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RIYADH: As the world’s biggest comedy festival keeps cranking up the laugh-o-meter in Riyadh, Arab News went behind the scenes to get an exclusive from some of the biggest names in the industry.

Russell Peters, a Canadian comic known for his cultural and social commentary and spot on impressions, was happy to be back for his fourth performance in the Kingdom — the only comedian with a three-night slot. Peters performed on Thursday and will continue his gigs until Oct. 4  before continuing the Middle East leg of his “Relax World Tour” in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE.

His first performance was in 2016 during his “Almost Famous World Tour” in Riyadh. He later came back to perform at the Muraya Theater in AlUla in 2022, and then later again in Riyadh at Princess Nourah University in 2024.

“Just to see how fast you guys have changed from, for lack of a better term, the old way, to now. It’s pretty impressive. It’s great how you guys managed to do this,” he said.

When it comes to deciding where to throw in which digs, Peters said you have to adapt to your audience.

“Wherever you go … there’ll be references you got to change. You know, just today, when I was taking a shower, I started thinking ‘oh, wait, I can’t really do that here, because you’re not really going to get that.’ So now my brain starts going into overdrive where it’s like, all right, figure out what the connection is between these two and find the common ground and drop it in there. You know, who do they make fun of? They make fun of the Bahrainis…”

Peters also expressed what a significant milestone this festival is for the Kingdom and for correcting many of the misconceptions surrounding it from the outside world.

“The rest of the world has their impression of what �������� is. And if you’ve never been here, you’re going to picture something that’s a very old picture of what this country once was.

“And so it’s really unfair that you get pigeonholed like that. And so … for all these top guys in the game, coming here and seeing it firsthand and completely changing all their minds, because it’s not like you had to convince them, once they got here that it’s not what they thought it was. They immediately see that.”

The Riyadh Comedy Festival has over 50 comedians lined up to take the stage from Sept. 26 through Oct. 9.

“Comedy is like high school,” Peters said.

“And then you have my graduating class — Dave Chapelle, Bill Burr, Louis CK. Then, you got Kevin Hart and those guys in the next grade behind us, Andrew Schulz … it’s just really cool to see the groups of people coming in.”

With every comic constantly learning from their predecessors, this art form is always evolving — one leads to the other, Peter said. No art can exist in solitude.

Peters left us with a fun anecdote about his favorite audience interaction during a performance in Manchester, England, when a viewer threw him his next punchline for free.

“There was a Chinese guy in the audience. And, he was a little heavy, and he said his name was Henry. And I said, ‘What’s your Chinese name?’ And his Chinese name was Chung Ki. And I go, your name is Chung Ki, and you’re chunky. I mean, this is amazing. These are the moments right in your pocket. So, people were like, that had to be set up. I go, no, I wish, they could never set that up. That was so perfect.”

At a time when most of us are glued to our screens waiting urgently for the next tragic news update, praying for our families in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and others, comedy can be a sliver of light to keep the hope alive.

“The whole world needs a good laugh, right? The Middle East especially. But, I mean, that’s the thing you want to take their mind off. You want to let them escape for an hour. Will there be mention of it at some point?Possibly, but hopefully you do it in the right way.”

American comedian and “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross shared similar sentiments on the power of joke-telling.

“Laughter is healing. And I feel like when people laugh together, it makes the world smaller, and I came all the way from New York to make people laugh. I think it makes the world a little bit smaller.”

This is Ross’s first visit to the Kingdom. He first went on stage as the opening act for close friend Gabriel Iglesias “Fluffy” on Wednesday night before taking over for his own show Thursday night, and he has got a few insider tips to prepare.

“I talked to Dave Chappelle this morning. He said that the crowds were superb, and he even told me which bits of mine that I should do that they would love so I feel well prepared, and I love a new adventure, and I love a new audience who’s never seen me before. It gets me super excited.”

And fear not, Saudi fans — the “Roastmaster General” does not plan on holding back on this audience.

“Nobody flies me across the world to go easy. Nobody wants their medicine watered down,” he said.

“I’m like a tiger prancing, prowling the stage, just looking for things.”

And inspiration is everywhere, Ross added. Just driving around the city, he thought how ironic it is that the country is home to the fastest street circuit in Formula 1 (Jeddah Corniche Circuit) yet cars drive unbelievably slow in the heavy traffic every other day.

“Riyadh is like Vegas. But the real gamble here is trying to merge into traffic.”

And on his favorite audience interaction moments so far, Ross said: “It’s kind of like the way Tom Brady talks about Super Bowls, whichever one’s next.”

No stranger to the Saudi stage, Iglesias rocked the nation with his 2013 special “Fluffy visits ��������” after his first performance in the Kingdom earlier that year.

His approach was to make lighthearted fun of huge cultural differences between �������� and the West. At a time when men and women sat separately and women were expected to be fully covered up, Iglesias turned what could have been an uncomfortable moment into a hilarious set that truly resonated with the Kingdom’s people.

“I think the fact that comedy is so mainstream now, whereas when I first came here, it wasn’t, it was very much a thing where people were trying to understand what is it? How does it work? What is acceptable? What’s not acceptable?

“And I think now it’s evolved to a point where anyone and everyone is welcome to be here and be humorous and just be themselves, which I think is really cool.”

The scale of this moment here in Riyadh and what it means for both the Kingdom and the Middle East is evident to Iglesias, who praised the amount of talent present at “the biggest comedy festival of all time.”

A veteran in the game, Iglesias has his own comic heroes who he takes inspiration from as well — one of whom is Peters.

“The people that … made me want to be part of events and things like this is someone like Russell Peters, who was one of the people that was performing internationally when I first got started. I’d hear stories of him performing around the world, and the first time I got a chance to perform in the Middle East was with Russell. So I credit him a lot for inspiring a lot of comics to want to take that next step and go outside, think outside the box.”

Iglesias also said that there is so much new talent out there to watch out for, doubling and tripling every year, so much so that it is hard to keep up as comedians and the stand up scene continue to grow.