Ahmed Albasheer

Ahmed Albasheer
أحمد البشير
Albasheer on Reason TV in 2021
Born
Ahmed Abdul Hadi Abdul Salam

(1984-10-17) 17 October 1984 (age 40)
Baghdad, Iraq
EducationBachelor of Media
Alma materNahrain University
Occupation(s)Comedian, stand-up comedian, humor TV shows presenter, director, journalist
Years active2012–present
Known forAlbasheer Show
RelativesOthman Albasheer (brother)

Ahmed Albasheer (Arabic: أحمد البشير; born 17 October 1984) is an Iraqi comedian, journalist, and director, best known as the creator and host of the weekly political satire show Albasheer Show. He was named one of the twenty most influential people in the Arab world by the Global Influence Research Centre.[1]

Early life

Albasheer was born and raised in Ramadi, Iraq, He lost several family members during the Iraq War, including his brother and father, and was himself kidnapped and tortured by a militia in 2005.[2] Albasheer trained as a journalist at Nahrain University in Baghdad and went on to work for state-owned Iraqi television.[3]

Career

Until 2011, Albasheer worked for eight years as a political correspondent for Iraq's state-run news channels.[3]

In 2012, after moving to Jordan, Albasheer established his own media production company, Lagash, which in 2014 began broadcasting his eponymous show, Albasheer Show. Heavily influenced by Jon Stewart, who hosted the American political satire show The Daily Show from 1999 until 2015, the show satirised Iraqi politics, including ongoing corruption, sectarianism, extremism and terrorism. By 2015, the show had attained an audience of 19 million, over half of Iraq's total population.[4] The show has changed channels multiple times since its premiere due to threats from the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission, and is currently broadcast from outside of Iraq on Deutsche Welle's Arabic channel, in addition to on YouTube, where the show has amassed over five million subscribers as of 2021.[5] Albasheer Show has been cited as playing an integral role in the ongoing anti-government 2019–2021 Iraqi protests.[3]

In 2019, Albasheer received a Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellowship at Yale University.[3]

He appeared in the Netflix documentary series Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy in 2019.[6]

In 2020, Albasheer featured in the critically acclaimed documentary series Once Upon a Time in Iraq.[7]

Personal life

In 2011, after being injured in a suicide bombing, Albasheer moved to Amman, Jordan, where he resided until 2019.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Ahmed Albasheer". Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  2. ^ a b Kalian, Yousif (2017-10-06). "Baghdad Burlesque?". The American Interest. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  3. ^ a b c d Rosenberg, Tina (2019-12-26). "Opinion | 'You Are Killing Us? We Will Make You a Joke.' Meet Ahmed Albasheer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  4. ^ "Meet the 'Iraqi Jon Stewart' Who Ridicules ISIS for a Living". www.vice.com (in Danish). 5 May 2015. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  5. ^ "Albasheer Show – البشير شو – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  6. ^ Sperling, Nicole (March 2019). "Thought Borat Was Daring? Wait Till You See Dangerous World of Comedy". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  7. ^ Freeman, Colin (2020-08-03). "Ahmed Albasheer: if freedom of speech is under threat in the West, the rest of us will never have it". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-03-24.