Censorship has no place in comedy, that’s how Toronto’s Neema Naz feels and it’s reflected in his style.
Naz, who will be performing at Market Brewing Co. in Newmarket on Aug. 26 and Sept. 23, has become a viral sensation through videos he has posted on social media, where he’s received some backlash.
“As a comedian, my number 1 pet peeve is being censored,” said Naz. “It’s an art form where you need to try different things in order to find your voice. The whole point is to make mistakes so you can grow.”
Staying authentic to himself has always been Naz’s mission statement in comedy, despite push back at times.
“I will never explain myself because it’s either you get what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, or you don’t,” he said. “I’m not doing this for the people who don’t get it, it’s for the people who do get it and for myself. This is who I am and who I’m showing to the world. I’ve always been unapologetically myself and that’s exactly who I want to show people.”
About a year and a half ago, Naz was banned from TikTok, and he feels that social media censorship impacts his ability to truly be himself as a comedian.
“With social media, you’re not fully in control, you have to abide by their regulations and guidelines, which is understandable,” he said. “But I feel like their algorithm picks up things and they just decide what’s offensive and what’s not, and they’ll immediately give a strike to your account or take your video down. Eventually it leads to banning your account.”
When the ban happened, Naz said he was lucky to have a couple contacts at TikTok to get his account back after about three months.
“Ever since, it’s been fine and going strong,” he said. “It’s subjective, especially with comedy. Whoever is running these social media powerhouses decides what’s right and what’s wrong. If it goes against their views, they’ll say it’s wrong, when in my eyes it’s not wrong at all.”
Naz said he’s had to adapt to keep his account and audience on social media, since he has no choice but to play by their rules.
“I feel like I’m almost on a string, but at the same time, you can’t have everything your way in life,” he said. “Eventually you’ll get to a point where you’re so big that you’ll be fine.”
With more than 570,000 followers on TikTok and another 267,000 on Instagram, social media has been a key factor in Naz’s ability to turn comedy into a career.
“It’s the biggest and best tool that artists have, and it’s at the palm of their hands,” he said. “You have everything that artists didn’t have 10 or 15 years ago, they had to struggle just to get one TV spot to show their craft. Now you can just build your own audience without the gatekeepers. It allows you to build a successful career from your own actions.”
Now 28 years old, Naz realized during the summer of 2014 that comedy could be something he turns into a career, and without social media he’s not sure he would have been able to do it.
“I dropped out of university to pursue it full time because I was always mediocre at everything else in my life,” he said. “This was one of the only things I realized for myself that I could be great at since I love it so much. People have been telling me my whole life that I’m funny and should do something with comedy, then when I realized I could do it, I went all in.”
Using social media, Naz has amassed more than 700 million views on his videos and celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Kevin Hart, and Diplo have even taken notice.
“It’s surreal because it’s people that I look up to that recognize my talents,” he said. “Not that I need validation, but it does validate what I’m doing and make me feel good. Humans need that feeling and it’s all because of social media that it can reach these people. That’s the beauty of it and I’m looking forward to that happening more and more.”
Given his stance on censorship in comedy, Naz knows he opens himself up to critics, but believes that’s just part of the job.
“No matter what you do, there’s always going to be someone who hates you for no reason,” he said. “You can’t go around trying to people please everyone. That will never work. Anytime I post anything, someone will always hate on it.”
In September, Naz will be performing with comedian Chris D’Elia at L’Olympique in Montreal.
D’Elia has been accused of sexual harassment, grooming, and solicitation of nude photos by multiple under-age girls. Naz’s stance on performing with him aligns with how he feels about comedy in general.
“My job is to go on stage and make people laugh, that’s my number 1 priority,” he said. “Whatever opportunity I have to go and do that, I’m always willing to do that. I don’t know the full truth, so I can’t go around believing what everyone says. You have to do your own research and make a decision on your own.”
After finishing a one-month tour through Canada and the U.S., Naz is back home in Toronto doing shows in the city before his two shows in Newmarket at Market Brewing Co.
With his parents living in York Region, and a history with Market Brewing Co., it was a natural fit for him to come to Newmarket.
“When I first started doing comedy, I did shows at Market Brewing, so we wanted to put on one of our own shows there,” he said. “It’s a good venue and we love the owner Billy (Gianopoulos). This way, people who want to come to shows that don’t live downtown can come to these ones.”
After selling out shows in Toronto and headlining shows in the U.S., coming back to Newmarket after all these years was an easy choice for Naz.
“I don’t see myself as a celebrity, but I definitely see it as sticking to my roots and not forgetting where I came from,” he said. “I’ll always do that as much as I can and it’s cool because now I’ll actually draw enough people to fill the room and bring service to Billy and Market Brewing.”
Naz said he’s planning his next North American tour for the end of 2024. Tickets for his shows in Newmarket can be found here.
