| Intro | British stand-up comedian |
| Is | Comedian |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type | Humor |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 28 May 1970, Luton |
| Age: | 50 years |
Supriya Kumar “Paul” Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is an English comedian, broadcaster and quiz player of Indian descent.
He is a “Chaser” on the ITV game show The Chase.
Education
Sinha was educated at Dulwich College and St George’s Hospital Medical School. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George’s annual revue and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as the “Slag Mag”. Sinha is a qualified general practitioner. He is an atheist.
Stand-up comedy
Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in London and King’s Lynn. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of puns. In 1999, he came third in the final of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year.
After several years of combining touring with his nascent medical career, Sinha’s breakthrough came with his second solo Edinburgh show, Saint or Sinha?, which earned him an if.comeddie nomination in 2006.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows
- 2004, Aspects of Love, Actually
- 2006, Saint or Sinha? (if.comeddie award nomination)
- 2007, King of the World
- 2009, 39 Years of Solitude
- 2010, Extreme Anti-White Vitriol
- 2011, Looking at the Stars
- 2015, Postcards from the Z List
- “BBC Radio Scotland Programmes – The Comedy Café, 15/07/2011”. BBC Scotland. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- “Outstanding Tickets”.
Radio
Sinha has performed many times on BBC Radio 4, on shows including The News Quiz, The Now Show, Loose Ends, 28 Acts in 28 Minutes, Shappi Talk and Just a Minute. His interest in football (he is a Liverpool F.C. fan) and cricket has led to appearances on Radio 5 Live, most notably on Fighting Talk.
He has appeared as a guest on Midweek, Woman’s Hour, Broadcasting House and as a political pundit on PM.
In March 2011, Sinha presented his own Radio 4 programme, Paul Sinha’s Quiz Culture, in which he explored the world of competitive quizzing. His second documentary, The Sinha Test, aired on 14 July 2011 and examined patriotism and sporting allegiance. In July 2012, he presented a programme called The Sinha Games on BBC Radio 4 about the Olympic Games and his experience as a Londoner.
In December 2014, Sinha wrote and performed his first series on Radio 4, Paul Sinha’s History Revision. A second series followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d’Or for Radio Comedy.
Quizzes
After an appearance on The Weakest Link (where he was voted off 4th), Sinha has managed appearances on University Challenge: The Professionals (lost), Are You an Egghead? (lost in first round), Mastermind (4th) and Brain of Britain (3rd). Sinha is currently ranked 10th in the National Quiz Rankings (as of 19 January 2013), and 14th in the World Quizzing Championships (as of June 2016)
Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks.
The Chase
In 2011, Sinha joined the ITV quiz series The Chase as the fourth “Chaser” with the nicknames “The Sinnerman”, “The Smiling Assassin” and “Sarcasm in a Suit”.
His first episode was broadcast in the fourth series on 8 September 2012. In a 2016 episode, he went through the whole show without getting a question wrong. He also appears in celebrity editions of the show.