Saudi Arabia is having a comedy festival. That’s a joke in and of itself. But you’re not allowed to make it in Saudi Arabia. Or most jokes really.

A comedy festival, unlike the races or wrestling matches the Saudis host, involves a certain amount of free speech. Any comedian going off to perform in Saudi Arabia obviously isn’t especially into free speech.

So the Saudi comedy lineup is revealing and it shows what some comics who used to stand for free speech have turned into.

Dave Chappelle criticized the status of free speech in the United States while on stage at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

“Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled,” Chappelle told an audience of 6,000, according to The New York Times. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m gonna find out.” He then added, “It’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”

You can bash Charlie Kirk in Saudi Arabia. Now go ahead and mention Islam.

Obviously not an issue for Chapelle who’s a Muslim. That may be another reason he’s so comfortable in Saudi Arabia.

Bash Charlie Kirk and maybe ABC will briefly suspend your late night show. Mention the wrong thing in Saudi Arabia and parts of you will be in different bags.

Chapelle’s argument though harkens back to an actual joke that, unlike his set, is funny.

“Two men, an American and a Russian were arguing. One said, in my country I can go to the white house walk to the president’s office and pound the desk and say “Mr. President! I don’t like how you’re running things in this country!”

The Russian said “I can do that too!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I can go to the Kremlin, walk into the general secretary’s office and pound the desk and say, Mr. Secretary, I don’t like how Reagan is running his country!”