Paul Sinha

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Tuesday 11th December 2018

One random comedian, eight random questions: it's the ultimate test of funny person and fate. This week's quizzical contestant is Paul Sinha, one of Britain's finest stand-ups for a good few years now. He's touring next year - dates will be up soon at paulsinha.com soon - but this week you can find him at the Winter Wonderland Comedy Club in Hyde Park, in festive London town, until December 16. It's like doing panto, but without the panto.

Nowadays, of course, Paul also adopts a suitably Scrooge-like persona as one of the Chasers on, er, The Chase, with Bradley Walsh. So how festive does he get for a gig like Winter Wonderland?

"It doesn't matter what the context is, I don't start getting truly festive until Christmas Eve," he says. "That said, I have never been to any 'winter wonderland' in my life, so perhaps this is the year that I take a different approach and walk on stage dressed as Santa."

You heard it here first: Paul 'Santa' Sinha, your Random 8 await.

What was your greatest sporting moment?

Scoring 76 not-out for my medical school second XI cricket team in 1993. My previous scores had been 2, 0 and 0, and my selection for the team had been an afterthought. I'm still not sure how it happened.

Who is - or was - your most interesting relative?

My Dad's oldest sister was a pioneering Himalayan mountaineer who was personal friends with both Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing. The highlight of any childhood visit to India was looking through her album of photos and newspaper cuttings. She is currently staying with us while a Danish TV company are trying to put together a documentary about her life.

What's the worst thing in your wardrobe?

Easy. One Christmas The Chase didn't present us with hampers, they thought we'd prefer a Chase onesie. It is a horrific eyesore, but useful for trying to bring down a fever.

The weirdest text message you've ever received?

I recently received a text from Bradley Walsh outlining an erotic dream he'd had about me. The language sounded nothing like him, so I wasn't fooled. It was a prank for Michael McIntyre's show. I'm pretty damn relieved that I wasn't fooled.

What was your worst day at work, pre-comedy?

I was a junior hospital doctor for years. My worst days were mind-blowingly bad, but unlike Adam Kay, I didn't have the good sense to keep a diary. At least it puts bad comedy gigs in context.

Ever walked out of a film?

The Sixth Sense. After about fifteen minutes I realised it was just about the dull relationship between a dull paediatric psychiatrist and his dull patient, and gave up.

Who's the most disappointing celebrity you've ever met?

I'm not going to name him. But I played against a comedy hero on Celebrity Chase, and his first words were "Are you the one from Goodness Gracious Me?"

Which book should we all read?

The world's least well-read professional quizzer does not have a sincere answer to this question, so I will fake an answer. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the most accurate and savage portrayal of the human condition that you will ever read.