| Intro | British comedian |
| Is | Comedian |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type | Humor |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 30 January 1978, Crawley, Borough of Crawley, West Sussex, South East England |
| Age: | 42 years |
| Star sign | Aquarius |
Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 30 January 1978) is a British stand-up comedian and actor. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards. 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.
He is also a 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.
Ranganathan started presenting Newsjack on Radio 4 Extra in March 2014.
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.
Ranganathan has guested on multiple episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. 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. 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, West Sussex. 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.
Prior to his comedy career, he was a freestyle rapper under rap name “Ranga” and once reached the finals of the UK freestyle competition.
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.
He is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent and a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
Ranganathan is a vegan and was raised Hindu. His mother has said that he “always prays before he leaves the home”, although Ranganathan describes himself as “not massively spiritual”.
Filmography
| 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 | BBC Three | Presenter | 1 series |
- 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)