Not every prank show can make you laugh; in fact, some of them can make you really upset, especially if they include insulting guests and jokingly setting them up on fire! That’s what Egyptian actor and so called “comedian” Ramez Galal did in his latest Ramadan prank show “Ramez bi-Yela’ab bit nar” or “Ramez is playing with fire” which airs on MBC.

After being a second (even third) class actor for years, Galal found his break as a host of prank shows that air every Ramadan. His provoking shows are based on putting celebrities in dangerous and frightening situations from being held hostages by fake ISIS terrorists, to getting trapped inside a haunted Egyptian tomb or a crashing plane… hilarious, right?!

This year, Galal pushed it too far by trapping his celebrity guests inside a burning room… there are actual flames, explosions and real-life stuntmen who set themselves up on fire each episode. One of Galal’s latest victims was none other than Hollywood star Antonio Banderas.

But the idea of setting people on fire or mocking their fear of it didn’t fall too well with a large part of the audience. Many thought that by doing this Galal is making light of the suffering and pain of the people who were victims of an actual fire. The complaints against this show were so serious that a member of the Egyptian parliament filed a request to the Prime Minister calling for prank shows to be stopped during Ramadan due to their negative effect on the audience.

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The same request mentioned that some prank shows like Galal’s and another show under the name of “Mini ISIS” are a free propaganda for terrorist groups, and they participate in normalizing terrorism acts and violence.

 Highlighting the serious effect such shows have on people, the media reported a story about an Egyptian mother who found her young son setting his brothers’ room on fire because he was trying to copy what Galal does in his show.

Another way Galal succeeded in upsetting viewers is when he made fun of his guests, TV presenter Shaimaa Saif and actress Dina Wizo for being overweight. Galal’s insults included calling them “bears”, “elephants” and “barrels” and saying “we were lucky to find an airplane that could carry them both”!  

Twitter was buzzing with tweets about the show with Rame’z name trending on it. 

I have no idea how today’s episode was aired. So rude. Fat-shaming is not funny. #رامز_بيلعب_بالنار @mbc_group

— Seham (@SehamHakmi) June 9, 2016

#رامز_بيلعب_بالنار
I never thought he can go this low. His comments are rude and ridiculous.

— ???? (@Salma_kh16) June 9, 2016

???????????? body shaming #رامز_بيلعب_بالنار

— Δ (@haifaal3ameri) June 9, 2016

is he actually body shamming them right now?oh my god is your show that lame that you can’t find anything to talk about #رامز_بيلعب_بالنار

— ن (@nooouurrrr) June 9, 2016

Ramez needs to be hit in the face so hard, mn 9ja thi? Mayst7i. #رامز_بيلعب_بالنار

— Fatema (@FatemaDashti) June 7, 2016

Do you think it is OK for prank shows to do this? Do you think this is excessive or acceptable?