Romesh Ranganathan is releasing his debut Netflix special, The Cynic
- Romesh Ranganathan has filmed his first Netflix special, at his hometown gig at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley
- The Cynic is a recording of his The Cynic's Mixtape tour
- Ranganathan is also bringing The Ranganation back to BBC Two and has just shot the latest A League Of Their Own road trip in South-East Asia, with Mo Gilligan, Joel Dommett, Emily Atack and Maisie Adam
Romesh Ranganathan is releasing his debut Netflix special, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Romesh Ranganathan: The Cynic was recorded at his hometown gig at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley last month, compiled from the three final performances of his The Cynic's Mixtape tour.
Focusing once again on his irritations, including Piers Morgan and his three children, the special also explores racism in football and his wife spurning his requests for sex.
The Cynic will be the first of any of Ranganathan's specials to appear on the streaming platform, original or otherwise, and looks set to be the first released by a British stand-up since Ricky Gervais' SuperNature in May.
Last year Ranganathan appeared alongside Katherine Ryan, Mae Martin, London Hughes and a raft of US comics, plus a cast of puppets, for the one-off ensemble Netflix special Sex: Unzipped.
News of The Cynic's release comes as Netflix is reducing the payments it makes for specials.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in the last few months, the streamer has begun licensing specials from some comics for two years for about £180,000, rather than buying them outright, which is more expensive.
The initiative shifts some financial burden on to the performers, while giving them more control of their work. Previously, many acts received a lump-sum payment, often approaching £1million, that helped pay for production costs, while the biggest names such as Ricky Gervais, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock were paid tens of millions.
The WSJ puts the payment change within the context of Netflix's broader moves to control spending, as it faces growth challenges and heightened competition in the streaming market. The US company, which has 220million global subscribers, revealed it lost nearly one million subscribers this summer.
Meanwhile, Ranganathan's topical focus group comedy, The Ranganation, is returning to BBC Two for a fifth series next month.
The first episode, which will air on 2nd October, features The Last Leg star Alex Brooker as his studio guest. They and his twenty outspoken panellists, representing a cross-section of modern Britain, will once again take a humorous look at the week's biggest talking points.
The A League Of Their Own host has also just shot the first international road trip series for Sky since 2020, a series in which he and regulars Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards visit South-East Asia. Guests joining them include Mo Gilligan, Joel Dommett, Emily Atack and Maisie Adam and a third former professional footballer, show semi-regular and ex-France international Patrice Evra.
The prolific broadcaster appears with fellow comic Rob Beckett on ITV's ancestry show DNA Journey on Thursday. And the pair also appear to be making a second Rob And Romesh Vs Christmas special for Sky, posting this image to Instagram earlier this month:
In 2024, the comedian will undertake a new stand-up tour, Romesh Ranganathan: Hustle.