Comedian Bio
Romesh Ranganathan is one of the UK’s most popular comedians and presenters. He’s known for his often cynical and self-deprecating humour. Full name, Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan, he was born in West Sussex in 1978 and his first ever stand-up performance came at just nine years old as part of a holiday camp talent contest. During his teenage years his passions took a slightly different route with a keen interest in hip-hop music and rapping; he went by the name ‘Ranga’. Rap wasn’t his calling though and he ended up becoming a teacher before finding his route into full time comedy. Ranganathan taught maths at a school in Crawley where he met his wife and they married in 2009. It was at the same time Romesh found his way back into comedy.
In 2013 Romesh Ranganathan made his Edinburgh Festival Fringe Debut. He performed his show ‘Rom Com’ and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. In 2014 Ranganathan returned with a new show, ‘Rom Wasn’t Built In A Day’. He received another nomination for the Best Show award. In 2014, Romesh also started presenting ‘Newsjack’ on Radio 4 Extra and appeared on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. His theme of dry humour was beginning to quickly gain him popularity throughout the UK.
During 2015 Romesh Ranganathan travelled to Sri Lanka for the BAFTA nominated series ‘Asian Provocateur’ for the BBC, where he explored his ancestral country. The series proved to be a hit and in 2016 a second series followed. This time he was joined by his mum, and they went to North America in search of more relatives.
In 2016 Ranganathan was chosen as the co-presenter of the show ‘It’s Not Rocket Science’ on ITV, alongside Rachel Riley and Ben Miller. In the same year he completed his first major comedy tour, ‘Irrational Live’, which saw him perform in major venues including the Hammersmith Apollo. 2017 saw Ranganathan join the hit show ‘A League of Their Own’ as a regular panellist, replacing Jack Whitehall. Following James Corden leaving the show, he became the official host of the show in 2021.
In 2018, Romesh launched new shows ‘Judge Romesh’, ‘Just Another Immigrant’ and ‘The Reluctant Landlord’ and published his first book, ‘Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs Of A Distinctly Average Human Being’. He also returned with a brand-new stand-up show, ‘The Cynic's Mixtape’, in September 2019 and released his second book ‘As Good As It Gets’ in October, the following year.
Romesh Ranganathan has appeared on other notable shows including numerous TV comedy panel shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Would I Lie To You?, The Last Leg, QI, Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You. He has also been a regular panellist on The Apprentice: You're Fired!, Play to the Whistle, and The Museum of Curiosity. He’s also done podcasts with his mum (The Lockdown Chronicles) and with fellow comedian Geoff Norcutt (Romesh & Geoff Talk About The Mandalorian).
