Katherine Ryan

Café Cleopatra, Montreal QC, July 27

BY James KeastPublished Jul 28, 2017

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Like other sartorially inclined comics like Paul F. Tompkins or Aziz Ansari, Katherine Ryan cut an elegant figure as she took the stage at Just For Laughs, in direct contrast to the fact that she was performing at one of Montreal's infamous strip clubs. If she even took note of that fact, there was no indication (other than mentioning that perhaps her strappy heels were an homage), launching directly into "The Glitter Room," her latest hour of comedy. (Aside: this is a thing now? Specials get named before they even get taped?)
 
For some reason, the first thing folks know about Ryan is that she's a Canadian comic who's become a big star in the UK, and has appeared on various of their chat shows and does jobs that include being described as a "presenter."
 
Using that as a jumping off point, Ryan alternated between sharing the trappings of her success and the challenges she faces, as exemplified by the "Glitter Room" she's putting into the flat she's renovating. She's battled numerous male contractors who have literally refused to comply with her requests, since no man would ever want to live in the space, and asking her when "the decision maker will be home." She's in school for another two hours, Ryan responds, referring to her young daughter Violet, who also plays a big role in Ryan's new hour.
 
Ryan does hilarious impressions of Violet in a high-pitched British accent, since Violet is indeed being raised there and sounds like a tiny, incompetent butler. Ryan's life as a single mother dominated her comedy, whether it was battling another mother at Violet's school for how much Ryan was putting into various bake sales and school events, to breakups with lesser paramours who can't handle her independence.
 
She turned her ire on Khloe Kardashian's concept of the "revenge body," where women are encouraged to lose weight after romantic disappointments, pointing out that women are literally getting smaller in response to men, which Ryan is having none of. Her predominantly female audience — which created a line for the ladies unlike any this strip club had ever seen — ate up every second of Ryan's hilarious take no shit attitude.

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