Paul Sinha
Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is an English comedian, broadcaster and quiz player. He is one of the professional quizzers on the ITV game show The Chase.
Paul Sinha | |
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![]() Sinha holding the Fighting Talk Champion of Champions trophy | |
Born | Supriya Kumar Sinha 28 May 1970 Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK |
Other names | The Sinnerman |
Education | Dulwich College |
Alma mater | St George's Hospital Medical School |
Occupation | Broadcaster, comedian |
Years active | 1996–present |
Spouse(s) | Oliver Levy ( m. 2019) |
Awards |
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Website | paulsinha.com |
Early life
Sinha was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, to Indian parents of Bengali Hindu origin. He was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School.[1] Sinha is a former general practitioner,[2] qualifying in 1995.[3][4] 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.[5]
Career
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.[1] He promoted himself as "the world's only gay Anglo-Bengali GP turned stand up comedian".[6] 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.[6][7]
In 2013 Sinha performed in Comedy Central's The Alternative Comedy Experience, and in 2019 he was a contestant on the 8th series of comedy game show Taskmaster.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows
- 2004, Aspects of Love, Actually
- 2006, Saint or Sinha? (if.comeddie award nomination)[8]
- 2007, King of the World
- 2009, 39 Years of Solitude[9]
- 2010, Extreme Anti-White Vitriol
- 2011, Looking at the Stars[10]
- 2015, Postcards from the Z List[11][12]
- 2017, Shout Out To My Ex[13]
- 2018, The Two Ages of Man
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 fan,[14]) and cricket has led to appearances on Radio 5 Live,[8] most notably on Fighting Talk where he has won the Champion of Champions finale twice. He has also appeared on Talksport radio station.[8]
He has appeared as a guest on Midweek, Woman's Hour, Broadcasting House and as a political pundit on PM.[15][16][17]
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.[18][19] 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.[20]
In August 2013, Sinha wrote and performed a four part series Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test.[21] This was aired initially on BBC Radio 4 Extra and then on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.
In December 2014, Sinha created Paul Sinha's History Revision.[22] on Radio 4. A second series followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d'Or for Radio Comedy,[23][24] and also a third series in 2017.
In August 2019, Sinha launched a four part series Paul Sinha's General Knowledge.[25]
Quizzing
After an appearance on The Weakest Link (where he was voted off 4th), Sinha made appearances on University Challenge: The Professionals (lost), Are You an Egghead? (lost in first round), Mastermind (4th) and Brain of Britain (3rd). Sinha took 11th place in the 2018 World Quizzing Championships[26] and became the British Quizzing Champion in September 2019.[27]
Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks.[28]
The Chase
In 2011, Sinha joined the ITV quiz series The Chase as the fourth "chaser",[12] with the nicknames "The Sinnerman", "The Smiling Assassin" and "Sarcasm in a Suit".[29]
His first episode was broadcast in the fourth series on 8 September 2011. In an episode aired on 6 May 2016, he appeared to have gone through the whole show without getting a question wrong. However, there was a head-to-head question which both the player and the chaser answered wrongly, but was edited out due to time constraints.[30] He also appears in celebrity and family editions of the show.
He has said he is more known overseas (such as in New Zealand) than in Britain, where The Chase is screened at 5:00 pm before many people are home from work.[31]
Personal life
Although he has often discussed his sexuality in his comedy shows, many viewers of The Chase were unaware that Sinha is gay until May 2017, when he made a passing comment on the show about a male ex of his being an avid Mario Kart fan.[32]
In June 2019, Sinha announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.[33]
In December 2019, Sinha married his long-term partner, Oliver Levy, at Mayfair Library in London.[34]
References
- Pendreigh, Brian (11 August 2011). "Interview: Paul Sinha, comedian". Edinburgh Festivals: Festival Previews. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
- Pollack, David (2 October 2008). "Profile - Paul Sinha". The List.
- "Paul Sinha".
- "Supriya Kumar SINHA". General Medical Council. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
- "Paul Sinha's London". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- Logan, Brian (13 August 2007). "A man walks into a doctor's office ..." The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "Edinburgh Comedy Awards – past winners". comedyawards.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- Pollock, David (2 October 2008). "Profile - Paul Sinha". list.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "Paul Sinha". 11 August 2009.
- "BBC Radio Scotland Programmes – The Comedy Café, 15/07/2011". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- "Outstanding Tickets". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- Semple, Ross (12 August 2015). "Interview: Chaser Paul Sinha on being a gay comic sports fan and selfies with Joey Essex". pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- https://www.artrix.co.uk/whats-on/comedy/paul-sinha-shout-out-to-my-ex
- "Paul Sinha Interview". asianchic.co.uk/. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- "Midweek 28 Feb 2007". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- "Woman's Hour 26 May 2008". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- "Comedian's Joke Advice for Brown". bbc.co.uk. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- "Paul Sinha's Quiz Culture". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- "The Sinha Test". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- "The Sinha Games - BBC Radio 4".
- "Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test - BBC Radio 4 Extra".
- "Paul Sinha's History Revision - BBC Radio 4".
- "Rose d'Or Radio Comedy". Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- "Rose d'Or Comedy Winners". British Comedy Guide.
- "Paul Sinha's General Knowledge - BBC Radio 4".
- "Results - World Quizzing Championships 2018". Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/7689/paul-sinha-quizzing-champion
- "QLL – team". Quiz League of London. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- "The Chase: 10 Things You Never Knew About The Chasers". Yahoo! News. 30 June 2016.
- https://mobile.twitter.com/MarkLabbett/status/1117847621152886784
- "Paul Sinha, famous in small towns". Stuff.co.nz. 9 January 2018.
- "Viewers of The Chase react with shock as they realise chaser Paul 'Sinnerman' Sinha is gay". Attitude. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- "Paul Sinha from The Chase reveals he is battling Parkinson's disease in 'devastating' blog post". Evening Standard. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
- "The Chase's Paul Sinha marries partner months after Parkinson's diagnosis". Metro. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
External links
Preceded by Justin Moorhouse |
BBC Radio Five Live Fighting Talk Champion of Champions 2014/15 and 2015/16 |
Succeeded by Richard Osman |