Page 224 - Katherine Ryan press pack

female waiting staff. Ryan recalled her initial belief that the brand was satirical, with
the chain’s walls being splattered with messages such as “girls are flattery operated”.

Complaints from managers about her propensity to offend customers, however, soon
led Ryan to take her sense of humour to the comedy club next to the restaurant.
Looking back on her Hooters days, she explained she “learned a lot” from working
there and met some inspiring, strong women, adding: “I wouldn’t advise my daughter
or anyone in the room to work there.”

Ryan’s impression of her industry is that the gender imbalance only develops at the
professional level. “Amateur comedy clubs have a very good mix of males and
females. Comedians tend to be liberal people and lots of the men I’ve encountered
have been amazing feminists.” However, she does think that expectations about
what is considered acceptable subject matter differ depending on the sex of the
person making the joke.

“When I started, I had heard about the stereotypical topics female comedians talked
about, such as men and periods, so I shied away from that because I always chose
terrible men to date – I feel sorry for my father because he must be wondering what
he did wrong,” she said.

From a personal perspective, Ryan is of the belief that the positive
discrimination which some production companies have used to try and get more
female comedians onto television feels too much like tokenism. “Because the BBC
has to have one woman on every panel show, there is a particular chair on Mock
The Week where the female panellist always sits. It must have a particularly
absorbent cushion or something,” she said with her trademark controversial humour.

Yet even while making the audience of the CBI-supported First Women Summit
laugh, Ryan reminded people that humour is serious for her because it’s how she
earns enough money to support her daughter as a single mother. “I am a limited
company – it’s a business,” she explained, adding: “It was hard for me to leave my
daughter’s father. There is shame in a failed relationship, and this idea that I have to
be quiet about those things to protect my daughter. But I was starving when she was
born. That’s what made me realise I needed to become a TV comedian. Being poor
when you’re a new mum makes you a great parent because you can’t ignore your
child. I’m a terrible mum now!”

She also believes that British culture has made it easier for her to thrive in her
chosen career. “It’s hard to say exactly what the differences are between comedy in
America and here; I wasn’t working as professional stand-up in Canada, but it
seemed to be more restrictive. Most Canadian comedians aren’t successful until they
leave, and that’s partly because it’s impossible to do the number of shows it takes to
get good unless you have the funds to do lots of eight hour flights. There’s also more
of an emphasis on socialising at home, whereas here there’s more of a pub culture.”

It is for her business acumen that she cited Joan Rivers as one of her heroes. “I love
her, although I don’t agree with everything she said, because she was so organised.
All her Tom Cruise jokes were filled away in one drawer!” she said. Ryan also
admires British comedian Bridget Christie, and explained: “I need for my daughter to