Sami ShahWriter · comedian · broadcasterSupport ↗
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Writer · journalist · broadcaster · comedian

Sami Shah makes rooms uncomfortable1, writes arguments with receipts2, tells stories3 and gets in your headphones4.

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

Karachi → Melbourne
Est. 1978 · still developing
Sami Shah in a navy suit, photographed by Ben Clark Imagery
Sami Shah / Photograph: Ben Clark Imagery
Lead story · Every Saturday01
News Weakly podcast artwork

Weekly news satire

News
Weakly

The news, punched in the headlines.Politics, global affairs and media absurdity—written, hosted and produced by Sami every Saturday.Enter News Weakly ↗
Next up · Novel02

Fanatic

A new novel forthcoming from Penguin Random House Australia.

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Also current · Crikey03

Punched in the Headlines

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

Read the column ↗
Stand-up01

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.

Comedy archive ↗
“Precision timing … a masterclass in comedy”Chortle
“Stylish, cynical, brutally newsy, bitingly funny”Sunday Telegraph
“A swaggering dynamo”The New York Times
Books & collections02

Memoir. Fantasy. Non-fiction. The writing refuses to stay in its lane.

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, MigrantCover of Boy of Fire and EarthCover of The Djinn Falls in Love and Other StoriesCover of Growing Up in Country Australia
Punched in the Headlines · Crikey03

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 ↗
21 August 2026Migration · politicsMigration panic is Australia’s Pennywise, laying dormant until the time is right↗14 August 2026Media · cultureIf the ABC’s limit is Gina’s bum, it should quit entertainment altogether↗7 August 2026Media · diversityThe ABC, Fazal and the large brown elephant in the room↗30 July 2026Free speech · lawPauline Hanson’s racist tweet should still have been legal↗
Podcasts · documentaries · fiction04

Made to be heard.

Weekly satire, university conversations and award-winning audio fiction.

Full audio archive ↗
News Weakly artworkWeekly news satire · Creator · writer · host · producerNews Weakly

A fast, fiercely argued weekly breakdown of politics, global affairs and media absurdity.

Ear to Asia podcast artworkUniversity of Melbourne podcast · HostEar to Asia

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

The Missed artworkEight-part Audible Original · 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.

The occasional dispatch

New work, upcoming shows and no algorithm.

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