Bill Burr took to his Monday Morning Podcast this week to talk about his performance at Riyadh Comedy Festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia. His latest episode arrived amid backlash from his fellow comedians for participating in an event that Human Rights Watch said is being used to deflect attention from the country’s “brutal repression of free speech.”
Burr said that while he was initially “fucking nervous,” he was soon astonished by the similarities to Western culture. “I think I’m going to land and 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?” Burr said. “Because this is what I’ve been fed about that part of the world.” However, after landing, Burr said he was surprised by both the restaurants and eagerness of the audience of have a good time. “Is that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to a McDonald’s? They got a fucking Chili’s over here!” Burr recalled thinking at the time.
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“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,’” Burr said. “It was just this great exchange of energy. They know their reputation. So they were extra friendly.” He added, “The royals loved the show. Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled.”
“It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve ever had,” Burr continued. “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. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”
Burr was among the robust lineup of performers at the festival and was joined by the likes of Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Louis C.K., Pete Davidson, Jo Koy, and Jimmy Carr.
Last week, Atsuko Okatsuka said that she turned down an offer to perform at the Riyadh festival. “The money is coming straight from the Crown Prince, who actively executes journalists, ppl with nonlethal drug offenses, bloggers, etc without due process,” she wrote in a post. “A lot of the ‘you can’t say anything anymore!’ Comedians are doing the festival … they had to adhere to censorship rules about the types of jokes they can make.”
During Burr’s podcast, he addressed reports over the initial restrictions on what comedians were allowed to say on stage. “When they first went to set it up over there, the rules on what they had about what you could say and what you couldn’t say in Saudi Arabia, the people around the festival were like …. ‘If this is all you can talk about and you want some good comedians, this isn’t going to work,’” said Burr, who didn’t specify which organizers were involved in the back and forth. “And to their credit, they said, ‘All right, what do we got to do?’ And they just negotiated it all the way down to … a couple things, which was, basically: don’t make fun of the Royals [and] religion.”
A few days after Okatsuka’s post, David Cross published a statement denouncing some of his “HEROES” for participating in the festival. Cross called out “Dave and Louie and Bill, and Jim,” adding, “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? 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.”
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