Last time I saw Katherine Ryan onstage in 2018 she was singing the praises of singledom. “Men are like dolphins, best enjoyed on holiday,” she said. A lot has happened since then. A virus has swept across the planet and Ryan has embraced marriage, as she explains in her new show, Missus.
Things did not always pan out as planned during the pandemic for the sassy, sardonic stand-up. Missus charts the bullet points of the recent years in the life of Ryan. Not just nuptials, but also giving birth to a second child and vanquishing a burglar. Each story is jam-packed with punchlines and slickly delivered.
Fans may be familiar with some anecdotes. Her husband is Bobby, her childhood sweetheart who she reconnected with when visiting her Canadian hometown for Who Do You Think You Are?, or “Please Don’t Let Me Be A Nazi”, as she wickedly calls it. Love bloomed despite a language barrier – Bobby speaks English but with such a strong accent people think his name is Barbie.
The romance material is chat show-honed but with bonus pay-offs here. The same goes for Ryan’s recollections of being burgled. The incident was widely reported but in the flesh the tale is garnished with new detail. Ryan ensured that throughout the ordeal, as is the case onstage too, she never spilt a drop of her ever present wine.
This is very much a personal show. There is a brief digression about politics in which she suggests the government needs a spokesperson who does not tell lies and a passing defence of non-woke comedy, but the emphasis is very much on Ryan and her lawnmower-loving hubby.
Between routines Ryan engaged brilliantly with the audience. Fans revealed they had come from as far afield as Atlanta, Macedonia and, erm, Chiswick and she had a wisecrack for every occasion. Ryan is smart enough to combine the acid tongue of Joan Rivers with gentle charm. There were withering put downs yet she also paused to autograph a book mid-set.
The scripted material closed with the freshest anecdote, about Ryan’s pregnancy last year. She wanted a home birth, but her doctor scotched that notion, deeming her “geriatric” as she was over 35. Instead she opted for a no expense spared private hospital delivery, complete with afternoon tea. Except that nature had other ideas.
This account neatly tied up the theme that you never know what is round the corner, from long lost love to random break-ins, so just live your best life. It is a corny philosophy but it works for Ryan and helps to make this such a winning show. Missus is an absolute hit.
