Samay Raina is an Indian stand-up comedian, printing engineer, YouTuber, and chess enthusiast. He was the co-winner of the second season of the stand-up comedy contest Comicstaan.[2] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he began streaming chess games along with multiple comedians and chess masters. He has raised substantial amounts of money for various causes through his YouTube channel, including help for waste pickers,[3] and relief for West Bengal and Assam flood victims.[4][5]
Samay Raina | ||||||||||
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.jpg) Raina in 2020 | ||||||||||
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| Years active | 2017–present | |||||||||
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YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2017–present | |||||||||
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| Subscribers | 5.12 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 776.19 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 23 November 2024 | ||||||||||
Early life and education
Raina was born in the Jammu city of the erstwhile Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir into a conservative Kashmiri Pandit family. He enrolled in a print engineering course at PVG's COET in Pune, Maharashtra which he said was a waste of time, and started doing open mic events and eventually became a regular in the local comedy scene.[6]
Career
Stand-up
After performing at multiple open mics since 27 August 2017, Raina began opening for well-known comedians like Anirban Dasgupta and Abhishek Upmanyu in Pune. As he gained recognition, he moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and gave several successful shows in Mumbai and several cities across the nation.[citation needed]
Comicstaan 2
Eventually, he joined Comicstaan 2 from a suggestion from his co-winner Aakash Gupta. Later, he became the joint winner of Comicstaan 2 with Aakash Gupta, aired on Amazon Prime Video.[7][8]
YouTube
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government cancelled all outdoor events, and thus, Raina could no longer perform stand-up comedy. He then began streaming chess games on his YouTube channel at the fellow comedian Tanmay Bhat's suggestion.[9] His viewership boosted when he invited YouTuber Antonio Radić, popularly known as Agadmator, to his channel. In response to this, Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi tweeted that he would like to join Raina on his track. Eventually, Gujrathi appeared on Raina's channel, giving another boost to Raina's viewership. Since then, the two have fostered a strong relationship and frequently feature on each other's channels. Gujrathi attributes his moving from Twitch to YouTube to Raina's suggestion.[citation needed]
According to many chess proponents, including GMs Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi, Anish Giri, Teimour Radjabov, Baskaran Adhiban, Emil Sutovsky and IMs Tania Sachdev and Sagar Shah, Raina has been instrumental in popularising chess in India through his channel.[10] Raina tries to make the game of chess more appealing to the masses through his humour which, according to many, has helped him reach a larger audience.[9]
Several well-known chess personalities like Pentala Harikrishna, Judit Polgár, former world chess champions Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen have appeared on Raina's channel.[11][12] He also organised chess tournaments featuring Indian celebrities such as cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal.[13][14]
In addition to chess, he also live streams many other games on his YouTube channel.
Chess
As of 22 June 2022[update], Raina has a rating of 1660 at rapid chess on chess.com, while the highest recorded rating was 1942.[15] On 5 May 2021, Raina won the $10,000 Botez Bullet Invitational, a one-hour amateur bullet arena tournament sponsored by Chess.com and hosted by the Botez sisters. He was the only Indian streamer competing among some of the top international Twitch streamers and earned $4000.[16]
Comedians on Board (COB)
He started organising online chess tournaments on his channel to attract the online audience to chess, called Comedians On Board (COB), inviting many of his comedian friends and other celebrities.
