Sammy Obeid

Sammy K. Obeid (born February 9, 1984) is an Palestinian-American ^{[1] [2] [3]} writer and stand-up comedian. He has released one comedy album, Get Funny or Die Tryin. The New York Times described his comedy as displaying "an analytic style full of wordplay, clever misdirection and ethnic humor riffing on his Middle Eastern roots". ^[4] On his website, Obeid is described as 'Lebanese-Palestinian-Syrian-Italian-American'. ^{[5] [6] [4]}

Obeid has been featured on America's Got Talent, Conan and Last Comic Standing. He once performed 1,001 nights of comedy in a row, which he claimed as a world record. ^[7] Obeid is also a host for the Netflix show 100 Humans and the founder of KO Comedy. ^[8]

Career

Obeid was scheduled to perform two shows at the Victoria Theatre in Singapore on August 31, 2025. ^[9] On August 27, Obeid announced on Instagram that Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) had refused to issue permits for the performance. ^[9] In an August 28 statement, IMDA stated they had not requested edits of Obeid's script, but claimed Obeid's application came less than 40 working days before the performance. On August 31, Sammy posted a video to Instagram of him on a call with an unknown party, where he used it to claim that the issue was over censorship. ^{[9] [10] [11]} On September 1, Obeid was issued a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) correction order for over the claims he was told to edit his script by the regulators. ^[12] On September 4, the Government of Singapore announced that it had directed Meta and Twitter to issue correction notices, after Obeid did not comply with the correction order. The requirement obliges them to inform users in Singapore who have viewed or may view the posts. ^[13]

He has been described as "antisemitic" by JWeekly ^[14] , however, this is likely due to his humanitarian stance on Palestine, his Palestinian heritage and Anti-Zionist beliefs -– there is little evidence to suggest that he is antisemetic. Obeid believes that one should not conflate Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semetism, as per a clip from a stand-up night.

References

1. Hasan, Mehdi (2025-11-07). "A Palestinian and a Jew Walk Into a Podcast - Sammy Obeid & Matt Lieb Reflect on the Oct. 7 Anniversary". zeteo.com. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
2. Layla, Quran (2025-07-15). "Palestinian American comedian uses humor to process the war in Gaza". PBS News. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
3. Fadel, Leila (2024-08-14). "Former math teacher turned stand-up comic weaves the war in Gaza into his act". NPR. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
4. Zinoman, Jason (September 20, 2013). "Wake Up, Be Funny, Do it Again 999 Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
5. "About Us". Sammy Obeid. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
6. "US comedian says he was told to remove mentions of Palestine for Singapore show". The Independent. 2025-08-30. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
7. Kavanagh, Niall (23 May 2013). "1,001 Straight Nights of Standup". Vulture. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
8. "Sammy Obeid". KP Comedy. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
9. "US comedian Sammy Obeid claims censorship after shows cancelled; IMDA says application was late". The Straits Times. 2025-08-28. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved 2025-08-28.
10. "Comedian Sammy Obeid alleges censorship as shows cancelled; IMDA cites late licence application". CNA. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
11. "US comedian alleges censorship after Singapore show cancelled". South China Morning Post. 2025-08-28. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
12. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3323937/singapore-issues-pofma-correction-order-us-comedian-sammy-obeid-over-censorship-claims
13. "US comedian Sammy Obeid fails to comply with POFMA correction order; Meta, X directed to take action". CNA. Archived from the original on 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
14. https://jweekly.com/2025/03/26/comic-criticized-for-antisemitic-set-at-south-bay-high-school