Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is known for presenting the BBC Radio 4 show The Infinite Monkey Cage
/ref> with physicist Brian Cox from 2009 to 2025,
Education
Ince attended York House prep school, near
Croxley Green in Hertfordshire, and Cheltenham College,
an
Private school for boys. He then studied at Royal Holloway, University of London, from which he graduated in English and Drama in 1991.
[ Royal Holloway Notable Alumni in English]
Career
Stand-up comedy
In 1990, Ince first appeared at Greyfriars Kirkhouse at the Edinburgh Festival where
Eddie Izzard was running a venue. At the time Ince was performing in a play called 'Shadow Walker' by Trevor Maynard.
[Robin Ince in "Shadow Walker", reviewed in "The Stage" 23 August 1990] He had appeared at the Cafe Royal as part of the
Edinburgh Fringe show 'Rubbernecker' alongside
Stephen Merchant,
Jimmy Carr and
Ricky Gervais in 2001.
As a friend of Ricky Gervais, Ince opened as a support act for his Politics tour in 2004 and his Fame tour in 2007. He also appears on the DVD and has often appeared in Gervais' video podcasts.
In 2008 Ince had a residency at the Dorchester Arts Centre, trying out new material for his upcoming shows. In late 2008 he released a live stand-up DVD entitled Robin Ince is as Dumb as You, released by Go Faster Stripe.
In September 2016, Ince performed at the Keep Corbyn rally in Brighton in support of Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.
Live events
In 2005, Ince began running the
Book Club night at The Albany, London, where acts were encouraged to perform turns of new and experimental material. The club got its name from Ince's attempts to read aloud from—and humorously criticise—various second-hand books which the audience and he had brought in for the occasion. The Book Club proved to be so successful that Ince took it on a full UK tour in 2006, the same year he won the
Time Out Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.
In 2010, Ince published a book entitled
Robin Ince's Bad Book Club about his favourite books that he has used for his shows.
Ince has curated Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People (later renamed Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People) since 2008, a Christmas stage show with performances from comedians, musicians and scientists.
Television
Ince started his television career as a comedy writer, working on
The 11 O'Clock Show, for which he also performed as an impressionist, including an impersonation of
John Peel. He also appeared in
The Office as failed interviewee Stuart Foot.
The second Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People stage show was screened on BBC Four in 2009, billed as Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People.[ BBC - Nerdstock]
Radio
He co-starred with
Mitch Benn and
Alfie Joey in the BBC Radio 4 series
Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music.
In the summer of 2022 he presented a two-part BBC Radio 4 series, Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel, exploring the internal and external aspects of reality.
Ince and physicist Brian Cox presented the science series The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4.
In December 2025, Ince announced he had resigned as co-host of The Infinite Monkey Cage after 16 years.
Books
-
Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity (Pan Macmillan, 2025)
-
Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One man's quest to uncover the books that taste forgot (Little, Brown Book Group, 2011)
-
I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity (Atlantic Books, 2018)
-
The Importance of Being Interested – Adventures in Scientific Curiosity (Atlantic Books, 2021)
-
Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain (Atlantic Books, 2022)
With Brian Cox and Alexandra Feachem:
-
The Infinite Monkey Cage – How to Build a Universe (HarperCollins, 2018)
Podcast and internet
Ince presented the
Utter Shambles (previously
Show & Tell)
podcast for Paramount Comedy with
Josie Long, and presented BBC Radio 4 Extra's
Serious About Comedy from 2005 until its end in November 2007. Regular panellists in the show included
Book Club performers
Josie Long,
Howard Read and
Natalie Haynes, comedy critics Bruce Dessau and Stephen Armstrong, and many others from the British comedy industry. He now presents
Book Shambles with Robin and Josie with Josie Long which is funded via
Patreon and music podcast
Vitriola with comedian Michael Legge.
In 2013, Ince co-created and launched The Incomplete Map of the Cosmic Genome, an online video-based science magazine and archive. Ince acts as host and co-producer on the project. Contributors have included Brian Cox, Helen Czerski, Stephen Fry, Chris Hadfield and Stewart Lee.
In 2017, Ince co-founded the Cosmic Shambles Network with Trent Burton, an organisation that creates podcasts, documentaries and events "for people with curious minds".
Personal life
Ince is an
atheist and supports the Rationalist Association via
New Humanist magazine by organising events at the Bloomsbury Theatre and at the Hammersmith Apollo featuring scientists, musicians and comedians. The first of these was
Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People in Christmas 2008,
and more recently he has fronted a
Night of 400 Billion Stars. Regular contributions come from
Josie Long,
Chris Addison,
Ricky Gervais,
Richard Dawkins,
Simon Singh and
Philip Jeays. In 2009, Ince organised two events with Josie Long, called
Charles Darwin's Birthday Spectacular, marking both the scientist's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book
On the Origin of Species. He was appointed a patron of
Humanists UK, and later of Dignity in Dying.
On 15 September 2010, Ince, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the UK being a state visit.
Ince is married, has one son and has spoken publicly about being diagnosed with ADHD.
Awards
-
Chortle Awards – Innovation Award (2006)
-
Time Out – Outstanding Contribution to Comedy (2006)
-
Chortle Awards – Best Compere (2007)
-
Chortle Awards – Innovation Award (2009)
-
Ockham Award for Best Skeptic Event/Campaign (2012)
-
Sony Radio Awards – Gold Award for Best Speech Programme (2011)
-
Honorary Fellow - University College London (2014)
-
Honorary Doctor of Science – Royal Holloway, University of London
-
Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association
Other appearances
Ince has appeared at several science events, including the line-up of UCL's
Bright Club in both 2009 and 2010, and took part in the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2011 and 2014.
Radio credits
-
2002–2004: Writer/performer, The in Crowd (BBC Radio 4)
-
2003–2004: Host, Spanking New (BBC Radio 7)
-
2003–2006: Writer/performer, The Day the Music Died (BBC Radio 2)
-
2003–2006: Writer/performer/Morrissey/John Peel/Satan, Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music (BBC Radio 4)
-
2004: Performer, Think the Unthinkable (BBC Radio 4)
-
2004–2008: Performer, The Now Show (BBC Radio 4)
-
2005: Writer, Dead Ringers (BBC Radio 4)
-
2005: Host, Serious About Comedy (BBC Radio 7)
-
2006–2007: Panellist, The Personality Test (BBC Radio 4)
-
2008: Panellist, Just a Minute (BBC Radio 4)
-
2009: Guest, Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show (Absolute Radio)
-
2009–present: Host, "The Infinite Monkey Cage" (BBC Radio 4)
-
2010: Presenter "Schrodinger's Quantum Kittens" (BBC Radio 4)
-
2022: Writer/performer, Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel (BBC Radio 4)
Collections
The University of Kent holds material by Ince as part of the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive.
The collection includes zines, material made in collaboration with
Josie Long, set lists, promotional material and props.
External links
