Who is Britain's hardest working comedian? | Romesh Ranganathan tops the poll © Andy Hollingworth

Who is Britain's hardest working comedian?

Romesh Ranganathan tops the poll

Romesh Ranganathan has been named the hardest-working comedian of the year.

Last year’s winner of the title, Patrick Monahan, has been pushed down to third, behind Russell Kane.

Ranganathan, who is on the road with his Irrational tour, said: ‘This honour not only highlights my work ethic this year, but also the level of neglect of my duties as both a husband and father. I look forward to this title being cited in the divorce proceedings.’

The list is compiled by listings website Ents24 from the touring stand-ups they have listed and based on the number of different venues they played. In fact 13 of the top 20 were new entries.

Neither the Asian Provocateur star nor Kane were in last year’s charts at all, reflecting the common ‘year on/year off’ touring schedule.

Fourth place this year went to Mark Steel, who toured with Who Do I Think I Am? which looked into his family history, and pun king Gary Delaney was number 5.

Delaney said: ‘If there's one thing I've learned in comedy over the years, it's how to drive at night, the best way to circumvent roadworks and which services have a KFC that's open late. I am pleased that this skill has finally been recognised. If I wasn't on the road so much, I'd just be eating pasties at home.’

The full top 20, with last year's positions in brackets, is

1. Romesh Ranganathan (new entry)
2. Russell Kane (new entry)
3. Patrick Monahan (1)
4. Mark Steel (new entry)
5. Gary Delaney(4)
6. James Acaster (8)
7. Seann Walsh (new entry)
8. Rob Beckett (17)
9. Nish Kumar (11)
10. Rich Hall (new entry)
11. Shappi Khorsandi (new entry)
12. Mark Watson (new entry)
13. Ed Byrne (new entry)
14. Sara Pascoe (16)
15. Tony Law (new entry)
16. Carl Donnelly (19)
17. Mitch Benn (new entry)
18. Mark Thomas (new entry)
19. Zoe Lyons (new entry)
20. Tom Stade (new entry)

Published: 6 Dec 2016

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