Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer, known for presenting the BBC radio show '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox, and his stand-up comedy career.

Education

After attending York House prep school, near Croxley Green in Hertfordshire, Ince was, from age 13, educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Hugget ...

, a boarding

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

for boys in the

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

, followed by

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic depa ...

, from which he graduated in English and Drama in 1991.

Career

Stand-up comedy

In 1990, Ince first appeared at Greyfriars Kirkhouse at the Edinburgh Festival where Eddie Izzard was running a venue. At the time Ince was performing in a play called 'Shadow Walker' by Trevor Maynard. He had appeared at the Cafe Royal as part of the Edinburgh Fringe show 'Rubbernecker' alongside Stephen Merchant, Jimmy Carr and

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and ''An Idiot Abroad'' ...

in 2001. As a friend of Ricky Gervais, Ince opened as a support act for his ''Politics'' tour in 2004 and his '' Fame'' tour in 2007. He also appears on the DVD and often appears in Gervaise's video podcasts, mainly being bullied, annoyed and attacked by Gervais. In 2008 Ince had a residency at the Dorchester Arts Centre, trying out new material for his upcoming shows. In late 2008 he released a live stand-up DVD entitled ''Robin Ince is as Dumb as You'', released by

Go Faster Stripe Go Faster Stripe is an independent film production and distribution company that operates out of the Chapter Arts Centre, in Cardiff, Wales. The company specialises in the recording of live shows by stand-up comedians who, while in the public e ...

. Then between January and April 2009, Ince performed his UK tour ''Bleeding Heart Liberal'', playing 51 dates. Towards the end of 2009 and into 2010, Ince toured his next show entitled ''Robin Ince vs. the Moral Majority''. In 2011 he started on the road again, performing his 'Happiness Through Science' UK show, which continued to add many dates and was extended into 2012. In April 2015, Ince made a blog post announcing his retirement from stand-up comedy, writing about impostor syndrome, the commercialisation of the comedy scene and a wish to spend more time with his son. He concluded "Let’s see if I can give up stand up for longer than I gave up whisky, or if the addiction is such that I’ll start busking jokes outside the Hayward Gallery by August." He returned to performing comedy a year later. In September 2016, Ince performed at the Keep Corbyn rally in Brighton in support of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. Ince staged a stand-up tour, ''Pragmatic Insanity'', in September 2017.

Live events

In 2005, Ince began running the ''Book Club'' night at The Albany, London, where acts were encouraged to perform turns of new and experimental material. The club got its name from Ince's attempts to read aloud from – and humorously criticise – various second-hand books which the audience and he had brought in for the occasion. The Book Club proved to be so successful that Ince took it on a full UK tour in 2006, the same year he won the ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. In 2010, Ince published a book entitled ''Robin Ince's Bad Book Club'' about his favourite books that he has used for his shows. Ince has curated ''

Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People ''Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People'' is a Christmas stage show celebrating a view of science. It was first run in 2008 at the ''Bloomsbury Theatre'' and re-run as ''The Return of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People'' in 2009, th ...

'' (later renamed as ''Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People'') since 2008, a Christmas stage show with performances from comedians, musicians and scientists.

Television

Ince started his television career as a comedy writer, working on '' The 11 O'Clock Show'', for which he also performed as an

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

, including an impersonation of

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. He also appeared in ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original ser ...

'' as failed interviewee Stuart Foot. Ince has also appeared on clip shows on British television, where he and other comedians appeared as talking heads. The second Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People stage show was screened on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in 2009, billed as ''Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People''.

Radio

He co-starred with Mitch Benn and

Alfie Joey Alfie Joey is a writer, comic, actor, impressionist, singer, presenter, and artist/cartoonist. He hosted the flagship breakfast show on BBC Radio Newcastle from 2009, until his last show on 28 October 2022. He was nominated Best Compère at th ...

in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

series ''

Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music ''Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series, taking a satirical look at popular music. It is written by and stars Mitch Benn and Robin Ince. It also features Mitch's group ''The Distractions'' ( Kirsty Newton and Tash ...

''. Ince and physicist Brian Cox present the science series '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' on Radio 4. The programme won a Gold Award in the Best Speech Programme category at the 2011 Sony Radio Awards. He is a regular contributor on Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 6 Music programme, appearing weekly as the show's "music profiler". In the summer of 2022 he presented a two part BBC Radio 4 series
''Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel''
exploring the internal and external aspects of reality. This was an edited version of a live performance given in Hulme, Manchester in April 2022

Books

*''Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive’s Tour of the Bookshops of Britain'' (

Atlantic Books Atlantic Books is an independent British publishing house, with its headquarters in Ormond House in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is perhaps best known for publishing Aravind Adiga's debut novel '' The White Tiger'', which rec ...

, 2022) *''The Importance of Being Interested – Adventures in Scientific Curiosity'' (Atlantic Books, 2021) *''I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity'' (Atlantic Books, 2018) *''Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One man's quest to uncover the books that taste forgot'' (

Little, Brown Book Group Little, Brown Book Group is a UK publishing company created in 1992, with multiple predecessors. Since 2006 Little, Brown Book Group has been owned by Hachette UK, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre. It was acquired in 2006 from Time Warner of ...

