Romesh Ranganathan: Humour helped after brother found our father dead trends now
Romesh Ranganathan insists humour should be used more to help people people get through their mental health struggles.
The comedian, 45, has been left suicidal in the past having been through some incredibly turbulent times.
His father Ranga left their mother Shanthia when the comic was just 12 and, after he and his brother Dinesh attended Reigate Grammar School, they were forced to move to a local comprehensive when their father was jailed for fraud and their family home was repossessed.
Romesh and his mother were forced to live in a B&B for 18 months before finally being found a council house, and upon his release Ranga started running a pub in Grinstead, East Sussex, before suddenly dying of a heart attack.
And while Romesh and his brother later fell out, the funnyman claims it was his brother's humour that helped him in the immediate days after his father's death when Dinesh found their parent collapsed and dead after the heart attack.
Making light: Romesh Ranganathan, 45, insists humour should be used more to help people people get through their mental health struggles (pictured in December 2021)
Distraught: The comedian has been left suicidal in the past having been through some incredibly turbulent times but says humour helped him at times (pictured in October)
Speaking about his mental health struggles on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface Podcast, Romesh said: 'Sometimes you can use humour to deflect and that’s something to be aware of.
'I think it can be really useful. I have a very dark sense of humour, and my family have a very dark sense of humour.
'For example, when my dad passed away, my brother came home and found my dad collapsed after he had a heart attack and passed away.
'I turned up and immediately started crying and the next day we were round at my mum’s house and dealing with the aftermath of that and people coming round.
'My brother subjected me to a 10 minutes roast about the sounds I make when I cry.
'And we were properly laughing about it. He goes, "Listen man, we’ve got to talk about some of the sounds that you were making, it was mad! I’ve never heard noises like that come out of a person!", and we just started laughing about it.
'And I know it sounds super dark, but that almost felt cathartic. We were going through this horrible thing, but you can still find light in it and we can still joke.'
Romesh previously worked as a teacher but gave up his job to pursue stand-up comedy as a career.
Dark humour: The funnyman claims it was his brother's humour that helped him in the immediate days after his father's death when Dinesh found their parent collapsed and dead (clockwise from left: mother Shanthi, Romesh, brother Dinesh and father Ranga)
The star insists humour can go a long way to helping people get through their most difficult times.
He explained: 'I talk about my mental health on stage and
