Sami Shah is a multi-award winning comedian, writer, journalist and broadcaster.
Comedian
Sami’s comedy has won the Best Local Act at the Perth International Comedy Festival, and Best Comedy at Fringe World. He’s performed multiple sold-out runs at comedy festivals across Australia, as well as in London’s Soho Theatre.
Sami has released multiple standup comedy albums, available on iTunes, Spotify, and anywhere else you listen to comedy albums these days.
"Humor at its most vigorous and unsparing” - Kirkus Review
“Precision timing … a masterclass in comedy” - Chortle
“Stylish, cynical, brutally newsy, bitingly funny” - Sunday Telegraph
Journalist/Broadcaster
Sami co-hosted the ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast program with Jacinta Parsons. He has also produced and presented multiple documentary series' on ABC RN’s Earshot on race, free speech, and religion, and guest-hosts God Forbid on ABC RN.
Sami has been a frequent guest on The Project, ABC’s The Drum, been a panelist on Q&A. He’s spoken extensively on race, politics, free speech, political analysis, and cultural commentary. He’s written for the New York Times, Dawn News, Express Tribune, The Guardian, The Age, Brisbane Courier Mail, ABC, The Saturday Paper, and various other news publications.
Sami lectures in Journalism at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism and is currently completing a PhD in News Satire.
Podcaster
Sami has created and hosted multiple podcasts, including Laughing Dead for ABC, Beginners Guide to Pakistan for BBC Radio 4. He wrote and produced an award-winning crime noir audio drama for Audible, The Missed. He’s currently hosting a weekly satirical podcast, News Weakly, and is a frequent contributor to The Chaser Report.
Writer
Sami’s autobiography, I, Migrant, was nominated for the NSW Premier's Literary Award, the WA Premier's Literary Award, and the Russell Prize for Humour Writing. He has also written Boy of Fire and Earth, a critically acclaimed urban fantasy novel, and Islamic Republic of Australia, a non-fiction exploration of religious belief. Sami has also contributed multiple essays and short stories to various anthologies and collections, and most recently wrote the satirical Gadfly column for The Saturday Paper.
Sami is curator of the 2024 & 2025 OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words.
Sami has judged the Non-fiction category for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award multiple times, as well as the Multicultural Fiction category for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award and was head convener for the inaugrual John Clarke Humour Writing Award.
Awards:
Best Local Act at the 2013 Perth International Comedy Festival.
Best WA Comedy at the 2016 Fringe World Festival.
Shortlisted for the 2015 NSW Premier's Literary Award for your autobiography I, Migrant.
Shortlisted for the 2015 Russell Prize for Humour Writing for I, Migrant.
Shortlisted for the WA Premier's Literary Award for I, Migrant.
Best Fiction Podcast at the 2023 Australian Podcast Awards for The Missed.
Best Fiction Podcast at the 2024 AWGIES for The Missed.