Tony Sam (also credited as A.W. Sam)[1] is an American
stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and Emmy-winning television producer from Chicago, now living in Los Angeles. In 2015,
LA Weekly named him one of 10 Comedy Acts To Watch.[2]
His debut comedy album, Scaredy Cat, was released on
Stand Up! Records in 2014.
Early life
Sam was born and raised in Chicago.[3] He has a degree in molecular and marine biology from
Florida Atlantic University.[4][5] He worked for several years as a scientist at various jobs, including studying cranio-facial defects in developing
zebrafish embryos at Chicago's
Children's Memorial Hospital.[3][6] In 2006, he co-authored a paper in the prestigious medical journal, Nature Medicine.[7]
Career
Comedy and television
Sam began performing stand-up around 2003 in Chicago,[8] and studied improv and sketch at
iO Theater and
The Second City Training Center.[9] He became known as an alternative-comedy scenemaker, co-founding (with
Brooke Van Poppelen) Chicago Underground Comedy in 2005, a weekly rotating showcase of alternative comics designed to forefront stand-up as opposed to sketch comedy and improv.[10][11][12]Kumail Nanjiani was one of the original cast members.[13] Chicago's NewCity called Sam one of the city's most interesting comics in 2009, and praised ChUC as a "mainstay of alternative comedy"[14] and "one of the two best places to perform in Chicago".[15]
Several critics have praised the comic range of Sam's voice; Jake Kroeger of website The Comedy Bureau wrote that it "is so unique, drastically wandering up and down in frequency, that he makes [his] characters exceptionally hilarious and absolutely unforgettable".[16]
Sam has also written for Smosh [9] and
MTV News.[19] McKean praised Sam's work on Food: Fact or Fiction? in an interview on
Andy Richter's podcast, Three Questions with Andy Richter, calling Sam "a very funny writer".[20]
Sam has hosted several podcasts, including Tony Sam's Word of the Day, a podcast about language begun in 2014.[27][28] In 2017, he began co-hosting the podcast Legally Insane with Matt Ritter, a lawyer turned comedian.[29][30]
Sam's debut album, Scaredy Cat, was recorded May 24, 2014 at Acme Comedy Company in
Minneapolis and released later that year on
Stand Up! Records.[34] It received generally positive reviews and praise from several high-profile comics including
Kyle Kinane,
Michelle Buteau,
The Sklar Brothers,
Beth Stelling,
Jason Nash, former
SNL cast member,
Brooks Wheelan,
Brody Stevens and
Eddie Pepitone.[35] Jake Krueger of the Los Angeles based review site, The Comedy Bureau, called the album one of the best of 2014,[36] saying it "strikes a great balance between a genuine silliness and unfiltered candor".[37] Ed Placencia of the website Comedy Reviews said "Sam gleefully adds a touch of fun and whimsy to each of his bits. ... Scaredy Cat wonderfully displays that he has decided to embrace the simple tactic of just having a good time."[38] Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site called it "smart".[39]Huffington Post reviewer Tony Bartolone called the album "refreshingly silly".[40] Chris Spector of Midwest Record wrote that "Sam does a fine job of being that normal guy that lives next door that suddenly, unexpectedly goes nuts."[41]
Four segments from the CD were turned into cartoons by animator Alex Clark.[42][43][44][45]
Author
In 2021, under the name A.W. Sam, he published a book of poetry, Waste[LA]nd: Poems For L.A., about Los Angeles.[1] In 2022, Sam released his second collection of poetry, Toil. The book was praised by actors
Jonah Ray and
James Urbaniak.[46]