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 409 to 432 of 764.
1:26:50Good Afternoon Chess ft. Sagar Shah | Reaching 1900
384.5K views
3:41:31SAMAY RAINA IMvitational day 2 - FINALS
383.6K views
6:25ACCIDENTALLY GAVE 10,000 RS. SUPERCHAT TO @GamerFleet | BUDWEISER CONQUER 2020
382.7K views
2:04:19SAIMAN SAYS vs DANK RISHU ft. Vidit, KSM, Gamerfleet
381K views
1:15:20AMONG US FT. POETS
380K views
1:27:47Four Player Chess and more ft. Alexandra Botez, AkaNemsko, Vaibhav Sethia
379.5K views
3:35:21IT TAKES TWO Chapter 3 ft. Suhani Shah
378.7K views
9:25BEST OF THE WEEK 17 | SAMAY RAINA
378.7K views
1:40:47GTA 5 Story Mode | DAY 3
376.4K views
1:01:17Ask me Anything ft. Yahya Boobwala, Suhani Shah
373.8K views
2:04:16Blindfold Chess ft. My friend Vidit Gujrathi
371.9K views
12:54Is Anish Giri better than Magnus in GeoGuessr ft. Vidit, Sagar
371.1K views
4:13:25COMEDIANS on BOARD DAY 2 - SEARCH FOR TOP 4
369.3K views
2:56:46CHESS OLYMPIAD DAY 1 ft. Sagar Shah, Biswa, Sethia
368.5K views
1:35Curb your leak - MINICLIP
367.6K views
1:45:13Khelna toh chess tha (Prank Calls)
367.4K views
2:37:35STREAM ENDS WHEN I LOSE THRICE IN A ROW | SAMAY RAINA AGAINST THE CHAT
365.4K views
9:05BEST OF THE WEEK | SAMAY RAINA
365.1K views
18:04GOTHAM CHESS and SAMAY RAINA React to DUMBEST Press Questions | Magnus vs Ian
364.8K views
2:54:09DAY 8 | COB 4 ALL STARS | PRESENTED BY NEWTON SCHOOL
360.2K views
4:25:25COINDCX CHESS SUPER LEAGUE | DAY 6 | PLAYOFF | ft. Kasparov
355.8K views
11:03BEST OF THE WEEK 9 | SAMAY RAINA
352.7K views
8:51BEST OF THE WEEK 14 ft. Shinchan and Anish Giri
352.1K views
6:13:47EPIC LIVE SIMUL IN DUBAI against JUDIT POLGAR ft. Sagar Shah, Tania Sachdev
352.1K 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
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