Sam See is a stand up comedian from Singapore, currently based in London, England. This is his origin story.

Okay, so this is the fun thing. You’re gonna get the actual origin story. Because in a lot of articles and a lot of interviews, I tell the 2012 story, which is that I was taking part in a talent competition in a gay club, and I was singing back then. I really loved to sing like jazz standards and crooning and Great American Songbook. And unfortunately, my song was, I think, three and a half minutes, but I had to fill a six-minute time slot. So, I was like, oh, okay, what do I do to fill the time? And I was like, Oh, I like stand up. And like, stand up is a very traditional way of filling time before a song. So I was like, I’ll do that. And it was shit. But the drag queen that was on before me was a comic as well, and she was like, “Hey, I do stand up. Do you want to come to the open mic?”

And she brought me to the open mic, and I saw these comedians, and I was like, “Oh, damn shit, this is really fun. I’ll give it a bash.” And then the week after that, which was serendipitously enough, April 1, 2012, I did my first stand up set properly, and I really liked it. And that’s the story I tell a lot of people, because it’s easier than explaining the real fucking origin story. There’s a genuine hidden story…

This is way back, let me try to get the date right – 2009. I had just finished secondary school, or a high school equivalent, and there was a prom, as we all have. It was an all male school, so prom is not as exciting for us than most other people, even for a homosexual man, I wasn’t going to get laid because they were all ugly.

So I was a school photographer at the time, and I was taking pictures of the talent competition. It was the day before prom night, and I was taking pictures of every class entry. And we’re like, “Hey, stand here, pose”… click, click, click. And then it comes to my class. And then we realized a they had not shown up, which was weird, and then an hour later, we were told, “Oh, they dropped out. Oh, there’s no one from your class to fill the slot. Sam, and that’s bad. Do you want to fill the slot? No really, do you? Could you please fill the slot? We need to kill time.”

So I was like, “Sure. Why not?”

So I chose to do stand up because I didn’t want to sing, because, I sang jazz, and I knew I would look like an idiot in front of all these lads. So I was like, “I’ll do stand up. That’s the lad thing to do”.

But for some reason, I thought, “Oh no, it’s not enough to do stand up. That’s not funny. What if I had an outfit?”

So I dressed like a cowboy and did stand up with a terrible little gun and a bandana. I had a hat, and I was like, Yeah, this will truly make me cool. I would just stand up as a cowboy.

So how old were you?

12?… I believe I can recall…. Oh, sorry, I will correct myself, 16. So it was a while ago. And this is not like this is not a media trained story. The fact I’m forgetting all these facts, this is the rare actual story of it. I did it. I did commit cardinal sin. I did steal material. Because at the time, I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to steal material – I was a child. I copied, of all things, Eddie Izzard’s routine, Suzy Izzard’s routine. And I’m like, once again, this is a bunch of 16 year olds in Singapore, Asia who do not understand what Penny Arabiata is from the Death Star Canteen Routine.

I bet you got lots of laughs though.

Clearly. I am a comedy genius unrivalled through the eons.

It went amazing well, because I spent half of it roasting the teachers and making fun of them. And probably, if there was footage, would be the earliest footage of terrible crowd work.

Wow

Yeah, that was technically my origin story. I never, I didn’t touch it till much later on in 2012 but that was the secret origin story of Sam See doing stand up that you’re not going to get anywhere else because it’s too long and too weird and it’s too strange.

You got the performing bug?

In fact, it was the opposite. I was like, “Oh, God, this is terrifying. How does anyone do stand up? I would never do stand up again,” which was said in the same enthusiasm of, “oh, this is beer. I hate beer. I will never drink a beer again”. And now I’m a raging alcoholic… so clearly, I need to start making money and say, “I hate money. I’ll never make money again. Greed is evil. Kids don’t do it. Give me your money so you can never be greedy again.”

So, what happened next?

So, it’s a beautiful chain of events called the world going into the pandemic. That genuinely was the case. At the end of 2019, to early 2020, it was, I was on the up. I had just filmed for the Jim Jeffries Show. He had invited me to America to talk to producers. And I did is the rare time where this famous person will sweep you off your feet and go like, I’ll open the doors for you. And he did. I got to go backstage, talk to producers. I talk to people at Comedy Central. I talk to Asians as 2020, hit. We’re going to have more conversations. I was booked for the Melbourne Comedy International Comedy Festival’s, a special show called Comedy Zone Asia, which is a show where they will personally book you, pay for your flights, your accommodations. It is a rare time in history where a comedy festival takes care of you that well, and they put me on TV and radio, and everything was looking up, and it was America. And then the pandemic hit, and then all of that was wiped away.

And, yeah, it was sad, but, I mean, we all had our lives ruined, so join the gang. And I started to do streaming on Twitch, and I realized that the only international acts I could work with timeline like in time zone wise, was the UK. They were the only time zones I could have on my shows, or I could stay up late enough to be on their shows. And once we were done, we would talk late into the night. So once the pandemic ended, all of my American contacts had dried up, but my UK contacts were riper than it ever had been. And then I started coming back to the fringe. In 2022 I came back the second time. That’s where I met you in 2022 and then 2023 and I had such a good time, and I realized, well, America’s kind of literally dead in the water.

