Bill Burr has defended performing at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival.
Last week Marc Maron, Shane Gillis and Zach Woods hit out at a raft of A-list names for performing at the event, which is currently taking place at Boulevard City.
Their comments came after a report by nonprofit group Human Rights Watch recently stated that the Saudi government view the event as an opportunity to whitewash Saudi human rights abuses.
The comics specifically called out the country’s alleged role in 9/11 and the alleged assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which a UN report previously said “the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible” for. Saudi Arabia has always denied this.
Yesterday (September 30), Arrested Development star David Cross also criticised comics for performing at the event, taking aim at Burr, Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. in a lengthy post on Instagram.
Now, Burr has spoken about his experience performing at the event on his Monday Morning Podcast.
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“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I’ve been talking to are saying, ‘Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy.’ It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve had. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”
Burr went on to say locals were, well, “just like us” wanting live comedy, wanting to relax and have fun, and consuming a surprising amount of Western culture.
Ahead of his show at the festival, Burr performed in Bahrain, and spoke about his experience of going to a bar after. “I’m like, these guys, they’re just like us … I don’t speak the language, but I get it,” he said.
He also went on to say that he was struck by the amount of local Western influence in Saudi Arabia, adding: “You think everybody’s going to be screaming ‘death to America’ and they’re going to have like fucking machetes and want to like chop my head off, right?
“Because this is what I’ve been fed about that part of the world. I thought this place was going to be really tense. And I’m thinking like: ‘Is that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to McDonald’s …? They got a fucking Chili’s over here!”
As for his performance at the festival, he said that despite some initial restrictions on his material, he was able to perform fairly freely.
He added: “When they first set it up, the rules on what they had about what you could and couldn’t say in Saudi Arabia, [organisers were told], ‘If you want some good comedians, this isn’t going to work.’ And, to their credit, they said, ‘All right, what do we got to do?’
“And they just negotiated it all the way down to just a couple things, which were, basically: ‘Don’t make fun of royals [and] religion.’”
Burr also went on to say: “I had to stop a couple times during the show [and say], ‘I’ll be honest with you guys, I cannot fucking believe any of you have any idea who I am. This is really amazing.’ And it was just this great exchange of energy. They know their reputation. So they were extra friendly.”
Despite his comments he did not directly address criticism from other comedians including Cross, who called Burr, Chappelle and C.K. out for performing at the festival.
“Clearly you guys don’t give a shit about what the rest of us think, but how can any of us take any of you seriously ever again?” Cross said. “All of your bitching about ‘cancel culture’ and ‘freedom of speech’ and all that shit? Done. You don’t get to talk about it ever again. By now we’ve all seen the contract you had to sign.
“You’re performing for literally, the most oppressive regime on Earth,” he claimed. “They have SLAVES for fuck’s sake!!!”
The festival was announced in July by Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and it is part of the country’s Vision 2030 strategy to develop Saudi Arabia as a venue for major international cultural events.
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