COMEDIAN OPENS FOR FAMOUS HEADLINER, REMEMBERS TO SAY THANK YOU; ROOM 'NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH IT'

In a week when this paper reported that Mr. Samman mostly exists during introductions, the Comedy Desk is pleased to note an occasion on which he did the introducing himself.

The clip, Remembering Our Blessings, captures him opening for a major touring comedian, and is described by the performer as "not a routine. Just a moment of gratitude." He adds that some dreams arrive "later than you planned, and right on time."

Comedy analysts say the risk of gratitude on stage is that it is sincere, and sincerity is hard to heckle. "The crowd came in ready for punchlines," said one. "He gave them a thank-you. Some of them called their mothers in the car."

It is the loud kind of love, this paper notes, but aimed in the right direction. He did not punch the air in a freeze-frame on a football pitch. Shermer High's detention class says it is "a little disappointed."