Ria Lina

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Ria Lina
20250820 01-RIA 02.jpg
Ria Lina in "Ria Lina: Rebellion" at Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Born1980 (age 44–45) [a]
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
Medium Stand-up, television, radio
Nationality British
Years active2001–present
Genres Observational comedy, black comedy, satire, wit
Subject(s) Politics, autism, cultures, race relations, science, family, current events
Children3
Notable works and roles
Website rialina.com

Ria Lina (born 1980) [a] is a British comedian, actress and writer. She has appeared on Yesterday, Today & The Day Before, [1] Mock the Week , [2] Steph's Packed Lunch , [3] The Now Show , The News Quiz , [4] and Have I Got News for You . In 2003, she won an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy award for Best Comedian. [5]

Contents

Early life

Lina's mother is from the Philippines and her father from Germany. [6] She attended an American school in the Netherlands from the age of 14. [6]

Career

Lina earned a BSc in pathology from the University of St Andrews, an MSc in forensic science from London South Bank University and a PhD in virology from University College London. [7]

Stand-up

In 2003, Lina was a runner-up at the first Funny Women Awards. [8]

Lina has taken five shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. School of Riason [9] was nominated for the Amused Moose Laughter Awards, and contained one of Dave's Top 10 Jokes of the Fringe, and was later broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016. Lina's Dear Daughter [10] won the Best Comedy award at the Greater Manchester Fringe. Her other shows include Taboo Raider, [11] Thpethial [12] and It's Not Easy Being Yellow. [13]

Television, radio and podcasts

Appearances include Yesterday Today and the Day Before, [1] Mock the Week , [14] Steph's Packed Lunch , [15] The Dog Ate My Homework , [16] Sky News, Talk Radio , Talk Radio Europe, [17] The Now Show , [18] The News Quiz , [19] Richard Osman's House of Games , [20] Times Radio , Breaking the News, [21] and QI [22]

Further TV work includes Jongleurs Live, [23] The World Stands Up , Sweet 'n' Sour Comedy, [24] Meet The Blogs, Malai Monologues, [25] the film short Christie, [26] and the documentary, A Bit of Oriental. [27]

Lina voiced the character Perun in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 . [28] She also narrated and voiced the character Zoe in the full-cast audiobook of cli-fi (climate fiction) adventure MOOJAG and the Auticode Secret [29] by N.E. McMorran / Spondylux Press, London 2020.

Lina appeared in and won Episode 4 of the 21st series of Celebrity Mastermind , broadcast in January 2023. [30] She was one of Alexander Armstrong's co-hosts on Pointless in 2023. [31]

Since 2022, Lina has appeared as a guest co-host of The Bugle podcast. [32]

Personal life

Lina has two sons, a daughter and a stepson [33] [34] [35] She married Steve Jones in 2002. Now divorced, Lina and her ex-husband continue to share their London household as of 2024. [36] She is autistic, [37] something she only became aware of in adulthood. [38]

Awards

Notes

  1. 1 2 Lina's official website states her date of birth, with the year being 1987. [45] That date is utilised by the Funny Women website, in an article on Lina. [46] A different year of birth is indicated in one other source: The Gazette & Essex County Standard reported Lina as being aged 30 in a 2010 article, without specifying her date of birth. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Yesterday, Today & The Day Before". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "BBC Two - Mock the Week". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "Steph's Packed Lunch - S2020 - Episode 123". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ↑ "On the Sky News Daily podcast, Dermot Murnaghan speaks to comic and virologist, Ria Lina about whether Covid has changed how the country is run". Sky News. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Winners of the EMMA Awards announced" (Press release). BBC. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 Mackenzie, Louise (16 December 2010). "Who do you think I am? asks funny girl Ria Lina". Gazette & Essex County Standard. Newsquest Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 25 September 2024. The 30-year-old comedian started doing stand-up while at St Andrews University and in 2000, aged 20, she took the show ... to the National Youth Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival ...
  7. ↑ "Ivo Graham and Ria Lina to appear on University Challenge". Chortle. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Funny Women Awards". British Comedy Guide. 17 October 2020 [First published 18 April 2016; updated 2020]. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Ria Lina: School of Riason". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "Comedy review: Ria Lina: Dear Daughter". The Scotsman. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Watch Ria Lina: Taboo Raider". Amazon Prime. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Ria Lina: Thpethial". Chortle. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Brighton Fringe: Ria Lina: It's Not Easy Being Yellow". Chortle. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Episode listings:
  15. ↑ "Steph's Packed Lunch". Channel 4. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "CBBC The Dog Ate My Homework". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  17. ↑ Baum, Julie (7 December 2020). "Ria Lina - the only female Filipina comedian in British stand up who headlines at major clubs in the UK and internationally...with TRE's Dave Hodgson". Talk Radio Europe. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "BBC The Now Show". BBC. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "The News Quiz". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "BBC Two - Richard Osman's House of Games, Series 5, Week 21: Wednesday". BBC.
  21. ↑ "Breaking the News". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "QI". BBC Two. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  23. ↑ " Jongleurs Live!". Comedy.
  24. ↑ "Sweet 'N' Sour Comedy - BBC3 Sketch Show". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  25. ↑ "RIA LINA". Spotlight.
  26. ↑ Rahman, Azi (7 April 2008). "Christie". IMDb. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  27. ↑ "A Bit of Oriental". Channel 4. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  28. ↑ "Ria Lina (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  29. ↑ "MOOJAG children's cli-fi series (audiobook)". Moojag. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  30. ↑ "BBC One - Celebrity Mastermind, 2022/23, Episode 4". BBC. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  31. ↑ "More stars revealed as Pointless guest hosts". BBC Media Centre. BBC. 23 February 2023.
  32. ↑ "The Bugle - Viruses are Marvel!". acast.com. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  33. ↑ "Asian Network's Big Comedy Night". BBC Asian Network. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  34. ↑ Swilgate Scuttle (3 June 2024). "Comedy review: Ria Lina: Riawakening". Supporting local artists and performance. Worcester. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  35. ↑ Geoff (15 August 2016). "Ria Lina Dear Daughter". one4review. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  36. ↑ Denton, Jane (28 June 2024). "How I Manage My Money: Comedian living with ex-husband who puts £50 in pension". Money. i News UK. Associated Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024.
  37. ↑ Lina, Ria (30 June 2015). "Political correctness is the best thing that's happened to comedy". Chortle. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  38. ↑ Quinn, Angie (30 October 2023). "Pointless' Ria Lina's life from autism diagnosis to impressive other jobs". My London. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  39. ↑ "Greater Manchester Fringe 2016 Award Winners Announced". Viva Manchester. 2 August 2016.
  40. ↑ "Amused Moose Comedy Award 2014". Amused Moose.
  41. ↑ "Ria Lina – Comedians l Book Comedians". The Comedy Club.
  42. ↑ "New Comedy Awards regional final Brighton". BBC.
  43. ↑ "The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award Final". Chortle.
  44. ↑ "Cutting Edge of Comedy". Metro. 12 August 2002.
  45. "About Ria". Ria Lina Official Site. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  46. Stone, Kate (24 April 2015). "Ria Lina schools BBC Radio 4". Funny Women. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
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