Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British professional

quiz A quiz is a form of mind sport in which people attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief Educational assessment, assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abil ...

zer and comedian. He has written and performed extensively on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show '' The Chase''.

Early life

Supriya Kumar Sinha was born on 28 May 1970 to

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...

parents. His father and paternal grandfather were doctors; his mother was a nurse. He attributes the name Paul to a "misunderstanding with nursing staff" in the newsletter announcing his birth, and says that this name "stuck". Sinha was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

St George's Hospital Medical School St George's, University of London (SGUL), legally the St George's Hospital Medical School, was a public medical school from 1733 to 2024 in South London, England. It merged with City, University of London to form City St George's, University of ...

. Sinha is a former general practitioner, qualifying in the 1990s. While at medical school he developed a taste for the stage in St George's annual

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

and refined his comedy as co-editor of the medical school newsletter, popularly known as the ''Slag Mag''.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Sinha began performing stand-up while working as a junior doctor in hospitals in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

. His early material drew on his sexuality and ethnicity, with heavy use of

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

s. In 1999, he came third in the final of the

Hackney Empire New Act of the Year The NATYS: New Acts of The Year Showcase, previously known as The Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, is an annual industry showcase that promotes new waves of emerging Comedy and Variety acts. It ran at the Hackney Empire Theatre from 1988 until ...

. After several years of combining touring with his nascent medical career, Sinha's breakthrough came with his second solo

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

show, ''Saint or Sinha?'', which earned him an if.comeddie nomination in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows

* 2004, ''Aspects of Love, Actually'' *

, ''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'' * 2017, ''Shout Out to my Ex'' * 2018, ''The Two Ages of Man'' * 2022, ''One Sinha Lifetime'' * 2023, ''Pauly Bengali''

Radio

Sinha has performed many times on

, on shows including ''

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hogg ...

'', ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy programme on BBC Radio 4 which satirises the weekly news. The show, which ran from 1998 to 2024, is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. It features regular ...

'', '' Loose Ends'', ''

28 Acts in 28 Minutes ''28 Acts in 28 Minutes'' is a Stand-up comedy, stand-up TV comedy show aired on the UK's BBC Three in 2005. It comprises 28 acts, each given a minute to perform. Two episodes were aired. A 3-part series also aired on BBC Radio 4 in June 2006, ch ...

'', '' Shappi Talk'' and ''

Just a Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

''. His interest in football (he is a

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

fan) and cricket has led to appearances on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

, most notably on ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11.00 and 12.00 and is currently presented by Rick Edwards. This show is ...

'', where he has won the Champion of Champions finale twice. He has also appeared on

Talksport Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

. He has appeared as a guest on ''

Midweek ''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published Wednesday in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of th ...

'', ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'', ''

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

'' and as a political pundit on '' PM''. In March 2011, Sinha presented his own BBC 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 wrote and presented a programme called ''The Sinha Games'' on BBC Radio 4 about the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and his experience as a Londoner. In December 2014, Sinha wrote and performed his first series on BBC Radio 4, ''Paul Sinha's History Revision''. A second series followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d'Or for Radio Comedy. The follow-up, ''Paul Sinha's General Knowledge'', has completed its third series. In 2022, Paul Sinha wrote and starred in ''Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz''. Sinha is a regular panellist on ''

Round Britain Quiz ''Round Britain Quiz'' (''RBQ'') is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called ''Transatlantic Quiz'', a contest between American an ...

'', representing the South of England with

Marcus Berkmann Marcus Berkmann (born 14 July 1960) is a journalist and author. Life Berkmann was educated at Highgate School and Worcester College, Oxford. His younger brother is the DJ Justin Berkmann. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contributi ...

Quizzing

After an appearance on ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' (where he was voted off fourth), Sinha made appearances on '' University Challenge: The Professionals'' (lost), ''

Are You an Egghead? ''Are You an Egghead?'' is a BBC quiz show that was presented by Dermot Murnaghan. It is a spin-off from the quiz show '' Eggheads'', with its goal to find a further Egghead to complement the existing team. The first series was aired weekdays fr ...

'' (lost in first round), ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

'' (fourth) and ''

Brain of Britain ''Brain of Britain'' is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History It began as a slot in ''What Do You Know?'' in 1953. The main part of the show was the "Brain of Britain" quiz itself, originally called "Ask Me An ...

'' (third). Sinha was ranked seventh in the National Quiz Rankings (as of 30 May 2017), and placed 11th in the 2018 World Quizzing Championships. Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks and in the Online Quiz League for Quiz Machine Kills Fascists.

''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 2011. He also appears in celebrity and family editions of the show. Sinha has said that he feels that he and the show are more well-known overseas, particularly in New Zealand where people are more likely to get home from work in time to watch it.

Television

In 2019, he appeared on Series 8 of '' Taskmaster'', finishing in last place with 136 points. In January 2021, Sinha began hosting his own quiz show for ITV, called ''Paul Sinha's TV Showdown'', featuring celebrities who go head to head together in a bid to answer as many questions as they can on TV knowledge. The show commenced on 9 January 2021, and concluded on 13 February 2021. A second series was commissioned and premiered 19 February 2022, releasing weekly until 2 April 2022.

Personal life

Sinha was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in May 2019. Sinha married Oliver Levy on 14 December 2019. On 20 June 2024, Sinha's

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''One Sinha Lifetime'' was released and published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

References

External links

* *
Sinha's blog

Sinha on chortle.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, Paul 1970 births 20th-century English comedians 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English medical doctors 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English LGBTQ people Alumni of St George's, University of London British general practitioners Comedians from Bedfordshire Contestants on British game shows Celebrity doctors English gay entertainers English LGBTQ broadcasters English LGBTQ comedians English male comedians English people of Bengali descent English people of Indian descent English people with disabilities English stand-up comedians Entertainers from Luton Gay comedians LGBTQ people with disabilities Living people People educated at Dulwich College People with Parkinson's disease Television personalities from Bedfordshire Television personalities with disabilities