Zarna Garg, a popular Indian comedian with a global fan base and nearly 2 million Instagram followers, rarely discusses her decision to perform at last year’s controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, but that changed during a new appearance on Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown podcast series as Garg connected it to a higher calling.
“I really went with the spirit of if I’ve been ordained to do this by somebody, some higher power, it is my job to spread the message and to let women know that they can say what comes to their mind,” she told Bialik. “That slight freedom, if I can even inspire them to think in that direction, then I’m doing something positive for this world.”
The Riyadh Comedy Festival, which took place Sept. 26 – Oct. 9, 2025, saw a who’s who of stand-up talent travel to the country for a series of high profile performances. The roster included Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Whitney Cummings, Andrew Schulz, Aziz Ansari, Jim Jefferies, Jo Koy, Sebastian Maniscalco, Mark Normand, Tom Segura, Bobby Lee, Jeff Ross and more. It wound up causing a firestorm of controversy as word spread of its lineup, leading people like Marc Maron, David Cross and Atsuko Okatsuka to speak out against it given the kingdom’s history of oppression and human rights abuses.
Some of the participants later defended their performances like Ansari, C.K. and Burr, the latter of whom said he didn’t give a “fuck” what anyone thought. “The general consensus is, ‘How dare you go to that place and make those oppressed people laugh, you fucking piece of shit. I can’t believe you went to that place. I can’t find it on a map, and this bot said I was upset about it so now I am,’” Burr said during an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s podcast. “The people that were doing the festival were thrilled. The comedians that I’ve been talking to are saying, ‘Dude, you can feel [the audience] wanted it. They want to see real stand-up comedy.’ It was a mind-blowing experience. Definitely top three experiences I’ve had.”
During her podcast appearance, Garg similarly told Bialik that much of the criticism came from people with little knowledge of Saudi Arabia.
“It was controversial here as everything tends to be because everybody thinks they know what Saudi Arabia is sitting in Brooklyn,” said Garg, who was one of three women invited to perform along with Cummings and Jessica Kirson (who later apologized for her appearance as a lesbian comedian). “But what they don’t know is that my material goes all over the world. Because of the digital world we live in, my jokes, my comedy special, everything travels. You can’t control where these things show up anymore. So women in that part of the world watch me in secret. The jokes that are open here, it’s not so easy for them to watch it. They write me constantly. They’re like, ‘Come to us. We want our daughters to see you,’ because they’ve never seen somebody that looks like them say these things.”
Garg said her children were “dead against” the trip but she opted to go for message — not money. “A lot of people think that the comics who did it did it for the money. Money is very important in life, but I’m going to say this and it’s going to sound a little braggy, but I’m going to be honest about it. The comics they invited make a lot of money in America. They didn’t invite the comics who are struggling here, to be honest. We would have all made money. I could do three more shows in New Jersey and make the same money. We all didn’t go there just to chase the money. I can’t speak for others, but the money was not a motivator for me at all. I’m telling you, I went with the sense that I owe those women something.”
In fact, Garg the paycheck “wasn’t that much” after all. But what it did for representation was worth more than the zeros in her bank account.
“Honestly, it’s also a very slight capitulation by the regimes that run these places that they, too, need a woman on the lineup. They didn’t have to invite us. They could have ignored us. They could have just had 50 men. They do a lot of things which are men only, but even they are now understanding that is it really in your best interest to exclude half your world,” she explained. “And even though there are plenty of problems there — there’s no defending a lot of things that go on there or here for that matter — but if they are opening that door, even for the slightest ray of sunshine to pass through, is it not our job to help push it open even that little bit more?”
