Do the Right Thing: Romesh talks to nearfield

Ahead of his headline appearance at Rode Comedy Festival, we speak to stand-up, broadcaster, hip-hop obsessive and future star of The Celebrity Traitors, Romesh Ranganathan, about Pontins, people-pleasing and making your family laugh

How did Rode Comedy Festival’s Jarred Christmas make the idea of performing in a field on the Somerset/Wiltshire border appealing to you?  Jarred is one of the most naturally funny comedians I’ve ever worked with. I love him. He’s also one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet – just a top-tier bloke who I imagine has killed somebody in the past. So if Jarred endorses something, I trust him. If it’s awful, though, he’s dead to me.

Does being a former maths teacher give you special powers for dealing with unruly festival crowds? I haven’t taught for almost 15 years now, so any minimal crowd control skills I acquired then have almost completely vanished now. There’s very little algebra in my set.

Is the intimacy of stand-up, in front of people who’ve booked to see you, something of a happy place after years of screen exposure?  I started doing telly to try and encourage people to come and see me do stand-up, and then the telly stuff took off and I did more of it. Stand-up is my first love, though, and I’ll be doing it long after the screen stuff stops. I think it’s the most immediate and exhilarating thing I do. Professionally. My personal life is always exhilarating.

You’re performing alongside many familiar faces at Rode; is the stand-up world tight-knit, or is there an underlying frisson of rivalry? We all hate each other and any smiles you see are to mask the ongoing professional jealousy we have for one another. I think rivalry in comedy feels pointless as we’re all on such personal paths. I have really close friends in comedy and a couple of nemeses who I’ll reveal in my next interview with you.

In that same spirit, you’ve previously celebrated your own two-facedness… I don’t think two facedness is really as acceptable as I made out there. The problem with my stand-up is that I rarely continue to agree with what I’ve said even minutes after I’ve said it. I actually think the opposite. We should all say how we feel. All the time. But I probably won’t believe that by the time this goes out.

Can you remember the first time you made someone laugh intentionally? I did my first stand-up when I was eight at a Pontins holiday camp for a talent show. I did the whole thing in a Sri Lankan accent. It was pretty bad, but still better than the first time I did Edinburgh.

What holds you to account more effectively as a comedian: an audience, or a long car journey with your family? I think making my kids laugh is probably my favourite thing. They are so wired to find my wife and I cringe that when I really get them, it feels like the best tour show.

You’re often described as quasi-misanthropic, but really, you seem like a big people-pleaser. What’s the worst situation you’ve been in through your reluctance to offend? A guy working at Benito’s Hat, a burrito place in London and Leeds, recognised me and, to say thanks for my comedy, gave me a tres leches cake. It’s got three types of dairy in it and I’m plant-based, but I didn’t want to offend. I ate the whole thing and spent the rest of the day feeling both physically and emotionally awful about it.

Rode isn’t far from Bristol, arguably the birthplace of UK hip-hop culture; did the city loom large in your hip-hop obsession growing up? I used to travel a lot to Bristol for hip-hop shows and to check out the clubs. I’m nearer London, so that was my first port of call, but Bristol had a reputation for having a proper UK scene, so I would get over there whenever I could.

 You had a short-lived stint as a rap battler; are you ever tempted to have a serious crack at rapping or becoming a rap impresario? I can’t divulge too much, but I have actually been in the studio making some middle-aged rap. But I don’t know if I’ll ever put it out. If it goes well, this festival could be the last time you see me do comedy, and I’ll come back to spit a hot 16.

Finally, indulge us: who would you book for your own Romesh Festival of Music and Comedy, dead or alive? I think it would be The Roots, De La Soul, Biggie, Kano, SZA, Richard Pryor, Ali Wong, Bill Burr and Jarred Christmas.

Romesh headlined Rode Comedy Festival 2026, sign up to Field Notes from nearfield to be first to know about next years festival thenearfield.com