Page 113 - Katherine Ryan press pack
P. 113
AH: Between this, In Trouble and even many of your jokes in The
Fix, family seems to play a big role in your comedy. The funny
stuff, obviously, but also some of the less lighthearted matters.
KR: Well, the thing is, I think that everything is funny. I think dark things
are funny. I don't know what the point of life would be if you didn't at least
try to find the funny in everything. I always try to be positive about being a
single mother, and I try to communicate that really strongly in my specials.
Just in the last few years of being single, I have faced so much stigma. So
many people look at me and feel sorry for me.
I'm 35 now, and as I've gotten older, loads of people seem to get sadder and
sadder that I'm alone. And lots of my friends who have chosen to be alone,
people are sad for them. And I just think, "Isn't it funny that if you don't fit
into one specific shape of a family, then everyone is sad for you? When,
really, aren't we the ones who are super smart?" I'm the one with a rose
gold kitchen. Maybe I'm a genius! I'm the one that's never arguing about
what we're going to watch on TV. No man is leaving wet towels on my
bathroom floor. I think it's a celebration of being a unique shape of a
family.
And I love being a mom. I don't think it's a drag. I love being single. I don't
think it's a drag, either. It's important for women like me, who are positive,
to communicate that it's not a sad way to be. Because so many people refuse
to believe that we have chosen it. So many people paint that picture of the
crazy cat-lady and that's just not the case. If you want to have a man in your
house, go ahead and have one. If you don't, don't have one.
AH: People generally love to take how their life operates and
apply those experiences to everyone else. It's when they have to
consider those experiences or life choices that are different that
they balk.