| Season | Dates | Winner | Runner-up 1 | Runner-up 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comedians on Board (COB) #1[17] | 29 March-2 Apr 2020 | Aakash Mehta | Kunal Rao | |
| Comedians on Board (COB) #2[18] | 1-3 July 2020 | Anirban DasGupta | Samay Raina | Biswa Kalyan Rath |
| Comedians on Board (COB) #3[19] | 19-21 Nov 2020 | Joel Dsouza | Vaibhav Sethia | Samay Raina |
| Comedians on Board All Stars #4[20] | 22-30 March 2021 | Samay Raina | Biswa Kalyan Rath | |
| Comedians on Board All In #5[21] | 11-14 Aug 2021 | Samay Raina | Joel Dsouza | Prakhar Gupta |
| Comedians on Board Gang War (Team Event)[22] | 21-27 March 2022 | Susha Squad
(Team Owner- Suhani Shah) |
Wazir-e-Vaibhav
(Team Owner- Vaibhav Sethia) |
Bot Army
(Team Owner- Tanmay Bhat) |
Chess Super League (CSL)
Raina with ChessBase India and Nodwin Gaming organised an online chess league called Chess Super League consisting of some of the Top International and Indian Grandmasters, International Masters and Indian Junior Players, competing in six teams of six players each. For the prize pool of ₹40 lakh (US$48,000). The entire event was streamed on Raina's YouTube Channel.[23]
India’s got latent
In June 2024, Samay Raina launched India's Got Latent, a reality show focused on uncovering hidden talents. The show, which blends comedy and performance, features a unique format where participants are evaluated not only on their talents but also on their self-awareness, with comedic commentary and guest judges contributing to the evaluation process. Hosted on Raina's YouTube channel, the show quickly garnered attention and positive reception, particularly among younger audiences, for its distinctive, humor-driven approach to talent discovery.[24][25][26]
The show marks Raina's continued efforts to explore creative formats that merge comedy with interactive entertainment, following his previous successful ventures in stand-up and online content creation.[25]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Comicstaan 2 | Contestant | Winner | [27] |
| 2021 | Comedy Premium League | Contestant | Winner | [28] |
| 2021 | One Mic Stand | Himself | Season 2; Episode 5 | [29] |
See also
References
- ^ a b "About Samay Raina". YouTube.
- ^ "Aakash Gupta and Samay Raina win Comicstaan 2". The Indian Express. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Charity begins with chess?". Hindustan Times. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Mover & shaker: How stand-up comic Samay Raina is redefining chess for a cause". ESPN. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ Kulkarni (Rakesh), Rakesh (June 2020). "Chess For Charity: Chess for West Bengal, India". Chess.com.
- ^ "'Standing up' for Kashmir". The New Indian Express. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Comicstaan Season 2 winners: Akash Gupta, Samay Raina win the Amazon original show, awarded prize money of Rs 10 lakh". India Today. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Comicstaan season 2: Akash Gupta, Samay Raina crowned as winners of Amazon Prime Video India comedy show". Firstpost. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ a b RS, Prasad (5 September 2020). "We have made chess more consumable for the masses: Samay Raina". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Mover & shaker: How comedy is redefining chess for a cause". ESPN. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ RS, Prasad (24 March 2020). "Anand to take on stand-up comedians in charity match". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Belz, Emily. "The 2020 internet chess carnival - WORLD". world.wng.org. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Viswanathan Anand, Yuzvendra Chahal and others raise Rs 8.86 lakh for waste-pickers community through online chess charity tournament". www.wionews.com. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ Joshi, Sparsh (25 May 2020). "How One Comedian is changing the way India sees Chess". Medium. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "M Samay Raina (samayraina) - Chess Profile". Chess.com.
- ^ "Samay Raina wins the $10,000 Botez Bullet Invitational - ChessBase India". www.chessbase.in. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
- ^ "Comedians On Board 1 (COB1)". comediansonboard.in. 14 November 2020. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Comedians on Board 2 (COB 2)". comediansonboard.in. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Comedians on Board 3 (COB 3)". comediansonboard.in. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
- ^ "Comedians on Board All Stars". 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Comedians on Board All In".
- ^ COMEDIANS ON BOARD GANG WAR | GRAND FINALE, 27 March 2022, retrieved 27 March 2022
- ^ "The Chess Super League is here!". Chess News. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ "India's Got Latent (2024) - Comedy Show by Samay Raina | BrownPant". Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ a b "'I Want To Level Up': Samay Raina On His Latest Project 'India's Got Latent' & Pushing The Envelope With His Comedy - DeadAnt". deadant.co/. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ^ India's Got Latent. Retrieved 1 October 2024 – via trakt.tv.
- ^ "Comicstaan 2 winner Samay Raina: It was strategy to save my best for the last". The Indian Express. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "Comedy Premium League review: The closest India will get to a Saturday Night Live". The Indian Express. 21 August 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
- ^ "Amazon Prime Video announces mentors for One Mic Stand Season 2". 12 October 2021.
External links
- Samay Raina at IMDb
- Samay Raina on Instagram
