If you don’t mind, I would like to tell you a little bit about Adam Waheed. This handsome Egyptian from New York City is a lot more than a pretty face. In fact, his good looks are almost an after thought in his comedy. He is known for playing innocent and playful roles where he is typically the ridiculous guy who leaves his ladies, friends, co-workers, or doctors completely flabbergasted. The shocking story behind Adam, and his massive social media following, is that he is a self-made man. He started out as wanting to be an actor, but there were just not enough roles for someone who looks like him. So, he took things into his own hands and started an empire of social media comedy. Cute, short skits that resemble videos one would see on sites like Funny or Die and CollegeHumor, with one small exception — Adam always casts a very diverse group of talent in all his videos. While the rest of the world is waking up to this, this is just natural for all of Adam’s skits.

Adam believes in unity in the world. This can be seen through his first short film that he acted and was a producer for — Tribes. Tribes is an amazing, funny, and thought-provoking short film set on the NYC Subway. Adam is one of three robbers holding up a train car, but as the three men are from different backgrounds they are conflicted on which population of people in the car they wish to rob. This rapidly unravels into a conversation on who is in one’s tribe.

Adam may spend a lot of time on social media, but with great power comes great responsibility, and with a following of over 11.4M on TikTok and over 2.9M or Instagram, he wants to use his platform for good! With the help of his followers Adam was able to team up with Tim Sykes, Karmagawa, and Bali Children's Project to open the first Adam Waheed School in Bali last year. Yeah, while the world was closed down, Adam was building a school to get these kids on the right track soon as everything opens back up. He also tells us, that while this is the first one, it is far from the last! To learn more about Adam Waheed, please read our exclusive interview below.

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Foreword by Kira Bucca, Editor in Chief of Jejune Magazine.

Where are you based?
Los Angeles.

You are hilarious and super creative. How did you get interested in comedy?
Comedy is something that always came naturally to me since I was a kid, it was the one thing I didn’t have to try at.

Comedians take many forms, what made you decide to focus on social media?
Social media was a form I found instant and large success in, However I plan to get back on stage soon.

Do you have a favorite platform? If so, why?
Tough to say, it’s like picking a favorite child. I love them all in their own ways.

You started out as an actor, but now you write and produce as well. What made you decide to do it all?
I actually wasn’t finding success as an actor early on, which forced me to create my own opportunities by writing and producing my own projects. Through that I was able to find out that I had a talent for creating, which was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Your skits are all so different and unique. What inspires your ideas?
Everyday life that I experience and people watching.

You have at least two signature styles, one your music/sound effects that you add to your skits, which make normal things feel much more dramatic. Is there a story behind you starting to use these sounds?
Music and sounds effects make everything better. Music also has a great ability to story tell better.

Also, you are known for your saying: “if you don’t mind”, so much so that you have T-shirts! Can you tell us about the origin of this saying?
“If you don’t mind” was a funny phrase I came up with one day on set. The phrase is used whenever I do something that anyone would “mind”. Similar to saying something really offensive and then saying “No offense” after. It’s a hilarious contradiction.

It is frustrating that you ran into the problem of lack of roles for people of color while you were focused on acting, but it is amazing how you turned that around and cast an incredibly diverse group of people in your skits. Was this intentional? Did you go in with the plan to help expand options for people of color?
Yes, my intentions were to avoid using stereotypes when casting my videos. Anybody can play any role. I believe that’s the way it should be.

You collaborate with a ton of interesting personalities. How do you decide who to work with?
I like to travel the world with a lot of different people to keep my videos new and fresh. I usually make decisions based off chemistry and good vibes.

In addition to your social media skits, you have recently acted in and helped produce a really powerful new short film: Tribes. Can you tell us a bit about this film and why you thought it was important to get involved in it?
This was actually the first short film I’ve ever created. The message in this film is one that may be one of the most important messages there is, which is unity. Layering comedy over a message like this is what I’m all about.

Tribes has a really powerful message that I feel we could all learn from — we are all connected. What do you want your viewers to take from this film?
Biggest take away from Tribes is that no matter how you separate people based on race, age, sex, etc. we are the same. Humans.

It is a bit mind blowing but Tribes is the first of its kind to feature every type of race and gender. Was this intentional? As a New Yorker, the diversity felt very NYC, is this why you chose to shoot this on the NYC Subway?
It was very international to include every race on Tribes in order to get the message across. Growing up in New York it’s not hard to tell that it is truly the melting pot of diversity and more specifically the subway, which is why I chose for the entire film to take place on it.

In the film you speak about your family being immigrants, while I know you are not your character, your family is originally from Egypt. Do you feel your background influences your art?
My background influences my art in many ways but at the same time I focus on staying relatable so anybody from any background can enjoy and relate to my content.

You are hilarious and clearly extremely talented, but you also have a heart of gold! Can you tell us about The Adam Wadeed School you recently opened in Bali?
This was a school I was working on creating for a while now with my good friend Tim Sykes, Karmagawa and Bali’s children project. We built a school for 195 kids filled with brand new books and computers. I have always believed that everyone should have the opportunity to be educated for free.

What inspired you to open this school?
Opening up a school was always a goal of mine. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn and create. I plan on building many more.

Why is education so important to you?
Education is important because it is a big part of where I am today. Nobody should be held back due to a lack of education.

Social media gets a lot of hate, but you used it for good by getting your followers to help fund your school through donations. What are your thoughts on using social media for philanthropy, and how do you think we can use it for more of that moving forward?
Having a large platform comes with a great responsibility. One of those responsibilities is to use it for good and to make a change.

In some ways the pandemic has been a good time for influencers, in that people are more online than ever. Did COVID impact your brand?
Yes, Covid gave me a chance to reach more people, especially in a time of uncertainty I was able to use my platform to make people laugh and feel better.

How have you been staying positive during shelter in place?
I stay positive by continuing to laugh everyday and finding the comedy in tragedy.

What is your motto in life?
Never give up!

To learn more about Adam Waheed, please follow him via the below platforms:
TikTok: @AdamW
Instagram: @AdamW
Facebook: @AdamW