Sweeping changes add ‘fun’ and entertainment to Saudi life
Live stand-up comedy and the cinema among new avenues available for the youth
On a packed night at Al Comedy Club in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, as Saudi Arabia was preparing to allow women to drive, a performer asked the women in the audience what cars they intended to buy.
“Maserati,” one called “Mercedes,” said another.
“Just like that? First car a Maserati?” the male comedian fired back. “You ask a guy what he wants to get, he’ll say a Hyundai. That’s because he’s paying for it!”
Servers in flowing robes and red caps navigated the aisles of the small theatre, passing out bags of popcorn and chocolate bars to the young audience members, many of whom were taking pictures with their cellphones to share on Instagram and Snapchat.
Six years ago, just getting permission to open the club was a milestone, according to the owner, Yasser Bakr. Live standup comedy didn’t exist in the country, and bureaucrats were distrustful of anything new.
“They didn’t know what it was,” Bakr said. “So you don’t only have to ask for a permit, you also have to explain what it is, and why is this guy on stage talking about his childhood and his mother.”
Now a new government agency that regulates nightlife and entertainment — aptly named the General Entertainment out. ■ Authority — is offering him financing and asking how it can help Al Comedy Club expand to more cities.
“It’s almost a 180-degree shift,” Bakr said.
The change is part of the sweeping modernisation drive led by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who wants to offer the country’s 32 million people something that was never a high priority here: fun.
Thousands of comic book and pop culture fans, many of them in costumes and face paint, flocked to Jeddah’s second Comic-Con festival in March.
The first new cinema in more than 30 years opened in the capital, Riyadh, in April with a gala screening of the Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther. The same month, the crown prince and his father, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, broke ground on a new entertainment complex outside Riyadh — described as 2 1/2 times the size of Disney World — that will offer auto racing, indoor ski slopes, water parks and a Six Flags theme park.
The Greek-born pianist and composer Yanni performed in the kingdom in December. Cirque du Soleil is set to stage its first show there this month.
The new offerings are part of an ambitious plan, dubbed Saudi Vision 2030, to diversify an oil-dependent economy, lure outside investment and create jobs for the growing number of young people entering the workforce.
Saudis spend billions of dollars every year on leisure activities abroad. By expanding the country’s entertainment options, the government hopes to entice citizens to spend more of that money at home and draw more visitors.