Katherine Ryan

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Roles:

Contestant, Guest

Biography

Katherine Louisa Ryan (born on 30 June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter and actress based in the UK.

When she was 18, she began studying city planning at the University of Toronto. While attending university, she worked at the restaurant chain Hooters, and began training other waitresses. In her spare time she undertook open mic nights as an alternative form of personal entertainment, and by the time she graduated she had developed a basic comedic routine.

After graduation, she continued working for Hooters as a corporate trainer, travelling around Canada to train other waitresses, and helping to open the then only UK branch in Nottingham. Her partner at the time wanted to explore London, so she agreed to do so for an initial month in 2007, and subsequently move there permanently in 2008.

She first appeared on television as herself in multiple episodes of the Canadian music video review show Video on Trial between 2005 and 2008.

She first appeared on Channel 4’s 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2012.

In 2013 she appeared as a celebrity contestant on BBC One’s Let’s Dance for Comic Relief as Nicki Minaj dancing to Starships. She was also featured on the Whitney Cummings Just for Laughs 2013 Gala. She has since taken new routines to the Edinburgh Festival.

In 2015 she became the presenter of Hair on BBC Two, and a panellist on Sky 1’s panel show Bring the Noise, and on the ITV2 show, Safeword.

In 2016, she appeared on series 2 of Taskmaster.

In 2016 she began a comedy tour titled Kathbum, after a name her toddler sister used to call her.

In 2017 Netflix released Katherine Ryan: In Trouble, featuring her stand-up comedy live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo! in London, during the Kathbum tour. Also in 2017 she joined Jimmy Carr to host four series of the reboot of Your Face or Mine?.

In 2018 she joined the American comedy panel show The Fix as a team captain.

In 2019 Netflix released her second live stand-up special, Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room.

She has appeared on many British panel shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, A League of Their Own, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Just a Minute, Safeword, and Have I Got News for You.

As an actress, she has appeared on numerous television series in the UK, including the sitcoms Campus, Episodes, and Badults.

In 2020 she wrote, produced, and starred in the Netflix comedy The Duchess, about a single mother’s life in London.

[Source: Wikipedia, 05/03/2021.]