KATHERINE RYAN
‘My face is beginning to annoy people’
The painfully honest Canadian-born, London-based
comedian has hinted that she might be taking a break from touring soon. Her celebrity targets can breathe a huge sigh of relief, says Brian Donaldson
A fter observing her stage and small-screen work over the last few years, some critics have concluded that Katherine Ryan might well be the new Joan Rivers. ‘As in, am I going to die under the knife?’ is the typically frank retort this London-based Canadian comic offers. The honest truth is that the late and effortlessly notorious Rivers is indeed one of Ryan’s idols and she doesn’t care who knows it.
great ‘I’ve always loved Joan Rivers; I used to stay up late on a Friday for my big treat and watch Letterman or Leno and I was into Joan, Bette Midler and all female these comedians. I don’t agree with everything that Joan did or said, but it took a real tenacity to achieve all that as a single mum. She did a lot of great things in the industry and was confrontational but not just for the sake of it.’
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While Rivers stayed the public eye by growing old disgracefully, Ryan sees f whole generations of d women being sidelined ignored at best, and t vilii ed and loathed at e worst. It’s an area she r touches on during her . touring show, Kathbum. u ‘My message is that you o aren’t too young or too s old for comedy that has t an edge. Why shouldn’t ? nana hear about this stuff? g She’s been knocking d around long enough and y she’ll be i ne. I might say certain words, but I’m trying to be empowering and funny and I’m always so happy to see a mum and a dad and their teenager at my show. What’s the alternative? The kid is excluded, at home sitting in their room playing video games or logging into PS4 and being groomed. No thanks.’
obsession (Taylor Swift, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Peter Andre all get it i rmly in the neck) and more personal material such as the events surrounding her younger sister’s wedding last autumn back in their hometown of Sarnia. One thing you can be guaranteed with a Katherine Ryan show is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but. Well, sort of. ‘This show is pretty honest,’ she insists. ‘I might take some liberties, but comedians do the opposite from politicians. Politicians will tell little truths that if you see them written down in a newspaper se seem to be true, but the bi bigger picture is an entire li lie. Comedians will tell ti tiny lies while the big p picture is hopefully more tr truthful.’
While Ryan has enjoyed t taking Kathbum across th the country, she suggests th that a break from touring i is on the cards. This is p partly due to being a m mother to six-year-old V Violet and also to get m more writing done as she a aims to get two sitcoms o off the ground. ‘One I’ve w written is about Hooters and another one is about golf and being a single mum. Also, my face is beginning to annoy people, so I’m happy to work from home for a while and do some writing. I’d love to get a comedy series off the ground but I’d need to not be on tour to do that.’ For
though, Katherine Ryan will be putting everything she’s got into Kathbum to make it a success, viewing the live circuit as a place to have total control on getting her ideas across. ‘Comedy is a conversation and you can’t do that on panel shows. You have to get out there and go on tour. It just makes you better as a comic.’ now,
A huge hit at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe, Kathbum is further coni rmation that Ryan is on a scintillatingly rich vein of form right now. The show features ruminations on our (and her) celebrity culture Katherine Ryan: Kathbum, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, Sat 23 Apr.
7 Apr–2 Jun 2016 THE LIST 43