Medium Stand-up Nationality Pakistani | Years active 2005–present Name Sami Shah | |
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Books I, Migrant: A Comedian's Journey from Karachi to the Outback | ||
The unseen laugh sami shah at tedxmelbourne
Sami Shah is a Pakistani-Australian stand-up comedian, writer and improvisational actor. Shah performed the first solo English-language comedy show in Pakistan. He has had several tours across Pakistan, performing in theatre venues and colleges. Shah has also been a member of the improvisational comedy troupe "Black Fish".
Contents
- The unseen laugh sami shah at tedxmelbourne
- Sami shah i migrant
- Stand up comedy
- Improvisational comedy
- Writing
- Work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Personal life
- References
Sami shah i migrant
Stand up comedy
Shah performed his first solo show in Karachi, Pakistan on November 13, 2005. Titled, "Nobody Moves, Nobody Gets Hurt", it was aimed at raising funds for victims of the 2005 earthquake. He then took the hour-long performance to Islamabad and Lahore, where he performed for colleges and the general public.
In 2006, he toured Pakistan with fellow comics Saad Haroon and Danish Ali, in what came to be called the 3-4-5 Tour. His most recent new hour of comedy was performed on 27 October 2007. Debuting in Karachi, he plans on releasing a DVD of the performance.
Shah's style of comedy is often described as sarcastic and acerbic. He covers topics ranging from the Pakistani obsession with fair skin to cultural taboos, like child molestation. Some of his routines have concerned religion and his irritation with the way people behave because of it.
Improvisational comedy
Shah joined "Black Fish" in 2003 and remained an active member till the troupe disbanded in 2006. While with the troupe, he co-wrote We’ve Made Contact, a half-improvised half-scripted original format play created for the British Council's Connecting Futures Project which was performed in Manchester, England.
Writing
Shah has been writing articles for Pakistani magazines for several years, on a variety of subjects. His regular contributions as a music critic resulted in him being a judge for the prestigious Lux Style Awards. In more recent years he has written a series of articles about the lighter side of technology.
In July 2014, he published an autobiography, I, Migrant.
Work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Sami completed a five part series for Radio National called "The Islamic Republic of Australia", examining the role of Islam in contemporary Australia.
As part of the ABC First Run initiative to produce comedy podcast programs Sami was commissioned to host a new show called Laughing Dead. He invites comedians to talk about their worst performance experience. Notable guests on the show include Maz Jobrani, Andy Kindler, Claire Hooper, Alexei Sayle and Luke McGregor.
The program is produced and edited by Courtney Carthy.
In July 2016 Sami became the ABC Melbourne field and social media reporter.
Personal life
Shah lives with his wife and daughter in Australia. They migrated to the country in 2012, and became Australian citizens in January 2017. His wife, Ishma Alvi, is a psychologist. The couple have professed their religious views as atheistic.