Who is John Robins? Meet the Taskmaster season 17 contestant
The award-winning stand-up is no stranger to the Alex Horniverse.
Taskmaster is back once again, as another five famous faces from the world of comedy take part in all manner of nonsense to impress his Lordship, Greg Davies.
The Channel 4 show is now in its 17th season, and has developed a bit of a reputation for shining a light on some of the industry's best-kept secrets who viewers may not have encountered before.
One of this year's plucky contenders is John Robins, who is an established name in the world of stand-up and radio, although may be less well known to TV fans.
So read on to find out everything you need to know about John Robins, and where you might have seen (or heard) him before.
Who is John Robins on Taskmaster?
John Robins is a stand-up comic, radio presenter and podcaster, who has been performing comedy for nearly 20 years.
He competed in the So You Think You're Funny competition for new and emerging talent at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and has gone on to become a regular at the Scottish comedy festival.
In 2017, he won the Edinburgh Comedy Awards' top prize of Best Comedy Show – shared with Hannah Gadsby's Nanette – for his brilliant show The Darkness of Robins, a candid reflection on the breakdown of his long-term relationship with fellow stand-up and former Taskmaster contestant Sara Pascoe.
The Darkness of Robins was later released on Netflix, although it is not currently available to stream in the UK.
What has John Robins been in before?
Robins is perhaps best known for his radio work with Elis James. The pair had a hugely popular show on XFM (the previous name of Radio X), which ran for more than five years.
In 2019, Robins and James made the move to BBC Radio 5 Live, while they host BBC Sounds podcast How Do You Cope? too.
Robins also launched the BBC Sounds podcast Moon Under Water, about guests' perfect pub, although he departed last year.
He is good friends with none other than Alex Horne, and the pair have a YouTube series together called Bad Golf, where they play golf. Badly.
In terms of his TV work, Robins hosted the 2018 game show Beat the Internet on Dave, while he has also appeared on Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Pointless and University Challenge.
Is John Robins on X or Instagram?
He is! You can follow Robins on X (formerly Twitter) at @nomadicrevery, while his Instagram account is @nomadic_revery.
If you're wondering why he has that handle, Nomadic Revery was the name of the comedy show he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010.
Taskmaster returns at 9pm on 28th March on Channel 4. If you're looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Visit our hub for more Entertainment news.
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Authors
Christian Tobin is the Production Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all online content and editing digital articles across TV, Film, Gaming and more. He previously worked as Chief Sub-Editor at Digital Spy and has a BA in English Language and Literature from University College London.
