Romesh Ranganathan
| Romesh Ranganathan | |
|---|---|
 Romesh Ranganathan at the 2013 NFRN Awards | |
| Birth name | Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan[1] |
| Born | 30 January 1978 Crawley, West Sussex, England[1] |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, radio |
| Genres | Observational comedy, Character comedy |
| Spouse | Leesa[2] |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | Official website |
Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan[1] (born 30 January 1978)[1] is a British stand-up comedian and actor. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards.[3] He has made multiple appearances on comedy panel shows and in 2016, he co-presented It's Not Rocket Science, alongside Rachel Riley and Ben Miller.[4]
He is also regular panellist on Play to the Whistle and The Apprentice: You're Fired!. In 2016, he completed his first major tour, Irrational Live, in which he performed in some iconic venues such as the Hammersmith Apollo. This tour was also released as a DVD.
Career
As mentioned on a 2013 episode of Live at the Apollo (series 9) in which he featured, Ranganathan started performing as a comedian whilst a mathematics teacher at Hazelwick School in Crawley, and The Beacon School, Banstead, Surrey.[5]
Ranganathan started presenting Newsjack on Radio 4 Extra in March 2014.[6]
He appeared on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice in 2014, during which he presented his homemade vegan chocolate brownies. Ranganathan is a vegan, having been a vegetarian up until 2013.[7]
Ranganathan has guested on multiple episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.[8] He has also appeared on Would I Lie to You?, Holby City, Soccer AM, Russell Howard's Good News, Sweat the Small Stuff, The Last Leg, Virtually Famous, Have I Got News for You and Mock the Week. He was a regular contestant on the first series of Taskmaster and also appeared in the third episode of Jon Richardson Grows Up.
In 2015, he presented a series for BBC Three, Asian Provocateur, in which he travelled to Sri Lanka to explore his ancestral country.[9] In October 2016, the second series was aired in which Ranganathan and his mother travel to America to meet more of his relatives.
He also joined The Apprentice: You're Fired! in 2015 as a regular panellist. The show is a spin-off from The Apprentice. In December 2015, he appeared in Josh Widdicombe's sitcom, Josh. In 2016, he co-presented It's Not Rocket Science, a new entertainment series for ITV, alongside Ben Miller and Rachel Riley.
Personal life
Ranganathan was raised in Crawley.[10] He is married and a father of three. In 2014 Ranganathan's wife, Leesa, was admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary during The Edinburgh Fringe Festival where Ranganathan was appearing and gave birth to their son.[11]
Prior to his comedy career, he was a freestyle rapper under rap name "Ranga" and once reached the finals of the UK freestyle competition.[12]
Ranganathan taught maths and was head of sixth form at Hazelwick School in Crawley before becoming a professional comedian in 2012. His wife was a drama teacher at Hazelwick.[13]
He is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent[14] and a supporter of Arsenal F.C.[15][16][17]
Ranganathan is a vegan[18] and was raised Hindu.[19] His mother has said that he "always prays before he leaves the home",[20] although Ranganathan describes himself as "not massively spiritual".[21] In February 2015, shortly after the Chapel Hill shooting, he tweeted, "Why haven't any atheists apologised for the Chapel Hill shooting yet?"[22]
Filmography
- Television
| Year | Title | Channel | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015— | Play to the Whistle | ITV | Regular Panelist | 3 series |
| 2015 | The Apprentice: You're Fired! | BBC Two | Regular Panelist | 1 series |
| 2015— | Asian Provocateur | BBC Three | Presenter | 2 series |
| 2015 | Taskmaster | Dave | Contestant | 1 Series |
| 2015 | Josh | BBC Three | Guest role | S1 ep5 |
| 2016 | It's Not Rocket Science | ITV | Co-presenter | 1 series |
| 2017 | Comic Relief | BBC One / BBC Two | Co-presenter | |
| 2017- | Comedians in Pubs Talking Comedy[23] | BBC Three | Presenter | 1 series |
- Guest appearances
- Live at the Apollo (2013, 2015)
- Mock the Week (2013–present)
- Sweat the Small Stuff (2013–14)
- The Dog Ate My Homework (2014-present)
- The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (2014)
- Virtually Famous (2014)
- 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2015)
- The Last Leg (2015)
- Have I Got News For You (2015, 2016)
- Asian Provocateur (2015)
- Would I Lie to You? (2015, 2016)
- Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas (2016)
- Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2016)[24]
References
- ^ a b c d England & Wales births 1837-2006
- ^ "Comic Romesh celebrates success and birth of a son". Crawley and Horely Observer. Crawley and Horely Observer. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Comedy awards shortlist unveiled". Irish Independent. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "Stand Up For The Week announces new line-up". British Comedy Guide. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ Romesh Ranganathan at BBC Online
- ^ Romesh Ranganathan at BBC Online
- ^ Romesh Ranganathan at BBC Online
- ^ "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown". Channel 4.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan: 'I was a bumbling Englishman in a Sri Lankan disguise'". the Guardian.
- ^ Asian Provocateur
- ^ "Comic Romesh celebrates success and birth of a son". Crawley Observer. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
- ^ "The Spotlight on ... Romesh Ranganathan". londonisfunny.com. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
- ^ "Former Crawley teacher now a comedian who has supported Ricky Gervais and appeared on Live at the Apollo". Crawley News. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ^ Hodges, Michael (2015-10-07). "Asian Provocateur: What comic Romesh Ranganathan learnt about Sri Lanka in his new BBC3 show". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
- ^ "TV funnyman Romesh Ranganathan wants to visit Grimsby". Grimsby Telegraph. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan ponders life as a comic". www.easterneye.eu. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
- ^ Jones, Alice (12 February 2015). "Soya think you're funny? Introducing the UK's first Vegan Comedy Festival". The Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan proves even TV comedians get embarrassed by their mums". TV blog. 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ "9 things Romesh Ranganathan learnt when his mum took him on a cultural crash course to Sri Lanka". RadioTimes. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ "Romesh Ranganathan on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ British Comedy Guide (2017-03-15). "Romesh Ranganathan to host BBC Three chat show - News - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
- ^ "Big Fat Quiz - On Demand - All 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
External links
