Maybe Bill Burr should wait until after the anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's murder to gush over the Saudi regime.

"The royals loved the show.” Oh good!

On October 2, 2018, Saudi Arabian dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers for his upcoming marriage. You can hear his final moments in audio recovered from the scene.

“Has the sacrificial animal arrived?”

“He’s here.”

Soon after: “I’m suffocating... take this bag off my head, I’m claustrophobic,” Khashoggi pleads.

After five days of global speculation about Khashoggi’s fate, Turkish authorities concluded he’d been murdered at the consulate. The Trump administration tried to run cover for Saudi President Muhammed bin Salman, suggesting—in a manner insulting to the intelligence of a five-year-old—“MBS” had not known about the murder; that it had been carried out by “rogue elements.” The Trumps, through Jared Kushner, had forged a strong relationship with the dictator, branding “MBS” a modern Arab leader aligned with Western values, someone America could do business with.

The grisly details soon emerged. After his arrival at the consulate Khashoggi had been strangled to death. Then he’d been cut into bits with a saw, the different body parts stuffed into suitcases and plastic bags.

***

Dozens upon dozens of America’s top comedians are performing at a major comedy festival in Riyadh. They were forced to sign contracts barring content critical of the regime. Despite major outcry they did it anyway. They were obnoxiously unapologetic about it. “I get the routing and then I see the number and I go, ‘I’ll go,” Pete Davidson quipped when asked how he could perform in Saudi Arabia.

“One reporter was killed by the government ... unfortunate, but not a f---ing hill that I’m gonna die on,” Jim Jeffries said.

There were some hacks in the mix but also comedy heroes associated with brave truth-telling about sensitive topics. Speculation abounded online about how much money they were offered; others wondered, with disgust, if they really needed that fourth house.

David Cross put it well:

[Chappelle, CK, Burr, Jeffries]

Yesterday—the day before the anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder—Burr celebrated the comedy festival.

“It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia. The royals loved the show,” he said.

“Everyone was happy. The people that were doing the festival were thrilled.”

“I had to stop a couple times during the show and say, ‘I’ll be honest with you guys, I cannot f*cking believe any of you have any idea who I am.’ It was just this great exchange of energy. They know their reputation. So they were extra friendly.”

“You think everybody’s going to be screaming ‘Death to America’ and they’re going to have like fucking machetes and want to chop my head off,” Burr said. “Because this is what I’ve been fed about that part of the world.”

“Is that a Starbucks next to a Pizza Hut next to a Burger King next to a McDonald’s? They got a fucking Chili’s over here!”

I don’t know, what do you even say?