Page 114 - Katherine Ryan press pack 2015-20

KR: I just felt like that story needed to be told. I needed to get that out

there. It was therapeutic for me to say once and for all, "Don't be sad for

me. I'm a 'glamazon.' I have an amazing child and I just bought a house in
Central London. Who are you to feel sad for me?" Because if I was a single

dad, I would be the hottest ticket. I would be The Bachelor.

AH: Do you find comedy, be it yours or generally, to be
therapeutic?

KR: My style evolves with how I'm feeling at the time. Before I wrote Glitter

Room, I'd just had this epiphany after a breakup and had bought my first

property. A lot of things were changing in my life, so that's what the show

was about. I am relentlessly positive, so at the time I wrote Glitter Room, I
did so because it was therapeutic. There were things I had been quite stoic

about and not said anything about. Really personal stuff about how I feel

being a single mother, and that was therapeutic. But that's probably the

first show I've ever done that came from that kind of place.

My shows generally attract mixed audiences, but I do get a lot of single

mothers, or at least a lot of women who were embarrassed to say that they

are single moms. When I ask, "Do we have any single moms in?" They're

like, "Oh, yeah, sorry." They're almost apologizing with their eyes. So, I

thought, "You know what? These single moms need a voice right now." I did
that for me, but I also did it for them. My next show might not be about

that, but certainly this show ended up being very therapeutic and cathartic.

AH: You daughter plays a major role in Glitter Room, and you've

spoken at length about her in your previous work. At the same
time, you guard her privacy fiercely on social media. What I'm

wondering is, does she know about your comedy that's about

her? Is she aware of that yet?