Romesh Ranganathan

Romesh Ranganathan

Romesh Ranganathan at the 2013 NFRN Awards
Birth name Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan[1]
Born (1978-01-30) 30 January 1978
Crawley, West Sussex, England[1]
Medium Stand-up, television, radio
Genres Observational comedy, Character comedy
Spouse Lisa[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!.

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 mum 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 will co-present It's Not Rocket Science, a new entertainment series for ITV alongside Ben Miller and Rachel Riley.

Personal life

Romesh Ranganathan in 2015

Ranganathan was raised in Crawley.[10] He is married and a father of three. In 2014 Ranganathan's wife, Lisa, 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 and a supporter of Arsenal F.C..

Ranganathan is a vegan.[14]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Channel Role Notes
2015— Play to the Whistle ITV Regular Panelist 2 series
2015 The Apprentice: You're Fired! BBC Two Regular Panelist 1 series
2015— Asian Provocateur BBC Three Main 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
Guest appearances

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 England & Wales births 1837-2006
  2. "Comic Romesh celebrates success and birth of a son". Crawley and Horely Observer. Crawley and Horely Observer. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  3. "Comedy awards shortlist unveiled". Irish Independent. 21 August 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  4. "Stand Up For The Week announces new line-up". British Comedy Guide. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  5. Live at the Apollo at BBC Programmes
  6. Newsjack at BBC Programmes
  7. Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live 2014, Part 2 at BBC Programmes
  8. "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown". Channel 4.
  9. "Romesh Ranganathan: 'I was a bumbling Englishman in a Sri Lankan disguise'". the Guardian.
  10. Asian Provocateur
  11. "Comic Romesh celebrates success and birth of a son". Crawley Observer. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  12. "The Spotlight on ... Romesh Ranganathan". londonisfunny.com. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  13. "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.
  14. Jones, Alice (12 February 2015). "Soya think you're funny? Introducing the UK's first Vegan Comedy Festival". The Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
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