SamiShahWriter · comedian · broadcaster
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Karachi → MelbourneComedy, books, journalism and audioEst. 1978 · still developing

Writer · Journalist · Broadcaster · Comedian

Sami Shah

Stand-up, novels, reported arguments and audio stories from a Pakistani-Australian professional troublemaker.

Watch the comedy Bookings & enquiries
Sami Shah in a navy suit
Sami ShahPhotograph: Ben Clark Imagery

Currently

Three ways into the work.

01 · Weekly podcast

News Weakly

Politics, global affairs and media absurdity—written, hosted and produced every Saturday.

Listen to the latest 02 · Crikey column

Punched in the Headlines

Political panic and media melodrama, carefully inspected before somebody starts yelling.

Read the column 03 · Forthcoming

Fanatic

A new novel forthcoming from Penguin Random House Australia.

Explore the books

The whole archive

One byline. Several lives.

01

Comedy

Two full specials, live clips, television appearances and four stand-up albums.

Watch and listen →02

Books

Memoir, fantasy and non-fiction—plus short stories and essays in six collections.

Open the bookshelf →03

Journalism

The Crikey column, essays, reporting and archives from The Saturday Paper and The Guardian.

Read the journalism →04

Audio

News Weakly, The Missed, documentaries, comedy podcasts and radio work.

Hear the archive →
Sami Shah performing the full stand-up special Successful ComedianFull special · Watch free

Stand-up

Twenty years of making rooms uncomfortable on purpose.

From the first English-language solo show in Karachi to Australian festivals, Soho Theatre, television and four recorded albums.

“Precision timing … a masterclass in comedy” Chortle
“Stylish, cynical, brutally newsy, bitingly funny” Sunday Telegraph
“A swaggering dynamo” The New York Times
Comedy archive

Books & collections

The shelf is larger than three books.

Memoir, fantasy and reported non-fiction sit alongside stories and essays published in collections including The Djinn Falls in Love, The Outcast Hours and Growing Up in Country Australia.

Browse all ten titles
Cover of I, Migrant by Sami ShahCover of Boy of Fire and Earth by Sami ShahCover of The Djinn Falls in Love and Other StoriesCover of Growing Up in Country Australia

Punched in the Headlines · Crikey

Satire with the receipts attached.

A regular column punching through political panic, media melodrama and the loud confidence of people who should know better.

Journalism archive
Free speech · lawPauline Hanson’s racist tweet should still have been legalIndia · diaspora politicsModi packed a Melbourne stadium. Days later, India’s ‘cockroaches’ filled the streetsMedia · social cohesionThe greatest stoker of antisemitism and social disunity? The royal commissionPolitics · policyFuck, marry, kill: Albanese government policy edition

Podcasts · documentaries · fiction

Made to be heard.

Full audio archive
News Weakly podcast coverWeekly news satire · Creator · writer · host · producerNews Weakly

A fast, fiercely argued weekly breakdown of politics, global affairs and media absurdity—plus occasional documentary editions.

Listen EAR TO ASIAUniversity of Melbourne podcast · HostEar to Asia

Conversations with researchers and specialists about the societies, politics and cultures reshaping contemporary Asia.

Listen The Missed Audible Original coverEight-part Audible Original drama · Creator · writer · co-directorThe Missed

A crime-noir mystery about a missing girl, a Pakistani refugee family and a Western Australian town turning fear into accusation.

Listen

The occasional dispatch

New work, upcoming shows and no algorithm.

Join the mailing list for show dates, publication news and the newest work. Patreon remains the paid-support layer until the planned Ghost migration.

Leave whenever you like. No motivational sequence.