Arnab Chanda
Encyclopedia
Career
He was born in England and lived there for 6 years and then spent 1 year in India, 8 years in Saudi Arabia and 8 years in the U.S. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, he started doing stand-up comedy in New York City, and after moving back to London in August 2004, won the Jongleurs
Jongleurs
Jongleurs is a chain of comedy clubs in the United Kingdom. Maria Kempinska MBE established and opened the first Jongleurs club in 1983 in Battersea, London. In 1985 Maria then met her business partner John Davy, and together they built the Jongleurs brand. The company evolved into a corporate...
New Act Competition in 2005, beat over 500 contestants from the U.K. and Ireland to win the Amused Moose Comedy Awards in 2006, and was nominated for Best Newcomer in the 2007 British Chortle Awards
Chortle Awards
The Chortle awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK....
. He stopped doing standup in 2008 to focus on acting and writing but occasionally still performs.
Performances
He has performed stand up on the Comedy Central UK shows The World Stands Up in 2007, Edinburgh & Beyond in 2007, and the Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store, London
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard had visited the previous year...
in 2008, Russell Howard's Good News
Russell Howard's Good News
Russell Howard's Good News is a British comedy and topical news show broadcast on BBC Three and, since the show's fourth series, BBC HD. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, he offers his commentary on the news of the week using mostly standup, but including sketches and guest appearances from people...
(BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
, Series 2, 2010), The Stephen K Amos Show (BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, Series 1, 2010), Out to Lunch (BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
), 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
). He has also appeared on The Jon Richardson Show
The Jon Richardson Show
The Jon Richardson Show was a weekly radio show on BBC 6 Music, which was created due to the departure of Russell Howard from The Russell Howard Show, which Jon Richardson co-hosted with Russell. The show was broadcast on Sundays 10am - 1pm...
(BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
), The Comedy Cafe with Janice Forsyth (BBC Scotland), and "Many Questions" (The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Unlimited Podcast).
His live performances include the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
in 2006 in "The Comedy Bucket" (with Matthew Crosby
Matthew Crosby
Matthew Crosby is a British comedian and writer. He is best known as one third of the sketch team Pappy's. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has since performed stand-up and sketch comedy all over the world. He was a semi-finalist for the BBC New Act 2005...
, Joe Wilkinson, Al Stick, and Dave Nichols), "Tickets Still Available" with Greg McHugh (Edinburgh Festival, 2007), "Rich Fulcher's Tiny Acts of Rebellion" (Edinburgh Festival, 2011), the Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
Festival in 2008, the Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
in 2007 and 2008, the Leeds Festival
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
in 2008, The Big Chill Festival
The Big Chill (music festival)
The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August...
in 2008. He was the tour support act for Simon Amstell
Simon Amstell
Simon Marc Amstell is a BAFTA nominated, award-winning English comedian, television presenter, screenwriter and actor, best known for his roles as former co-host of Popworld, former host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and co-writer and star of the sitcom Grandma's House.-Early life:Amstell was born...
from 2007–2009, as well as Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
in 2008.
Acting
He played 'Raj Puri' in the ITV2ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
series Trinity (TV series)
Trinity (TV series)
Trinity is a British drama series which was broadcast on ITV2 from September to November 2009. The series is set in the fictional "Trinity College" of "Bridgeford University", and stars Charles Dance, Claire Skinner, Antonia Bernath, Christian Cooke, Reggie Yates and Isabella Calthorpe.-Plot...
, Edward in "Black Pond" (Independent Film, 2010), Kris in Series 1 of Dan Clark's How Not To Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark, about a neurotic twenty-nine year old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the...
on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
, and was a writer/performer in "Comedy Cuts" (ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
, Season 3) and "Splitting Cells" (BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
).
Writing
He was a staff writer for the MTV Europe Music AwardsMTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
(MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Int'l, 2010) , the BBC2 show Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
(Series 22, 2008), the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
show "Celebrity Bites" (Co-Head Writer, Series 1, 2010), and has written for Dan Clark
Dan Clark
Dan Clark is an English actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and television director.-Television:He is best known for playing the character of Don Danbury in BBC Three series How Not to Live Your Life which he wrote and starred in...
's How Not To Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark, about a neurotic twenty-nine year old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the...
(BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
, Series 2 (2009) and 3 (2010)), "Comedy Cuts
Comedy Cuts
Comedy Cuts is a comedy programme on the British TV channel ITV2 that aims to provide an opportunity for new comedy performers to present their talents. Featuring 40 performers demonstrating a mix of stand up and sketches, the series is shot entirely on location...
" (ITV2, Series 3), and "Splitting Cells" (BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
).