.jpg?width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
Some of the world’s best-known comedians – including American performers Dave Chappelle, Pete Davidson, Louis C.K., and Bill Burr – have been dubbed “sellouts” for taking part in a Saudi state-sponsored comedy festival in the wake of another journalist’s killing, and a reported rise in executions for non-lethal and drug-related crimes, along with long prison sentences imposed for social media posts.
The Riyadh Comedy Festival, hosted by Saudi Arabia’s government, is a new, lucrative gig for big-name comedians as the country expands its entertainment sector as part of “Saudi Vision 2030.” The initiative, brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also includes the highly-controversial LIV Golf tournament and investments in the tech, gaming, and venture capital sectors.
I remember a scene in the (good) show Louie when Louis CK criticized trump in a trump casino (he’s often the morally superior guy in his show)
Won’t happen there
OH NICE SLAM GUYS
If anyone expected Marc Maron to be anything except against this entirely they’ve definitely never actually heard Marc Maron once.
From the folks that brought you 9/11, two weeks of laughter in the desert don’t miss it.
Maron has such a way with words.
Yeah but Marc Maron is also this angry old school guys who does’t understand modern things while telling you to play this fun game called rocket league.
Does Marc Maron play Rocket League?
Am I Marc Maron?
We are ALL Marc Maron on this blessed day
Love Maron even more now, and all respect to Gillis and Zach Woods, but I did expect more from Burr and Ansari, and Mark Normandy was disappointing too. Bill Cosby and Woody Allen made me laugh though. Who’s showing up for those two?
People who don’t give a fuck about women….sooo a lot of Saudi’s I’d assume
Children
“I mean, the same guy that’s going to pay them, is the same guy that paid that guy to bonesaw Jamal Khashoggi and put him in a f***ing suitcase,” Maron also said. “But don’t let that stop the yuks, it’s going to be a good time.”
These are the most successful comedians. Like most rich entertainers, most are assholes behind the scenes when when their public persona matters and they want to fit in with younger crowds. Then when they’re past their prime years of relevance, they start kicking down further and further. George Carlin is a rarity. People making a career dunking on others are probably going to end up old shock jocks eventually
Shane Gillis… The naive all American highschool boy? He’s like …the American Girl doll of comedy.
He’s anything but naive
This shocked me about a lot of esports events. Sooo much saudi sponsorship and people going to LAN events there. Really disgusting.
Money talks.
Yeah I’ve ignored the ESWC because it’s just Saudi attempting to improve its image without actually changing their ways. And I am a huge SC2 fan so it hurts to ignore the biggest tournament of the year
Same with the World Rally Championship. They added a new desert rally hosted in SA. A desert rally does sound really cool, but I can’t support it. They’re adding it the same year they are doing a women only promotional competition as well.
I went to check who else was going, and was disappointed to see Jimeoin, Gabriel Iglesias and Hannibal Buress there.
Unfortunately Hannibal kinda sucks.
Buress owns a building in Chicago; in 2017, he removed residential tenants in order to convert the property into Airbnb short-term rental units. In October 2019, he posted a tweet against Bernie Sanders’s call for rent control and asked for donations to an Illinois landlords association, leading to Twitter users criticizing him with the phrase “Hannibal Buress is a landlord”. Buress later stated that he regretted his now-deleted tweets, which he claimed were jokes meant to stir up controversy. He attributed the criticism he received to fallout over comments he made on Sanders’s age. Buress also said a housing charity had refused his $4,000 donation due to his perceived landlord advocacy.
So him not caring who is paying him, long as he is getting paid, sorta tracks. :/
Well that’s a shame. I quite liked his stand-up. Into the bin with him.
It’s always a shame finding out funny people suck.
Bill Cosby was a hard one. That dude ignited my love of stand-up comedy when I was in high school back in the 80’s.
No doubt, he was the first standup act I seen in person as a young teen. Had his albums on vinyl and everything.
His records were among some of the first I ever owned (inherited from my father) and it really hurt to destroy them when we all found out about who he actually is. It really felt like I was destroying a part of my childhood. Had to be done though.
Some of the world’s best-known comedians, and also Pete Davidson
And Bobby Lee
Damn seeing Bill Burr’s name on that list makes me sad. The others all make total sets. But Bill Burr damn.
Pete Davidson didn’t make sense either. Dad dies in the towers on 9/11 and he thinks this is cool?
Never forget, until the check clears that is.
Pete’s having a baby. Shit’s expensive
The man is worth $4M. He could live comfortably with kids. He’s just greedy lmao
I had a feeling he exploits the 9/11 thing for sympathy.
