Saudi Arabia, a nation long known for its conservative social codes and rigid censorship, found itself at the center of the global comedy world on October 22, 2025. The first ever Riyadh Comedy Festival drew an eclectic lineup of international stars and ignited debates about freedom of expression, cultural change, and the ethics of performing in a country with a contentious human rights record. At the same time, the stand-up comedy industry itself continues to wrestle with age-old issues of joke plagiarism, legacy, and the struggle for originality, as stories from comedy’s past are retold and re-examined in the present day.
According to the BBC, the Riyadh Comedy Festival was nothing short of groundbreaking for Saudi audiences. American comedy heavyweights Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr delivered sets that included sex jokes and wife jokes—material that, until recently, would have been unthinkable on a Saudi stage. The audience’s response was electric. "The response was amazing, I’ve never seen such enthusiasm," said an ex-pat attendee, identified only as Sara, reflecting on the energy in the room after Chappelle and Burr’s performances.
For Sara, the evening represented a seismic shift in Saudi entertainment. She noted how the comedians “avoided discussing Saudi Arabia’s controversial human rights record.” But this didn’t seem to bother her or her fellow audience members. "People here don’t care about those topics," she explained. "If they did, they wouldn’t live here." Her decision to remain anonymous, even for such an innocuous comment, speaks volumes about the underlying sensitivities that still shape public life in the kingdom.
Outside Saudi Arabia, reactions were far more divided. As reported by the BBC, famous comedians like Jimmy Carr, Jack Whitehall, Kevin Hart, Russell Peters, and Omid Djalili were harshly criticized by fellow artists and commentators for agreeing to perform at the festival. Some comedians, faced with the dilemma of whether to accept an invitation, chose to decline altogether. The festival’s most prominent female performer, Jessica Kirson, issued a public apology for her participation, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she would be donating her fee to a human rights organization. Her decision underscored the ethical quandaries that artists face when invited to perform under regimes with checkered records on free speech and civil liberties.
Yet, the festival also reflects broader changes underway in Saudi Arabia, as the nation attempts to rebrand itself on the world stage. In recent years, the kingdom has poured billions into entertainment, sports, and tourism, seeking to diversify its economy and soften its international image. While critics argue that these efforts are little more than “image-washing,” others see them as tentative steps toward a more open society. The Riyadh Comedy Festival, with its taboo-breaking jokes and international stars, was both a symbol of progress and a lightning rod for controversy.
But the debates swirling around the Riyadh Comedy Festival are not unique to Saudi Arabia. Stand-up comedy itself is an art form defined by boundary-pushing, risk-taking, and—sometimes—scandal. One of the most persistent problems in the industry is joke plagiarism, a topic that has haunted even the most celebrated comedians.
The story of Bill Hicks and Denis Leary is a cautionary tale that still resonates today. In January 1993, Denis Leary released his breakthrough comedy special, No Cure for Cancer. The special catapulted Leary into the mainstream, but it also unleashed a firestorm of controversy. Many in the comedy world accused Leary of plagiarizing the material, persona, and attitude of his friend Bill Hicks, a revered figure in stand-up. The fallout was immediate and severe. Hicks, feeling betrayed, cut ties with Leary, and the two never reconciled before Hicks’ untimely death from pancreatic cancer in February 1994 at the age of 32.
Ritch Shydner, a close friend and fellow comic, recently reflected on this episode in a widely shared Instagram video. He recalled that Hicks’ response to the alleged theft was guided by advice attributed to Larry David: "Keep writing." According to Shydner, Hicks believed that the only way to outlast joke thieves was to create more and better material. It’s a philosophy that has shaped the careers of many comedians who’ve faced similar challenges—one that prizes originality and resilience over confrontation.
The legacy of Bill Hicks endures, his work still revered as some of the best in the history of stand-up. By contrast, Denis Leary’s comedy career has faded from the spotlight, with his most prominent years now well behind him. The pattern is familiar in the world of comedy: as Shydner noted, "Out-writing joke thieves leads to a lasting legacy that the copycats can never achieve." The same dynamic has played out in other high-profile feuds, such as George Lopez versus Carlos Mencia and Louis C.K. versus Dane Cook. Those who innovate and persist, it seems, ultimately win the respect of audiences and peers alike.
Joke plagiarism remains an ongoing issue in stand-up, a profession where the line between homage and theft can be razor-thin. The pressure to produce fresh, original material is constant, and the temptation to borrow—or outright steal—can be strong, especially as comedians chase fame and relevance. Yet, as the Hicks-Leary saga shows, authenticity and creativity are the true currencies of lasting success.
For Saudi Arabia, the arrival of international stand-up comedy is both a sign of change and a test of limits. The Riyadh Comedy Festival may have sidestepped the kingdom’s most sensitive topics, but it nonetheless marked a dramatic departure from the country’s entertainment past. Whether this moment signals a genuine opening or merely a carefully managed spectacle remains to be seen. For the comedians themselves, the choice of where and how to perform—and what to say—continues to be fraught with both opportunity and risk.
As comedy evolves, both in Saudi Arabia and around the world, the art form’s enduring challenges—censorship, plagiarism, and the quest for authenticity—remain as relevant as ever. The stage may change, but the struggle for originality and freedom of expression is a story as old as comedy itself.
