23 Facts About Sami Shah

Sami Shah was born on 24 August 1978 and is a Pakistani-Australian stand-up comedian, writer, improvisational actor, and radio presenter.

Sami Shah moved to Australia in 2012, and has since hosted several podcasts and shows on ABC radio as well as writing several books, performing in comedy festivals and participating in the Jaipur Literature Festival in Adelaide.

Sami Shah has appeared on television in Australia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Sami Shah moved back to Pakistan in 2002 and gradually rejected all religion and openly embraced atheism.

Sami Shah joined BlackFish, a comedy troupe created by Saad Haroon, in 2003.

Sami Shah co-wrote We've Made Contact, a half-improvised half-scripted original format play for the performance in Manchester.

Sami Shah remained an active member until the troupe disbanded in 2006.

Sami Shah performed his first solo show in Karachi on 13 November 2005.

In 2008, Sami Shah hosted, wrote, produced and directed a news satire television show, News Weakly.

Sami Shah later said that the government's strict blasphemy laws, incurring the death penalty, affected the content of his performances; after being accused of blasphemy by an audience member after his first stand-up gig, he never again mentioned religion while performing in Pakistan.

Sami Shah wrote for Pakistani magazines and was a columnist for The Express Tribune in 2012.

In 2019, Sami Shah remarried, although the second marriage only lasted a few months.

Sami Shah describes himself as a "serial blasphemer", and embraces the freedom he has in Australia "to talk openly about the major issues that need to be addressed in Islam".

When in Western Australia, Sami Shah travelled around the state doing comedy gigs, and he later made a name for himself poking fun at his adopted town at the biggest comedy festivals in the country.

Sami Shah appeared at the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

In January 2014, Sami Shah gave a talk at TedX in Melbourne entitled "The Unseen Laugh", in which he talks about some of his experiences in Pakistan and Western Australia, Australian attitudes towards asylum seekers, and using comedy to change people's perspectives.

In November 2019, Sami Shah will be a presenter and participant in panel discussions at "JLF in Adelaide", the first time that the Jaipur Literary Festival had been presented in Australia.

Sami Shah talked to academics, Islamic leaders and public figures when researching the book.

In July 2016, Sami Shah became the ABC Radio Melbourne field and social media reporter.

Sami Shah invites comedians to talk about their worst performance experience.

In December 2017, Sami Shah was announced as a co-host of Breakfast with Jacinta Parsons on ABC Radio Melbourne, replacing Red Symons.

Sami Shah was on the jury for music nominations on the Pakistan Lux Style Awards TV Special 2006 and 2007 TV Special, and as host in 2010.

From October 2017, Sami Shah was a regular panellist on the Australian TV show Screen Time on ABC TV, discussing film, television and online content.