Jon Stewart is on a sabbatical from his duties as host of Comedy Central's “Daily Show With Jon Stewart,†but that has not stopped him from appearing on television. Last week, he was a surprise guest on “Al Bernameg,†or “The Program,†the Egyptian equivalent of “The Daily Show†that is filmed in Cairo and hosted by Bassem Youssef. Mr. Stewart was brought on stage wearing a black hood and introduced as a captured foreign spy.
At first, he spoke to the audience in Arabic, his comments, according to CBS News, translated to, “Please sit down, I am a simple man who does not like to be fussed over.†The interview then switched to English, and Mr. Stewart discussed, among other things, “Rosewater,†the film he will direct, the relevance of satire in relation to political discussion and the lack of traffic lights in Cairo. At the end of the segment, Mr. Stewart staged a small coup d'état, forcing Mr. Youssef out from behind his desk, and then proclaimed himself as the new host of “Al Bernameg.â€
Mr. Youssef has been a guest on “The Daily Show,†most recently in April after he was arrested by Egyptian prosecutors and briefly held for questioning on accusations that he insulted Islam and the president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi.
