INTERVIEW: Katherine Ryan on the Fringe, fame and family

Having established herself as a familiar face on our screens, married her teenage sweetheart and played to sold-out audiences around the world, Katherine Ryan is aiming to tick off yet another life goal – becoming besties with Shania Twain.

In the latest big TV job to come her way, the comedian will soon be jetting back to her homeland to take a seat alongside the country-pop superstar on the new judging panel of Canada’s Got Talent.

If you go by her lyrics, Shania is famously hard to impress, but Katherine can’t wait for the chance.

“This is a really big deal because I have goals of making best friends with Céline Dion, Britney Spears and Shania,” Katherine tells P.S. from her family home in London.

“I never thought that I’d come close to having those besties, but I’m going to be sat next to Shania and can’t wait to find out what she’s like.

“She’s made a big effort to have a presence in the UK over the summer. She’s performing everywhere and she just looks incredible. They say never meet your heroes, but historically, every time I’ve met one, I’ve been really chuffed.”

‘I feel blessed to do the job I love’

Katherine is, of course, a Canadian with a big presence on our shores in her own right. Over the past decade, the 41-year-old has risen to prominence on panel shows such as Mock The Week and 8 Out Of 10 Cats, starred in her own Netflix comedy The Duchess and even been the subject of a Louis Theroux interview about her life.

Flicking across the channels or streaming sites, chances are she’ll be there somewhere – and she still loves every minute.

“I feel very blessed to be able to do the job that I love,” she says. “I definitely struggle with turning down work and that’s not because I need to be busy. I just always can’t believe the opportunities that fall into my lap.

“I find it difficult, obviously, to juggle it and also be super-intense with my children. I’m not the kind of mum who can just delegate or have my husband or babysitter do it. I really am hands-on. There’s a little flaw in Western feminism that way.

“It’s great that we’re allowed to work and earn money and ‘have it all’, but I’ve learned that you certainly can’t have it all at the same time. You just have to take turns prioritising your family and your work.”

The steady flow of work brings a thrilling life with it. Katherine is chatting to P.S. having just flown back that morning from a trip to the Euros with husband Bobby, who was cheering on the Netherlands in their semi-final loss to England.

“We’re both high and low media,” she says. “I don’t wear make-up or fancy clothes during the day, but, by contrast, when I’m working, I am very glamorous and I like to stay in five-star hotels and sometimes we take helicopters. We went to see Kings Of Leon and we were sat next to Pierce Brosnan. I get to go to Wimbledon.

“But we flew economy back from this whirlwind trip to the Euros and I still get really excited about eating Taco Bell. I take the bus because my son loves the bus. I walk around the High Street all the time.

“It’s really cool to have people know who you are, and I think especially with my podcast, there’s a certain intimacy of being in-between people’s ears where I get to make friends everywhere I go; people know about me and my family.

“To me, that doesn’t feel so much like being famous, it almost just feels like being Canadian and back in my hometown again where everyone would stop and talk to you and everyone knows your mum. I’d maybe be quite lonely if people didn’t say ‘hi’ to me everywhere I went. I never take it for granted how wonderful it is to have this gift where you can give people familiarity back.

“They feel happy when they see you because they’ve liked your work or you’re just familiar. I like the power of just walking around and making people happy with my face. I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t like me as well when they see me, but that’s fine! There are so many people who are so kind and generous, especially about the podcast.”

Full disclosure

Telling Everybody Everything is a fitting title for her podcast. Katherine and husband Bobby, the teenage sweetheart she was reunited with when she returned to Canada while filming Who Do You Think You Are?, are all about full disclosure.

Earlier this year, Katherine fronted documentary series Parental Guidance, which explored out-of-the-box parenting ideas. As well as visiting families across the UK, she also opened the doors to her home and let the cameras in.

Katherine Ryan and Bobby Kootstra with their children. — Katherine Ryan and Bobby Kootstra with their family.

“I share a lot on my podcast and on social media,” she explains. “I don’t know that I would have done a reality show years ago but so much of what we do and say and think is published now, so we decided to do it. It was certainly a learning experience because not everyone in the family is used to being on camera the way I am. My 15-year-old daughter Violet, especially, was such a natural, so funny in her own way.”

Is there a chance then of any of her three children following in her footsteps?

“My son, who just turned three, is definitely a performer,” Katherine laughs. “He’s like an early rock star. He loves AC/DC and his microphone handling skills are something I’ve just never seen. I’ve interviewed adults and they don’t know how to hold it. My son from the age of two has really, really understood mic handling, I don’t know how!

“I would never push my kids into anything really. I don’t think the girls are natural performers, they are far too sensible for that. I think all the children are funny. Everyone in the house really values it.

“That’s something I love about having Irish parents and I think it’s also very omnipresent in British, and especially Scottish, culture. Everyone’s funny, everyone kind of takes the mick a bit. I love things about Canada, but I am quite happy to be away from the earnestness and people getting offended quite easily.”

New material nerves

Katherine’s return to the Fringe this month will see her unleashing fresh routines ahead of her touring with her show Battleaxe later in the year. New material and a new crowd, she says, helps take her back to the rush of the early days in stand-up.

“I don’t feel the same now and I miss that feeling,” she admits. “I used to feel sick the entire day before I went on stage. I felt really nervous and it’s this wonderful rush of endorphins because we’re just animals and it’s really dangerous to separate yourself from the pack and face them.

“Public speaking is really scary for a lot of people because you’re vulnerable when you do it, but I’ve done it so much now that I don’t feel nervous at all anymore. This is a whole new show and I always get excited to feel sick again.”

Something else that has changed is where the line is between the Katherine on and off stage.

“I think they’re coming closer together than ever,” she said. “When I was young I leaned into more edgy, shock comedy. I loved Frankie Boyle and Sarah Silverman. I didn’t really understand the nuance and the craft of what they were doing. I see it now, how structured and clever Frankie was and is. It wasn’t just about shocking people, of course.

“I think I’m a little bit softer now as a comedian. I’m a lot more myself on stage, but also I’m getting opportunities for longer form comedy.

“People got to know me on panel shows where I had to be funny, quickly, and be quite eviscerating. There’s more room for me to be a bit softer, but hopefully I still retain that edge because it’s exciting and fun.”

Grateful for Fringe benefits

Katherine Ryan, aged 25, going to a gig Violet.

Katherine Ryan has a special fondness for the Fringe.

“My best memories are ruining my daughter’s summers every year,” the comedian laughs.

“Early doors at The Stand, I went all by myself with my daughter at eight months old and we stayed in a flat across from it with four flights of stairs. I had to carry baby and buggy up every single day.

“I think I missed out, without feeling sad about it, on the experience the young comedians had. I was going to all the kids’ shows and I was getting up at six in the morning with my daughter, but it kept me on the straight and narrow.

“She was flyering for me aged three, such a willing participant in our mutual rise to the life that we have now.”

Violet is now creating more memories at the festival as a teenager.

“She thinks it’s cool and she’s discovering new comedians and different things to see. It’s been nice to do that together.”

Raymond Mearns gave Katherine sound advice.

Katherine has always kept with her Fringe advice from veteran Scots stand-up Raymond Mearns.

“He told me to never make stand-up about you, never get an ego about it, because we’re in the service industry.

“Whatever’s going to make people laugh on the night, it’s your job to provide that. That’s one of the pieces of advice that has shaped me as a comedian.”

Katherine Ryan, The Fringe at Prestonfield (The Stables), August 22, 7pm