, 2011) With Brian Cox and Alexandra Feachem: *''The Infinite Monkey Cage - How to Build a Universe'', (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

, 2018)

Podcast and internet

Josie Long and Robin Ince at Long Division 2013

Ince presented the ''Utter Shambles'' (previously ''Show & Tell'')

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

for Paramount Comedy with

Josie Long Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17. In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...

, and presented

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the ...

's ''

Serious About Comedy ''Serious About Comedy'' was a British comedy discussion show on the digital radio station BBC7, hosted by Robin Ince. It was broadcast at 08:30 and 22:00 on Fridays, and 03:00 on Saturdays, in series of 12 editions long. It started on 12 August ...

'' from 2005 until its end in November 2007. Regular panellists in the show included ''Book Club'' performers

, Howard Read and Natalie Haynes, comedy critics Bruce Dessau and Stephen Armstrong, and many others from the British comedy industry. He now presents ''Book Shambles with Robin and Josie'' with Josie Long which is funded via Patreon and music podcast ''Vitriola'' with comedian Michael Legge. In 2013, Ince co-created and launched ''The Incomplete Map of the Cosmic Genome'', an online video based science magazine and archive. Ince acts as host and co-producer on the project. Contributors have included Brian Cox,

Helen Czerski Helen Czerski is a British physicist and oceanographer and television presenter. She is a research fellow in the department of mechanical engineering at University College London. She was previously at the Institute for Sound and Vibration Re ...

, Stephen Fry,

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also se ...

and Stewart Lee. In 2017, Ince co-founded the Cosmic Shambles Network with Trent Burton, an organisation that creates podcasts, documentaries and events "for people with curious minds".

Personal life

Ince is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and supports the Rationalist Association via ''

New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History The ''New Humanist'' has been in print for more than ...

'' magazine by organising events at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, com ...

and at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

featuring scientists, musicians and comedians. The first of these was ''Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People'' in Christmas 2008, and more recently he has fronted a ''Night of 400 Billion Stars''. Regular contributions come from

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on '' Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two o ...

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ...

, Simon Singh and

Philip Jeays Philip Jeays (born Philip Harris on 24 June 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He writes and performs songs in a style close to the tradition of French chanson but in the English language.Meakin, Nione (2011)Philip Jeays, ''The Argus'', 19 Se ...

. In 2009, Ince organised two events with Josie Long, called '' Darwin's Birthday Spectacular'', marking both the scientist's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

''. He was appointed a patron of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

, and later of Dignity in Dying. On 15 September 2010, Ince, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' stating their opposition to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

's visit to the UK being a state visit.

Awards

* Chortle Awards – Innovation Award (2006) *

– Outstanding Contribution to Comedy (2006) * Chortle Awards – Best Compere (2007) * Sony Radio Awards – Gold Award for Best Speech Programme (2011) * Ockham Award for Best Skeptic Event/Campaign (2012) * Honorary Fellow- University College London (2014) * Honorary Doctor of Science – Royal Holloway, University of London * Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association

Other appearances

Ince has appeared at several science events, including the line-up of UCL's

Bright Club Bright Club is a collection of comedy-club-style events in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia promoting public engagement by scientists, academics and others with specialist knowledge. It has been described by ''The Guardian'' as "a 'th ...

in both 2009 and 2010, and took part in the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2011 and 2014. He is a supporter of the yearly festival '' Pestival'' which showcases science, music and comedy, and a regular attendee of the

Latitude Festival The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-1 ...

. Ince gave the British Humanist Association 2012 Voltaire Lecture, "The Importance of Being Interested". Ince was the lead singer in alternative rock combo TheReg from 1992–1994.

Live credits

* 2017: ''Pragmatic Insanity'' (UK tour) * 2016: ''Gloom Aid'' (The 100 Club) * 2014: ''Robin Ince Is In (and Out) of His Mind'' (Trinity Science Gallery) * 2013: ''The Importance of Being Interested'' (UK tour) * 2011/2012: ''Happiness through Science'' (UK tour) * 2011: ''Uncaged Monkeys Tour'' with Simon Singh, Brian Cox, Ben Goldacre and Helen Arney * 2011: ''Ince and Legge'' @ Stand 5 Comedy Club, Edinburgh Fringe * 2009/2010: ''Robin Ince vs. The Moral Majority'' (UK tour) * 2009: The Return of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People * 2009: ''Charles Darwin Birthday Spectacular'' with Josie Long * 2009: ''Karaoke Circus'', Edinburgh Fringe * 2009: ''Carl Sagan Is My God, Oh And Richard Feynman Too'', Edinburgh Fringe * 2009: ''Night of 40 Billion Stars'', with Chris Addison and others * 2009: ''Bleeding Heart Liberal'' (UK tour) * 2009: Charity night @ Grovel bar in Manchester * 2008:

