Samay Raina
About Samay Raina
Samay Raina (born 26 October 1997) is an Indian stand-up comedian and YouTuber. He was the co-winner, with Aakash Gupta, of the stand-up comedy contest Comicstaan 2 (2019), which aired on Amazon Prime Video. In 2024, he hosted the comedy talent show India's Got Latent. He was born in Jammu into a conservative Kashmiri Pandit family and enrolled in a print engineering course at Vidhyarthi Griha's College of Engineering and Technology in Pune, which he said was a waste of time, before becoming a regular in the local comedy scene.
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, then moved to Mumbai to pursue stand-up. In 2025 he announced a nationwide tour, "Still Alive And Unfiltered", touted as a comeback following the controversy surrounding India's Got Latent, which commenced in Bengaluru on 15 August and ended in Delhi on 5 October. In 2026 he became one of the youngest Indian comedians to perform at Madison Square Garden, and on 7 March 2026 he released his debut comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube, which became the most viewed stand-up comedy special on YouTube.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when outdoor events were cancelled, Raina began streaming chess games on his YouTube channel at fellow comedian Tanmay Bhat's suggestion. Chess personalities including Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Gujrathi, Anish Giri and Tania Sachdev have credited him with popularising chess in India, and well-known players such as Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen have appeared on his channel. He organised online chess tournaments called Comedians On Board (COB) and, in May 2021, won the $10,000 Botez Bullet Invitational.
Videos (764)
Videos 289 to 312 of 764.
3:28:59COB HOMECOMING GRAND FINALE
579.8K views
1:12HOW TO AVOID A FORK 220 IQ - Miniclip
579.8K views
14:44Samay Raina Journey....500K Special
577.8K views
13:34SAMAY RAINA is a CHEAP GUY ft. AlexSem
575.9K views
1:14BULLYING NOOBS ON CHESS.COM - Miniclip
572.1K views
2:01:01Sundays with PokerStars Ft. @munawar0018 @GamerFleet @SuhaniShah @aishmrj
567K views
1:35:05Reaching 1800 ft. Sagar Shah
566K views
8:25VIDIT GUJRATHI vs NIHAL SARIN ft. Tanmay Bot
565.5K views
12:38GHOST in GEOGUESSR??! @AakashGupta @TheRahulDua
564.1K views
9:45CHAT MADE ME GO TO OMEGLE and OMG!!!!
562K views
6:02:36DAY 7 | COB 4 ALL STARS | PRESENTED BY NEWTON SCHOOL
561.1K views
8:13HUMBLE BULLY NIHAL SARIN
558.2K views
1:16:03VIDIT GUJRATHI VS COMEDIANS ON BOARD ft. @aupmanyu @yokalyanyo @vaibhavsethiacomedian
555.1K views
4:14:34CHESS FOR CHARITY ft. VISWANATHAN ANAND, YUZVENDRA CHAHAL
549.2K views
8:36Best of Week ft. Vidit Gujrathi, Sagar Shah, Tanmay Bot
549K views
5:54:27DAY 5 | COB 4 ALL STARS | PRESENTED BY NEWTON SCHOOL
548.5K views
2:13:48FIGHTING NEMO
545.9K views
1:46:39JUDIT POLGAR vs Comedians on Board
542.3K views
17:35DO NOT LAUGH CHALLENGE ft. GARRY KASPAROV
540.9K views
4:04:08COB 5 | ALL IN | PRESENTED BY POKERSTARS | DAY 2 | CHAMPIONS vs CHALLENGERS
540K views
1:30:32BGMI ft. SCOUT, GAMERFLEET and KAASHVI GAMING
539K views
8:38BEST OF THE WEEK 11 | SAMAY RAINA
534.7K views
51:05WWE | Giving 619 to Shamerfleet while KSB gives 69
534.5K views
5:08IMPROV COMEDY - QUESTIONS ONLY ft. @viditchess @ChessBaseIndiachannel @vaibhavsethiacomedian
533.7K viewsGuest appearances (19)
Videos on other comedians' channels featuring Samay Raina.
Guest appearances 1 to 19 of 19.
0:09Samay Raina and Tanmay Bhat’s Kid
Tanmay Bhat
9.8M views
0:49Samay Raina
Bharti Singh
6M views
21:34SAMAY RAINA EXPOSED!
Tanmay Bhat
6M views
1:01Samay Raina roasting Triggered Insaan
Tanmay Bhat
4.1M views
1:01Ashish Chanchlani On Samay Raina's Mischievous Behaviour...
Bharti Singh
3.7M views
0:59Appreciating Samay Raina
Bharti Singh
1.6M views
12:34HE REVEALED HIS GIRLFRIEND'S NAME ON LIVE STREAM feat Samay Raina | PubG Highlights
Tanmay Bhat
1.1M views
12:28HOW TO SURVIVE CUSTOM ROOM Feat Maxtern & Samay Raina l PubG Highlights
Tanmay Bhat
809K views
1:00Samay Raina is CRAZY!
Tanmay Bhat
603.8K views
0:57Vipul Goyal talks about the success of Samay Raina
Appurv Gupta
548.3K views
1:00Samay Raina’s JEE Rank
Tanmay Bhat
448.4K views
0:39Ravi Gupta with Samay Raina
Tanmay Bhat
343.2K views
1:13:57Life In IIT, Meeting Nitin Gupta,Humorously Yours & Samay Raina| Vipul Goyal|Kaafi Wild Hai ShowEp43
Appurv Gupta
238.1K views
1:00He Rejected Samay Raina’s Offer
Tanmay Bhat
205.2K views
1:34Samay Raina’s Bet With Tanmay Bhat
Tanmay Bhat
157.2K views
38:11Chess with my enemy Samay Raina
Joel D'Souza
54.5K views
1:47:36Joel Dsouza vs Samay Raina - Blitz Chess
Joel D'Souza
29.4K views
1:14:51Joel Dsouza vs Samay Raina
Joel D'Souza
17.7K views
0:56samay raina vs sunil pal
Sunil Pal
3.6K viewsChannels on this page: Tanmay Bhat, Bharti Singh, Appurv Gupta, Joel D'Souza, Sunil Pal
Frequently asked questions
What is Samay Raina known for?
He is an Indian stand-up comedian and YouTuber who was the co-winner of Comicstaan 2 (2019) and hosted the comedy talent show India's Got Latent in 2024.
How did Samay Raina popularise chess?
During the COVID-19 pandemic he began streaming chess games on YouTube at Tanmay Bhat's suggestion, and chess personalities including Viswanathan Anand and Vidit Gujrathi have credited him with popularising chess in India.
What is Samay Raina's comedy special?
On 7 March 2026 he released his debut comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube, which became the most viewed stand-up comedy special on YouTube.
Has Samay Raina performed at Madison Square Garden?
Yes, in 2026 he became one of the youngest Indian comedians to perform at Madison Square Garden, closing the global leg of his tour.
Where was Samay Raina born?
He was born on 26 October 1997 in Jammu into a conservative Kashmiri Pandit family.
Comedians similar to Samay Raina
Same comedic style, across countries
