Katherine Ryan: Female comics now dress more glamorously thanks to me | 'I take all the credit for that' © Catherine Harbour

Katherine Ryan: Female comics now dress more glamorously thanks to me

'I take all the credit for that'

comedyKatherine Ryan says deserves 'all the credit’ for allowing female comedians for wearing more glamorous clothes on stage.

She says she personally 'changed the aesthetic of women doing comedy’ from dressing down to feeling free to be more feminine – although admits that sounds ‘conceited’.

Speaking to fellow comic Tom Price, on the My Mate Bought A Toaster podcast, she said: 'Female comics, we talk about this all the time. We were told for a while, or the narrative was, don't be too feminine, it'll be distracting, and the women will hate you and the men will fancy you.

'No one will take your jokes seriously, no one will listen to you.'

'So, you see the women, and actually this is very conceited of me, but I'll tell you exclusively, I am the reason why all the female comics dress up now in this country.

'That was me, I know that it was me I certainly changed the aesthetic of women doing comedy, I take all the credit for that.

'Because I see them wearing things I've worn and using the photographers I've used. And, good. Then they develop their own look, but everyone really looks nice now.

'When I'm dead, it needs to be credited to, "And then Katherine Ryan wore high heels and then everybody else was in a dress".’

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.
Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Published: 4 Apr 2024

Live comedy picks

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.