The stand-up comedy community and its legion of fans are currently in upheaval over some of its most popular and respected talents' decision to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. Though the country is in the midst of an alleged, socially progressive shift via its Vision 2030 project (which also aims to make the Kingdom less reliant on oil production by building up its tech, sports, and entertainment industries), Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saad threw a spanner in the works seven years ago by allegedly ordering the brutal assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi for the grave offense of having fiercely criticized the Crown Prince in print. Since then, more dissidents have been jailed and, on occasion, executed , while the country continues

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