ABOUT

Bio

Short Bio

Robin Ince is many things. A multi award winning comedian, author, broadcaster, bibliomaniac and a populariser of scientific ideas. He is perhaps best known as the co-host and co-creator of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox.

As a stand up Robin has toured the world and as an author he has written four acclaimed books, including Bibliomaniac, earned him the prestigious Booksellers Association Author of the Year award. His fifth, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal is published in May 2025.

He co-created the Cosmic Shambles Network and created the groundbreaking science variety night Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People which has been adapted worldwide. He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association

Long Bio

Robin Ince is many things. A comedian, an author, a broadcaster and a populariser of scientific ideas. The Guardian once declared him a ‘becardiganed polymath’ which seems about right.

He is probably best known as the co-host of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. He has also co-hosted a number of other successful podcasts including They’ve Made Us with Dr Helen Czerski, Book Shambles with Josie Long and An Uncanny Hour, all three of which are a part of the science and culture entertainment network, The Cosmic Shambles Network, which he also co-created with producer Trent Burton.

As a stand up he has toured the world and won three Chortle Awards, the Time Out Outstanding Achievement Award and was nominated for the British Comedy Awards Best Live show. The Guardian once wrote that, ‘When someone writes a history of modern comedy, they should make room for Robin Ince’ and of his latest show The Scotsman described it as an ‘alchemic mix of enthusiasm, knowledge and observation’.

Robin has written four acclaimed books, Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club (‘Beautiful and terrifying at the same time’ – The Independent), I’m a Joke and So Are You (‘Joyfully entertaining. Full of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human’ – Observer), The Importance of Being Interested (‘A delightful and scintillating hymn to science’ – Professor Carlo Rovelli) and Bibliomaniac (Mixing inquisitiveness and wit, his latest book is a tonic’ – The Times). His fifth book, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodivesity is released in May 2025. He also co-authored How to Build a Universe with Brian Cox and Alexandra Feachem. d He has twice been featured as a Waterstones Pick of the Year and in 2022 he was awarded the Booksellers Association Author of the Year award.

He has presented numerous documentaries for The Cosmic Shambles Network including The Stonehenge of Particle Physics and Bibliomaniac: The Series.

He has created, curated, pioneered and hosted numerous nights mixing science, music and comedy at some of the most celebrated venues around the world from the Hammersmith Apollo and the Royal Albert Hall in London to the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto and The Opera House in Wellington. His brainchild Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People continues to sell out theatres every year, almost twenty years after its first appearance, and has done several world arena tours with Professor Brian Cox.

He has received an Honorary Fellowship of UCL, an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway College (University of London), and is a fellow of the British Science Association.

In the words of Stewart Lee, ‘Robin is like a piece of a Jenga puzzle – pull him out and a lot of things would collapse. Without Robin, comedy would be a very different shape and a generation is grateful’.

Quotes

“You need Robin Ince in your life.” – Natalie Haynes

“One of the UK’s most accomplished comedians.” -The Bookseller

‘Joyfully entertaining. Full of warmth, wisdom and affectionate delight in the wonder and absurdity of being human’ – Observer on I’m a Joke and So Are You

‘A delightful and scintillating hymn to science’ – Professor Carlo Rovelli on The Importance of Being Interested

‘When someone writes a history of modern comedy, they should make room for Robin Ince’ – Time Out

‘An alchemic mix of enthusiasm, knowledge and observation’. – The Scotsman