Andrew Zaltzman

Andy Zaltzman (born Andrew Zaltzman, 1974) is a British comedian and cricket statistician whose comedy largely deals in topical and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including Political Animal, The Department and The Bugle. Since 2016 he has been a cricket statistician for BBC Radio's Test Match Special, and since 2020 the presenter of Radio 4's The News Quiz. On television, in 2024 he won the eighteenth series of Taskmaster against Babatunde Aleshe, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee and Rosie Jones.

Born in Hammersmith, west London, of Lithuanian-Jewish ancestry, Zaltzman is the son of Zechariah "Zack" Zaltzman, a management consultant who became a sculptor, and is the elder brother of Helen Zaltzman of The Allusionist and Answer Me This! podcasts. He was privately educated at Holmewood House School and Tonbridge School, and studied classics at University College, Oxford, where he served as sports editor for The Oxford Student. He first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1999, when he was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny competition alongside Josie Long, Russell Howard and David O'Doherty.

His debut full-length Edinburgh Fringe show Andy Zaltzman versus the Dog of Doom received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Comedy Awards in 2001. At the 2004 Fringe he began, initially with John Oliver, hosting Political Animal, hosting solo since 2006. Zaltzman performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the first time in April 2007, winning the coveted Piece of Wood Award, given to the best show as voted for by other comedians. Since mid-2014 he has toured Satirist for Hire, where questions and comments are solicited from audiences in advance. He also presented his own four-part BBC Radio 4 programme Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, and was a regular co-host of the satirical news programme 7 Day Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live.