When millions of Algerians took to the streets beginning in February 2019 to decry their political system, citizens of differing backgrounds, geographic origin, and generation mobilized humor as a sign of the pacific and distinctively local nature of their uprising. These movements, widely called “the Hirak,” quickly earned the moniker “The Revolution of Smiles.” New jokes and chants with satirical bents emerged as activists held up signs ridiculing key figures among the country’s political elites. Drawing upon networks crafted in previous years, internet users framed and propelled forward the collective rejection of the political regime in online forums in instances of what Mohamed El Marzouki (2015) has called “citizen-made, participatory cultural production.” These efforts formed a “laughter of dignity” (Cheurfa 2019) that demonstrators used to confront their country’s entrenched regime and demand greater respect. Yet, as time has worn on, the state has ramped up counterrevolutionary measures and efforts to co-opt the Hirak while the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered the movements’ staple weekly protests impossible, ushering in a grim period for activists. Beginning in the early weeks of the uprising but picking up pace since late 2019, the government has cracked down on free speech in the streets and media outlets as well as on websites and individual social media accounts. Authorities even arrested Walid Kechida for sharing a cartoon on a Facebook page dedicated to humorous memes. This ratcheting up of repression raises the question of the status of the “Revolution of Smiles” today and whether a spirit of pacifist laughter and citizen-rallying fun has effectively given way to darker forms of humor, especially given past traditions of black humor in Algeria. Drawing upon critical theory surrounding humor and trauma, my paper will examine what remains of the “Revolution of Smiles” amidst government repression not unlike that seen after similar uprisings in the region. I aim to delineate changes in comedy usage among Algerian Hirak protestors and sympathizers from the beginning of the revolution to the present. In doing so, I hope to expand work by scholars such as Lisa Wedeen (2013) conceptualizing dark humor’s political functions amidst regime repression following counter-hegemonic uprisings. I will also historicize shifting Hirak humor within longer patterns of political and dark comedy within Algeria itself as well as the broader Middle East and North Africa.