How do authoritarian regimes manage their image in the face of emerging independent media? While outright censorship and coercion are still important, states as different as China, Syria, and Egypt also attempt to co-opt dissent. In order to examine the politics of state-approved political criticism, I conduct case studies of films by two Egyptian comic superstars—Ahmed Eid and Mohamed Saad—from before and after the January 25, 2011 uprising. Through interviews with government censors and commercial filmmakers, and analysis of media debates about political satire, I argue that maintaining control over commercial films enables the state to counter critiques from independent media. The case studies of Egypt reveal continuities in political discourse before and after January 25, in addition to similarities with state-sanctioned media in other countries. Counterintuitively, political satire can sometimes reinforce authoritarian structures, as powerful groups attempt to manage criticism by working with cultural producers.