Khaled Comics: Sarcasm At Its Best

At a time where political and social satire was at an all time high in Egypt, one name stood out: Khaled Comics. Khaled Elgamal, who altered his name to fit his YouTube persona, quickly became an online sensation; he had the talent to mix recent political and social events into meaningful yet light-hearted pieces of graphic CGI videos. From Sisi interviews and speeches to annoying vloggers on YouTube, Khaled has a knack for putting his own twist on recent events. Although the videos may offend some, it's good to see that a little loophole exists where people like him can be outspoken and publish uncensored material. We met with Khaled to discuss his inspirations, how he started, and everything in between. 

How did you get started?

The idea of editing on photo or video programs is something I’ve been doing for over 10 years now, but I never really felt the inspiration to post my work online. It wasn’t until the January revolution, that all media seemed to be going in a sarcastic direction, and it was high time I started to release my stuff, and I was right on time. It was great to have a voice through social media at a critical time like that, in a nice lighthearted way.

To someone who hasn’t seen your show, how would you describe it?

Well I document the news in a sarcastic, funny way. I think it’d be safe to say that if you feel militant about a certain political party or another, you would probably like some of my videos, but hate the rest of my stuff and cuss me out over it.

What are some of the recurring difficulties or hindrances that you face working Egypt as opposed to any other countries? What are some of the advantages?

I will start by saying the positive things and that is mainly the competition in the CGI world. It can get very competitive, there's a lot of great people in the field with even greater content, so that sense of challenge always pushes you to up your game and be more and more creative with each post. But unfortunately the people that are in charge of the market are always looking for the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get content, the three most essential elements to a successful video. So that's why the best videos in the field are made with single person effort so the output is very few and far between.

What’s in store for you next?

I am mastering a few CGI software programs, as it is my true passion. Then I will try to have mashup videos that mix western society with Egyptian or middle-eastern reality.

If you weren’t making exceptional videos what would you be doing? Other hobbies?

I really can’t imagine myself doing anything else as this for me is everything. I used to write short stories and some fiction stuff but that was ages and ages ago.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Egyptian reality; our news, culture, daily life on the street. All of that should be enough to inspire and give material to the whole world really and not just me.

What’s your advice for up-and-coming graphic designers?

Don’t keep releasing videos just for the sake of upping your content - just make videos that are direct and to the point, and have a clear message in mind for the people who will benefit from it. That is what will serve you the most.

You can check out his YouTube channel here or his Facebook page here.