Paul Sinha

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] 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.[5][6]

• 2004, Aspects of Love, Actually
• 2006, Saint or Sinha? (if.comeddie award nomination)[7]
• 2007, King of the World
• 2009, 39 Years of Solitude[8]
• 2010, Extreme Anti-White Vitriol
• 2011, Looking at the Stars[9]
• 2015, Postcards from the Z List[10][11]
• 2017, Shout Out To My Ex
• 2018, The Two Ages of Man

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 was a Liverpool F.C. fan)[12] and cricket has led to appearances on Radio 5 Live,[7] most notably on Fighting Talk, where he has won the Champion of Champions finale twice. He has also appeared on Talksport radio station.[7]

He has appeared as a guest on Midweek, Woman's Hour, Broadcasting House and as a political pundit on PM.[13][14][15]

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.[16][17] 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.[18]

In December 2014, Sinha wrote and performed his first series on Radio 4, Paul Sinha's History Revision.[19] A second series followed in May 2016, winning the Rose d'Or for Radio Comedy.[20][21]

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 is currently ranked 7th in the National Quiz Rankings (as of 30 May 2017),[22] and placed 11th in the 2018 World Quizzing Championships.[23]

Sinha also plays in the Quiz League of London for the Gray Monks.[24]

In 2011, Sinha joined the ITV quiz series The Chase as the fourth "Chaser",[11] with the nicknames "The Sinnerman", "The Smiling Assassin" and "Sarcasm in a Suit".[25]

His first episode was broadcast in the fourth series on 8 September 2011. 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 5pm before people are home from work.[26]

In 2019, he appeared on Series 8 of Taskmaster. He finished last 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,[27] and concluded on 13 February 2021.[28]