Interview: Rom-a-lam-a-ding-dong!
From Crawley school teacher to Mock The Week semi-regular, Romesh Ranganathan is having quite a journey. Victoria Nangle asks him about Komedia, the pier and being a good dad and husband
Yo yo yo, Rom Rom Rom! How are you doing today lovely man?
I’m great thanks. I’ve just been to Legoland with the kids. We kept getting lost. It was a very expensive walk.
Right, so you’re bringing your show back to Brighton for the Brighton Comedy Festival after performing it for a month in Edinburgh, which you did after previewing it in Brighton. What does the Edinburgh catalyst in the middle do to the show to make it sparkly?
It makes you get rid of the ‘cocky’ bits and tighten it up. Also you just get better at performing it. And you remember it. And you get to see me do it without a notebook.
Last year you were nominated for the prestigious Edinburgh Award (formerly Perrier). I’m presuming this year you’ll sweep the board of plaudits and prizes. Who would you like to thank first in your acceptance speech – and who comes in a begrudging last, and why?
I would first thank my wife – she’s put up with a lot, and continues to do so. The person I would begrudgingly thank is my wife, because if she left me it would make for an excellent show. In the future I imagine I will push her to that point.
You have so many ties to Brighton you’re practically a ribbon factory of connections to our fair city. Do you have a favourite story that took place here that makes you smile and grimace at the same time?
I got heckled at Komedia once, and the audience around the guy turned on him and started saying “You can’t talk to him like that!”. It was the most polite audience I have ever experienced.
So… Rom Wasn’t Built In A Day is your new much applauded and appreciated show. Critics are loving it. You used to be a teacher, so is this a history lesson looking at ancient tales of a Roman bespectacled Sri Lankan gentleman?
It’s just a show loosely about self-improvement. My wife being pregnant with a third child made me really reflect on whether I’m a good dad and husband. The results of that reflection are in the show in some form.
Seriously though, you are all over the TV set right now – from Mock The Week to Stand Up For The Week, with appearances on Virtually Famous between series. Congratulations. If you could have a TV show of your own would you like a sitcom or a panel show?
I’d love to do a sitcom, as I imagine every comic would.
And what would be the format of this sitcom?
I have no idea. Autobiographical I imagine, but I was thinking about playing a guy like me, who, for some reason, has a dream to be a male erotic dancer, and his journey to that point. It’s basically a way for me to try to get in shape.
“I’ve just been to Legoland with the kids. We kept getting lost. It was a very expensive walk”
So, what are your plans for the next 12 months professionally?
I’m touring with Suzi Ruffell. So knocking that out of the park will be a big goal. Plus I’m doing another series of Newsjack.
And what do you hope to get done in the next 12 minutes?
About to smash through a veggie spag bol.
Right, so some fluke has meant that you’ve inherited the old burned out pier in Brighton. With money no object, what would you do with it?
I would turn it into a huge vegan mega bakery. With doughnuts, cakes, pastries, the whole lot. Then I’d run it, with a team of crack vegan bakers, serving Brighton ethical treats while eating loads of it myself, until I eventually just pass away through excessive gateau ingestion. That’s the fantasy anyway.
Thank you very much and have an awesome rest of your day.
Romesh Ranganathan: Rom Wasn’t Built In A Day, Studio Theatre, Brighton Dome, Thursday 23 October 2014, 7.30pm,
£12/10, 01273 709 709, www.brightoncomedyfestival.com
