Romesh Ranganathan The Cynic review: A hilarious hour that's not to be missed

The British stand-up comic winds up his tour with a taped show in his hometown Crawley

Romesh Ranganathan

Story: TV host and standup comic Romesh Ranganathan’s last show of his most recent tour, The Cynic, gets to be his first Netflix special. Shot in Crawley, along with behind-the-scenes footage of Romesh with his mother Shanti, brother Dinesh, wife Leesa and his kids, it is a look at how he went from being a teacher to a successful comic. His family, especially Leesa, and the kids, are the butt of most of his jokes, as he talks about parenting, being vegan, racial equality at the Oscars and so much more.

Review: At the core of Romesh Ranganathan’s show is a family trip to a ‘pebbled’ beach in Brighton, the highlight of which was one of his kids going missing for a whole eight minutes. That ‘frightful’ story, ended well after Romesh’s wife Leesa ‘found’ him, but not before he realizes that he was either looking for the wrong kid or that his son had miraculously changed outfits in those eight minutes. It was also eight minutes in which Romesh even began thinking of how his family of three boys may just be two going forward. Eventually, he figures that his son could have planned the mysterious disappearance to make sure he’d be rewarded for reappearing, which he did, with the ice cream of his choice.

These nuggets of information about this trip to Brighton, though, don’t come at one go, with Romesh taking off on different hilarious tangents and then bringing it all back to that beach every now and then. Romesh nails pretty much all the jokes he delivers - every set up on the hour gets the right punchline. But it’s not all silly banter and much of his comedy is about his views on certain issues. Like, for instance, if, as a vegan, he was actually allowed to have a dog, considering that you are supposed to love all animals and were now keeping one prisoner; that hating vegans is more popular in the UK than being one; non-vegans being hypocrites about other cultures where meat is eaten; the difference between his conversations with Leesa pre and post pandemic; dads being made uncomfortable about public displays of affection and, more importantly, injustices in his relationship with respect to appreciation of a person of the opposite gender.

Romesh Ranganathan: The Cynic is a start-to-finish fun show. The original is apparently nearly two-hours long, cut short for the Netflix special. The jokes Romesh picked for the special work like magic, one better than the other. But it’s not just about the jokes, but more about how he tells them, even when it’s a self-deprecating line; I haven’t laughed so much during a standup routine in a while.

Verdict: Romesh Ranganathan is a funny dude. Period. The Cynic is originally a two-hour gig, cut short for the special. Honestly, they should have kept the whole package. This was an hour well-spent. Give us more!

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