Ria Lina

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]

Ria Lina
Born	1980 (age 44–45)[a] High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
Medium	Stand-up, television, radio
Nationality	British
Years active	2001–present
Genres	Observational comedy, black comedy, satire, wit
Subject(s)	Politics, autism, cultures, race relations, science, family, current events
Children	3
Notable works and roles	Pointless Mock the Week Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Website	rialina.com

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^[update].^[36] She is autistic,^[37] something she only became aware of in adulthood.^[38]

Awards

• Winner of the Best Comedy Award Greater Manchester Fringe 2016 for her show Dear Daughter^[39]
• Finalist Amused Moose Comedy Award 2014^[40]
• Winner of the Best Comedy/Comedian Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy Award 2003^[5]
• Winner of the King of Kings Comedy Store Award 2003^[41]
• BBC New Comedy Awards 2003 semi-finalist^[42]
• Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award 2002 finalist^[43]
• Wilkinson Sword Cutting Edge of Comedy 2002 finalist^[44]

Notes

1. 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]