Education
Vranch graduated from Cambridge University with a Doctor of Philosophy in physics.
Vranch graduated from Cambridge University with a Doctor of Philosophy in physics.
While a first-year doctoral student, he joined the Footlights in 1981 and was a contemporary of Tony Slattery and Neil Mullarkey. He was a researcher at the Cavendish Laboratory and a research fellow at Street John"s College for nine months before going into comedy full-time. Vranch improvises comedy on stage with the Comedy Store Players every Wednesday and Sunday at The Comedy Store in London.
He has voiced British Airways television and radio commercials since 2003, and he narrates television documentaries.
He has performed since 1979, and formed a comedy double-act with Tony Slattery in 1981. The duo hosted the Channel 4 quiz The Music Game and over 100 episodes of Cue The Music on Independent Television. He was the improvising pianist and guitarist on the original British television show Whose Lincolnshire Is lieutenant Anyway? in 1988, but only a small proportion of his work is musical.
Vranch co-wrote and performed in The Paul Merton Show at the London Palladium in 1994. Acting work includes Dogman, The Dead Secretariat, and sketch shows touring the world from Mexico to the Palestinian Territories.
He has improvised comedy in the Middle East, Far East and India - 30 countries in all.
He has written for stage, radio and television, and made several animated films with artist Lucy Allen. They have had their cartoons published in Maxim, Punch, and The Spectator. He presented the children"s shows Let"s Pretend on Independent Television and Jackanory on British Broadcasting Corporation One, and was a contestant on a charity special of The Weakest Link in 2005.
He guested on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4"s long-running panel game Just a Minute in 1999.
In 2002 he was commissioned by Tamasha Theatre (East is East) as a writer for their show Ryman and the Sheik and he still works as an Artistic Associate of the company, linked below. Vranch had a previous career as a research physicist, and has appeared on the panel shows Puzzle Panel and The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4 and Mind Games on British Broadcasting Corporation television Vranch hosted his own science series, Beat That Einstein, on Channel 4 in 1994, and has published papers in scientific journals.
He discussed the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider in September 2008 with Jeremy Vine and Simon Singh on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 2. In 2006 he appeared at the Ars Nova theatre, New New York
He is currently appearing in his improvised storytelling group The YarnBards and developing a new show for the Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2012, with others he toured and supported Paul Merton for Merton"s programme, Out Of My Head.