Overview

• On his Monday Morning Podcast, Burr called the show one of the best experiences of his career and said he performed most of his usual set after organizers relaxed rules to bar only jokes about the royals or religion.
• The Riyadh Comedy Festival runs through October 9 with more than 50 acts, including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson and Louis C.K.
• Human Rights Watch criticized the event as whitewashing Saudi abuses and urged performers to press for the release of detainees such as human-rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair.
• Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka shared contract excerpts banning political, religious and LGBTQ+ content and said she declined to perform, while Burr acknowledged the initial limits and said they were eased after pushback.
• Backlash within the comedy community intensified as David Cross denounced participating stars and reports cited very large appearance fees, and Tim Dillon said he was dropped from the lineup after a critical remark about Saudi human rights.