Saudi stand-ups 'destroy extremism through comedy'

Saudis took the stage one by one to poke fun at the world -- and themselves -- introducing a hissing, cackling audience to stand-up comedy -- an art form widely unknown in the conservative kingdom.

Chuckles and squeals ran through the crowd at a rare amateur comedy festival last week in Riyadh, organised by the official General Entertainment Authority, the main engine of social reforms sweeping the kingdom.

The authority is boosting entertainment options, from a Comic-Con festival to concerts by female musicians, helping shed the kingdom's austere reputation and introducing many Saudis to a novel concept -- having fun in public.

"I am a jobless dentist," 26-year-old comedian Battar al-Battar said in a slow, deadpan delivery to a smiling audience. "My prayers have been answered. I see lots of braces in this crowd."

Next up was a short, corpulent man, equally deadpan as he took on the skewed power relations between the sexes in the patriarchal kingdom.

"I called my fiancee to say: 'Listen, I am the man. If I eat dust, you eat dust'.

"She hung up. A week passed by. I heard nothing.

"In a panic I texted her: 'I am not the man! Take me back!'"

Men in the audience -- as well as women sitting across the aisle -- erupted in laughter.

"The common perception is that Saudis don't have a funny bone," said Yaser Bakr, a festival jury member and founder of the kingdom's first comedy club.

"Saudis love to laugh. Numbers don't lie," he said, scrolling through a list of Saudi comedy videos on his mobile's YouTube app, each with hundreds of thousands of views.

'Comedy cleanses the soul'

The venue for the five-day festival, Riyadh's King Fahd Cultural Centre, was like a bubble of laughing gas over the course of the performances.

The festival was a rare attempt to introduce stand-up comedy to the masses.

Aside from a handful of Saudi YouTube comedy stars, performers are largely struggling without theatres and entertainment companies, as well as a lack of mass awareness of the art form.

"Saudi Arabia needs to cultivate this art," said festival director Jubran al-Jubran. Comedy has a purifying effect, it cleanses the soul. It is a relief to laugh about our own problems."

None of the participants breached what are typically considered red lines in the conservative kingdom -- sex, religion and politics.

But some pulverised a few old stereotypes, including perceived links to extremists, while others dared to mock the once-untouchable elites.

"When I first came to Riyadh I was afraid they would lock me up in the Ritz," quipped Rakain al-Zafer, one of the performers, prompting sniggers and groans from the audience.

Riyadh's opulent Ritz-Carlton hotel has become a gilded prison for dozens of princes, ministers and tycoons swept up in an anti-corruption purge.

'Destroy extremism through comedy'

The performing comedians were all men, but the festival organisers said women were expected to participate next year, despite the risk of riling religious conservatives.

The festival highlights a broader reform push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful heir to the throne who has curbed the influence of the religious police, once notorious for disrupting such mixed-gender events.

The prince appears to be balancing unpopular subsidy cuts in an era of low oil prices with more social freedoms and entertainment, which include the decision to allow women to drive from next June and plans to reopen cinemas.

Legendary Greek composer and pianist Yanni performed to a packed mixed-gender audience in Riyadh last week, accompanied by female vocalists.

The change chimes with Prince Mohammed's recent pledge to return Saudi Arabia to an "open, moderate Islam" and destroy extremist ideologies.

"We aim to destroy extremism through comedy, by making people laugh," Jubran said.