Page 49 - Katherine Ryan press pack

Ryan sticks to a sound philosophy

It’s not just ordinary people hiding behind an anonymous username who can go on the attack.

Ryan has been in the UK long enough to have lived through one or two media storms, when

comedians have said things deemed offensive by columnists looking for something
(anything) to beat their next looming deadline. While some comics may take a step back and

a deep breath before writing their next potentially contentious gag, Ryan sticks to a sound

philosophy. “If you can sleep at night and stand by everything you said, I don’t think you
should have to censor yourself because of something that’s going on in the media. More and

more in my comedy career, I do celebrity stuff or talk about the news and I don’t think I’d
say anything that I wouldn’t say to a celebrity’s face. A lot of the times when you’re talking

about an event or a celebrity, you’re not being cheap in terms of a person; you’re talking

about a greater theme.”

Ryan always had an exhibitionist streak. Born and raised in the wonderfully named Canadian

city of Sarnia, her mum took her daughter to pageants. But little Katherine took some
unconscious pleasure in pulling the rug from under feet of the event organisers. “In the talent

round, I’d tend to do this weird thing that nobody understood. I’d always want to sing a

man’s song or do a funny sketch.”

The time she dressed her little sister up as Hitler

Then there was the time she dressed her little sister up as Hitler. “It was for a school history

project I was doing on the war. She was four years old and giving out these facts and I
thought this made it show that I realised it was a very serious project. But the school

counsellors were called in and asked what was going on. I always had this different way of

presenting information, I guess.”

Fairly early on, Ryan knew she wanted to do something in the world of entertainment but

most jobbing stand-ups probably don’t have stints at Hooters or visits to the Playboy

Mansion on their CVs. “A friend invited me to go there when I was doing the Comedy Store
in LA,” she recalls. “I was never a Playmate and never got my kit off, I just went to a couple