, Christmas Show * 2008: ''Things I Like About Carl Sagan And Others'', Edinburgh Fringe * 2008: Comedy Nights @ Dorchester Arts Centre (throughout the year) * 2008: Crewe Limelight Club's final comedy night * 2007: ''Robin Ince Knew This Would Happen'', Edinburgh Fringe * 2007:
Lion's Den Comedy Club
' @ The Cross Kings in Kings Cross * 2006: ''Robin Ince Isn't Waving'' @ The Assembly Rooms and Edinburgh Fringe 2006 * 2005: ''Ricky Gervais and Guests'' @ The Dominion Theatre * 2005: ''Robin Ince is as Dumb as You'' @ Pleasance and Edinburgh Fringe 2005 * 2005: ''Book Club'' @ Underbelly, Lowdown at the Albany * 2004: ''The Award Winning Robin Ince – Star of the Office, Series 1. Episode 5 (First Bit)'' @ Underbelly * 2001: ''Rubbernecker'' with

, Stephen Merchant, Jimmy Carr @ Cafe Royal

TV credits

* 2010: Host, '' Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People'' (

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

) * 2009: Host, ''

Richard & Judy's New Position ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

'' (

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

) * 2009: Panelist/Guest, '' What the Dickens'' ( Sky Arts) * 2008: Comedy Consultant, '' Skins'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

) * 2007: Sketch performer, ''

Comedy Cuts ''Comedy Cuts'' is a comedy programme on the British TV channel ITV2 that aims to provide an opportunity for new comedy performers to present their talents. Featuring 40 performers demonstrating a mix of stand up and sketches, the series is shot ...

'' (

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

) * 2006: Stand Up Routine, '' Edinburgh & Beyond'' ( Paramount Comedy 1) * 2006: Panelist/Guest, '' Mock the Week'' (

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

) * 2005: Writer, ''The Problem With Anne Robinson'' (BBC Two) * 2004: Writer, ''The Late Edition'' (

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

) * 2004: Writer/performer, ''Celebdaq'' ( BBC Three) * 2003: Writer/performer, ''The State We're In'' (BBC Three) * 2003: Writer/performer, ''The Pilot Show'' (Channel 4) * 2003: John Peel, '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' (Channel 4) * 2001: "Stuart Foot" (interviewee), ''

'' (BBC Two) * 2000: Writer, ''

Meet Ricky Gervais ''Meet Ricky Gervais'' is a British television comedy talk show written and hosted by Ricky Gervais. It was produced by Talkback for Channel 4 in 2000 and ran for one series on Friday nights. Overview Guests were supposedly interviewed by Gerv ...

'' (Channel 4) * 1999: Writer, ''

Alistair McGowan's Big Impression ''The Big Impression'', known as ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression'' for the first three series, is a British comedy sketch show. It features Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona impersonating personalities from entertainment and sport. Four series ...

'' (

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

)

Radio credits

* 2022: Writer/performer, ''Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel'' (

) * 2010: Presenter " Schrodinger's Quantum Kittens" (

) * 2009–present: Host, " The Infinite Monkey Cage" (

) * 2009: Guest, ''

Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show ''Geoff Lloyd with Annabel Port'' was a drivetime radio programme, broadcast on Absolute Radio. The show ran for three hours, between 6pm and 9pm, Monday to Thursday, and two hours, between 6pm and 8pm, on Fridays. Presented by Geoff Lloyd, i ...

'' (

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW. History 1993–1997: Vi ...

) * 2008: Panelist, '' Just a Minute'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2006-7: Panelist, '' The Personality Test'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2004-8: Performer, '' The Now Show'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2005: Host, ''

'' ( BBC Radio 7) * 2005: Writer, '' Dead Ringers'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2004: Performer, ''

Think the Unthinkable ''Think the Unthinkable'' is an audience sitcom about hapless management consultants, written by James Cary and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001. It starred Marcus Brigstocke, David Mitchell, Catherine Shepherd, Emma Kennedy and Beth Ch ...

'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2003-4: Host, ''Spanking New'' (BBC Radio 7) * 2002-4: Writer/performer, '' The in Crowd'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2003-6: Writer/performer/Morrissey/John Peel/Satan, ''

'' (BBC Radio 4) * 2003-6: Writer/performer, ''

The Day the Music Died On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later beca ...

'' (

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

)

Film credits

* 2006: Writer, ''Razzle Dazzle''.

DVDs

* ''Robin Ince is as Dumb as You'' (2006) * ''Nine Lessons and Carols For Godless People'' (2008) * ''Ten Lessons and Carols For Godless People'' (2011) * ''More Nine Lessons and Carols For Godless People'' (2012) * ''Happiness Through Science'' (2013) * ''Robin Ince's Last Ever Show'' (2015)

References

External links

* * *
Robin Ince profile on suchsmallportions.com

2011 interview with The Humourdor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ince, Robin 1969 births Living people Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London British secularists English atheists English male comedians English male television actors English screenwriters English male screenwriters English stand-up comedians People educated at Cheltenham College 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians English republicans