The Chase's Paul Sinha on preparing his stand up gig in Hexham

The show is part of his ‘Hazy little thing called love’ tour which was originally put on hold during the pandemic.

Paul’s final stop on his tour will be the Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham on Saturday, November 20.

Paul was born in the UK to Bengali parents and the family medical dynasty.

Whilst studying medicine in the 1990s, Paul took his first steps on the stand-up comedy circuit. He pursued both careers and at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe earned a nomination for the highest accolade in live comedy, the Edinburgh Comedy Award. Shortly after his nomination, Paul hung up his stethoscope to become a full-time comedian.

Paul is a familiar voice on radio with appearances on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and on BBC 5 Live’s Fighting Talk.

Paul Sinha is preparing for his gig in Hexham

He’s also popped up on television as a guest on BBC’s QI and Would I Lie to You? and as a competitor on Dave’s Taskmaster.

A lifetime of curiosity and learning informs Paul’s comedy but now also ranks him as one of the UK’s finest quizzers and he now appears as a Chaser on the award-winning ITV quiz show, The Chase.

On the tour and why he wanted to do it, Paul said: “First of all every comedian wants to go on tour. It’s an opportunity for them to enjoy the privilege of people choosing you as their night out.”

The tour has had some great reviews so far, Edinburgh Festival Magazine said: “Every twist and turn is punctuated with wry delivery and candid perspective; an utter treat.” and Time Out simply said: “Whip-smart comedy.”

The Tour was put on hold for 18 months due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Paul, who was worried that the tour might not be able to go ahead again, said: “I worried about everything to do with life, the universe and everything to be honest with you. That was just one of the many worries that people had gone through.

“Life events have a healthy way of putting things in perspective, at the end of the day if the tour had come to an end that is hardly the worst thing that has happened to people in the last two years.”

Picture: ITV Studios

People are still able to purchase tickets for Paul’s show on November 20.

As a comedian your main priority is to make people laugh, on whether or not he worries that a joke might not land or people might not find him funny, Paul said: “You have to forget about that worry and enjoy yourself.

“Don’t get into the hold of what you’re doing, it’s too late in my career now to worry about whether people are going to laugh at stuff.

“It’s too late in my tour to worry about that either. I have done a lot of shows on this tour and i know every inch of the show like the back of my hand.

“It’s really really important when you have dedicated your life to put yourself in a situation where you’re about to walk out onto stage and talk to people for an hour and a half. It’s really important that you enjoy it.”

Paul said that he hasn’t really thought about what he likes the most about touring but he does enjoy spending lost of time with his husband of two years.

Paul said: “When you’re on stage you have all the time in the world, you’re not under any time limit.

“It’s a totally different art really, it’s a different way of delivering stand up comedy where you are in charge of making every single artistic decision.”

Paul Sinha performing at the Comedy Store

Paul is best known for his role as ‘The Sinnerman’ on ITV’s hit game show The Chase. Paul joined the show back in 2011 as the shows fourth chaser with nicknames like ‘The Smiling Assassin’ and ‘Sarcasm in a Suit’.

On how he got involved in the hit show, Paul said: “In my late 30s I wanted to have a go at quiz and it happened quite quickly.

“I got noticed as a media figure that got noticed as being a media figure who was doing well in quiz competitions.

“When ITV was looking forward to their fourth chaser I got recommended and I was recommended by The Chasers there to apply. So, I sent some emails did some auditions and the rest is daytime TV history.”

The chase has a regular audience of three to five million people, ITV’s The Chase is one of the most popular TV quiz shows winning multiple awards for best daytime programme.

Answering whether he feels bad when he takes money of the competitors, Paul said: “I am human and I don’t like it to be really really close, I like it when they win comfortably or I win comfortably.

“I don’t like beating them in the last seconds, it’s not my thing.”

This weekend's visit won’t be the first time Paul has played Hexham, he has previously performed in the town as part of a comedic group, but this will be his first solo gig.

Paul said: “I know Hexham, one of my best men from my wedding is from Hexham, he is a General Practitioner who is bringing a load of people down to watch so I am aware of Hexham yes.”

If you are interested in going down and watching Paul’s show tickets are still available for purchase on the Queens Hall Arts Centre website for £15.

The show will start at 7:30pm on Saturday, November 20, 2021.