They genuinely, uh, not kind of spoiling a bit in the show. Or, you know when, when I joke in the show, of like, oh, I wanted to go to America, but there was a shooting in Chinatown and LA, genuinely, that’s why I chose not to go to America anymore, because I was like, crap, it’s not even safe for us. Like, if Asian people are shooting Asian people, this is a risk. So, and I’ve got a partner, and I don’t want to bring them to a place where they could get shot. I mean, they’re six foot six, they are much easier target than me. So that’s why I chose, uh, London, because all my friends were here and a lot of opportunities were here. And yeah, and I moved in April, and I embrace at time of recording, we are entering fall, and it’s okay, but I know winter is going to be terrible, so I’m excited for that to decide if this was a good or bad idea.

My main goal right now is trying to appeal myself to the various bookers around the UK for a year, I am doing the drug dealer sampler year of like, “Hello. I’m gonna drop you to do 10 for free because you idiots don’t know how to watch a YouTube clip of me doing a 20 minute set. That’s fine. I’m here to prove I’m a good comic.”

Yeah, you’re a great comic, no question. You’re also a gamer, tell me about the YouTube channel No Rolls Barred.

I did not expect to be asked that. I didn’t know you were a No Rolls Barred fan. So, during the pandemic, this lovely channel called No Rolls Barred opened up, and I was friends of a bunch of the people on it. Come 2022, I get to meet them in person, and we become fast friends. We play games together; we play games online. And then cut to this year, after years of friendships, I’ve moved now to the UK, they’re like, “Hey, would you like to be part of the show?”

So I go online and play board games, either online or in person, with a bunch of my friends, and people like to watch them, and it’s exciting. It’s fun, but also it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, because if you think about it, it’s like on the surface, it’s you’re playing board games with friends, and these are people I know, personally, it’s not like showbiz friends, it’s actual friend friends, and it’s great. But when you look under the surface, I am on with five talented actors and improvisers, and I’m a stand up comedian. I am not trained in improv. I have done improv for years, but I was never trained. I’m not an actor. So it is very strange to come into a basically, it’s like a panel show unlike any other, because it’s not about like getting quips in. It is about building character. It is about playing a game. It is about half the audience going, I want to laugh. The other half the audience going, I want good gameplay. And trying to marry those ideas together.

It is some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Is also some of the most stress I’ve ever had, being on a show with such talented, wonderful people that make excellent decisions in game and in show and trying to keep pace while trying to be interesting enough. So yeah, I love it. It’s fun. It marries my love of board gaming that was one of my earlier parts when I was studying video game development. I love the board game sort of module of it. And now this lets me revive my love for board games, and I am excited to work more of them in the future. Go watch it. It’s great fun, especially Blood on the Clocktower

Blood on the Clocktower?

Yeah. Blood on the Clocktower is so fun. If you don’t know if people that are listening don’t know what it is, it is a sort of social deduction game, kind of like Werewolf, but hypercharged. It can go on for two to three hours for just one game. But trust me, it is the best two to three hours you’ll ever enjoy. It is fun. It is spicy, it is silly. It is Blood on the Clocktower .Try for yourself. It is such an interesting game that to also play my partner, who has gone, “I didn’t know you could lie to me.” I don’t like to lie to my partner ever. So that’s the only time I lied to my partner. He’s like, “I don’t know if I like this game, Sam, I didn’t know you could do that.”

Thanks. I’ve really enjoyed our brief time together. Any last words before we go?

I just honestly would like to like if there’s anyone in comedy or booking, please book more women. That’d be very lovely. A lot of lovely, lovely friends who do not get booked often enough. And there’s a bit of a whole conversation right now about it, whether you think they are not enough women or they should be more women, you should just book more. Just book more. It’s a very easy thing. Also book me. I’m available. Book them first, and then once you’re done booking them, book me.

I clear three minority criteria for any of you bookers out there, gay, Asian and immigrant. I can do a fam. I’m basically advertising myself right now this I’m whoring myself out. I do can do family friendly stuff.

No, I can’t.

Yeah, but find me on social media. Mr. Sam See. Go and support your friends. Go watch something weird. So, I always tell people, go watch something weird. It’s like, this doesn’t cost you that much for weird projects, but yeah, remember why you came into stand up as a punter, a performer or as a producer? Because we like fun, and I think that gets lost in the mix a lot of times in our industry, people forget to have fun. I am very sad about that, but I’m… I do what I can to bring that joy back and the the joy of experimentation, creation, creativity, instead of just like we are here to make money, I am here to be a star, and I’m like, TV is dying. No one’s gonna be famous. You’re gonna be forgotten. Let’s enjoy the ride.

Let’s enjoy the ride. You can keep up with Sam via his social media. You’ll find all the links on his profile page.

Sam’s Profile HERE