Africa. As someone who has bridged cultures through his unique blend of humour and storytelling, his ability to use humour to navigate complex social and political issues has made him a powerful voice in today’s world.  We believe that he will resonate deeply with the South African audience that are seeking both laughter and thought-provoking perspectives.”

Tickets are available on Ticketpro or your nearest SPAR Payzone kiosk.  The show holds a PG-16 age restriction.

Tour Dates:

• Durban: Friday, February 7, 2025 @ Durban ICC
• Cape Town: Saturday, February 8, 2025 @ CTICC
• Johannesburg: Sunday, February 9, 2025 @ Emperors Palace

About Bassem Youssef:

Bassem Youssef was the host of popular TV show Al Bernameg – the first political satire show in the Middle East. Originally a 5-minute show on YouTube, Al Bernameg became the first online-to-TV conversion in the Middle East and the most-watched show across the region with 30 million viewers every week, and over a million subscribers to its YouTube channel.  In recognition of his success, Youssef was named among the Time Magazine most influential list for 2013 – under the “Pioneers” category, was awarded the International Press Freedom Award by the CPJ and was chosen by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the global thinkers during the same year.  Youssef currently performs his one-man show, THE MIDDLE BEAST around the globe and the first title in Bassem’s children’s book series, The Magical Reality of Nadia published on February 2nd, 2021 by Scholastic and is currently being developed as an animated series. Bassem can be seen in MO (Netflix), RAMY (Hulu), LIONESS (Paramount+) and UPLOAD (Amazon). In October, 2023 Bassem’s interview with Piers Morgan saw worldwide acclaim and was shared and reposted on the internet all over the world – it is now the most viewed interview in the history of Piers Morgan Uncensored.