Chapelle talking about how bad Hollywood is and not worth it…smh
Dave Chappelle has shown signs of being an asshole for a very long time
I really haven’t watched TV since he went AWOL then came back and talked about Hollywood. Sometimes I’m around someone who’s watching, but it’s not something I pay attention to.
I use him as an example where people think talking about injustices makes a person a particularly good person. I doubt he was ever all that good natured of an adult. He made his money and once he aged out of the social scene he rapidly started contributing to conservative social talking points in his comedy. And looking back I don’t think it’s that far from the Chapelle show.
There’s what he likes and there’s everyone/everything else he looks down on. He was never really an ideologue of anything. Just making fun of people in ways that got him the attention he enjoyed. Just a suck up for whatever social group he thought he could fit in with. Nowadays he’s fully embraced in sucking up to billionaires. Thats the social scene he aspires for now. More money means right to Chapelle. Also his dislike of trans people seems to be on his mind often. It’s all a joke though like so many other artists that hide behind just making a joke. I highlighted social conservatism for Chapelle. He’s an economic conservative too. Actions speak louder than words. Hannibal Burress was another comedian that ended up playing damage control and pretend his personal ideology isn’t money while public persona leftist
What I’ve learned the past 25 years this millennium, don’t trust stand up comic. Comics that write jokes for others but the Hollywood types are more often than not garbage
Oh he went full anti-trans.
Then he brought Elon Musk on stage at a show, got booed, then mocked the crowd for “being poor”
I had no idea!
PETE DAVIDSON?? The guy whose origin story is literally that his dad died during the 9/11 terror attacks orchestrated by the Saudis? THAT Pete Davidson??
You mean to tell me that a guy who sells Axe body spray might not care where his money comes from, regardless of how it makes him look?
Maybe he’s going in undercover as a comedian to get revenge?
His
comedyskit is revenge. Sorry couldn’t write that, it would have been hate crime.It’s gonna be really hard for him to pretend to be a comedian
undercover as a comedian
Which one?
Burr was the most shocking. Torched his brand and legacy with this move, hope the paycheck was worth it.
worst part of it is none of these guys were struggling. All of them could easily turn it down and they would be just fine.
Credit to those like Shane Gillis, Nimesh Patel and Stavvy for turning it down.
Glad Stavros has a backbone. I love all the cum boys.
Nimesh Patel is still listed on the site as appearing 😓
Sites not updated, he’s been posting that he cancelled.
150k isn’t chump change for him either, he’s not as well off as Stavvy or Gillis.
Well you don’t get much better sourced than the guy himself.
dear billy big bux :/
Oh wow. I hope all this fallout they’re going to receive is worth it for them.
Chappelle thinks because he acted on his principles one time in his life twenty years ago it grants him a pass to be a POS for the rest of his life.
i’m going to have to give Gillis another chance and try watching his standup.
Gillis had easily the best SNL skit this century, his stand-ups are decent, and lately he’s been coming out against the Rogan sphere of influence, to which I say kudos.
Which skit?
With all due respect to Coupla Beers, Flamin Hot Preparation H is the funniest SNL skit in recent memory, imho
Jesus Christ that one really took off, thank you for sharing.
I’m curious; what made you not like Gillis in the first place? I don’t really know the state of American comedians, but thought Gillis was pretty funny from the IG clips I saw. Then got immediately turned off when I saw that he hangs (hung?) out with Rogan. Then, I see this article and feel more respect for him. I’m really torn here!
The SNL he hosted I thought to be cringe. I also got an impression he had some sort of attachment to Heidi Gardner like an awkward teenager. Aside from that, his Netflix sitcom is hot garbage in my opinion.
I think Shane likes to get his name out there and get some recognition. He does well with the manosphere, but they’re slowly turning on him, from what I’ve seen, because he’s literally making fun of them all the time. He totes a fine line between offensive and sincerity. I met him once after a show, he genuinely seems like a cool dude. He’s made some mistakes that he regrets, but also owns them all. I think because everything he does is soaked in irony, it’s hard to find the real Shane. E.g. my family are huge MAGAs, but they liked Shane at first. Now they think he’s sold out and woke lmao. Overall, I think he’s funny and worth watching. Really love that the Saudis doubled his offer and still said no.
That’s awesome that he refused the money. thank you for the info. “Manosphere” was exactly the word I was looking for to describe that group, I had forgotten about it. I’m glad he isn’t like neck deep in that crowd because that shit is poison imo.
I liked his comedy and if he isn’t spewing bullshit elsewhere, then I think I can keep enjoying him. Thank again!
How does a few elites creating a censored comedy festival for attendees, who can only attend the event because of the financial position they’re only in because of the Royal family, create a more progressive Saudi society?
