GIVE UP TH E DAY JOB

Tempted to switch things up this year? Let Ranganath an help you make a smooth segue into your next gig

When I started out in standup, I didn’t think I’d do it full- time. I was enjoying being a maths teacher. But after getting to the semi-final of a big competition, one of the judges, Dan Antopolski, told me, “One of the reasons we put you through is that we thought: ‘This guy is definitely going to be a comic.’” That was when I realised maybe I could do this.

It’s never easy to start out in something new, but it’s even harder when you have a family to feed. I was going from a stable, respectable profession to one of the least reliable jobs in the world. It felt like: “Oh, so you’re putting your dreams above everybody you care about? Cool, good luck then.”

I figured I’d keep my day job as long as possible. After all, I wasn’t throwing my family into poverty because I’d decided to cure cancer. I just wanted to talk about my dick on stage.

Comedy runs at a loss for a long time. You pay for travel but often don’t get paid for gigs. I started to wonder: am I being a crap teacher, comedian, husband and father? In 2013, I was catching the train to Leicester after a gig in Glasgow. I said to my wife, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” The next day, I won the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year award. It was weird. It felt preordained. It changed everything.

Sitting around and worrying about stuff is not conducive to success. You have to let that go. Just take the risk. If it all goes tits up, you can go back and do something else. A lot of people make the mistake of meandering along, just tinkering at what they want to do. You’re trying to accomplish something when probability is against you. There will be periods of introspection and regret. You just have to go for it. Romesh Ranganathan’s Straight Outta Crawley (Bantam) is available now romeshranganathan.co.uk