Katherine Ryan talks about turning 40, making connections with people and taking her dog back home to Wolverhampton

The comedian and TV presenter is set to bring her latest live show "Battleaxe" to the Halls Wolverhampton on Saturday as part of a massive national tour.

It's a show which Katherine describes as a fun show and one of the best ones she's ever done, as well as a chance for her to talk about entering her fifth decade and being able to reclaim a term like battleaxe and make it a positive thing while also interacting with the audience.

She said: "The show is called Battleaxe because I am now a woman over 40 and I have been described as being problematic and disruptive and I know that, historically, a battleaxe was seen as an angry, aggressive and nasty lady.

"I think it's nice to be able to reclaim a term like that and make it positive, as I certainly not aggressive or angry and I have a wonderful life, so I love being over 40 and being able to talk about my warped views about life, culture, my husband and my family.

"It's just a fun show and the second half is really interactive because I give my phone number out on the projector and I invite people to text me their dilemmas and questions about the show.

"It's not a temporary number either and some people do text me through the day and night, but that's ok because I've learned to turn it on during the show, take the questions, then immediately turn it off again, but I will one day go on and see what people have been texting me."

Katherine is the creator and star of Netflix’s hit The Duchess along with two global Netflix comedy specials: In Trouble and Glitter Room as well as 2022’s Missus on Sky and Now TV. 

She also hosted Backstage With Katherine Ryan for Amazon Prime and starred in Sky’s Romantic Getaway with Romesh Ranganathan, as well as being a regular on panel shows like Mock the Week and Eight Out of 10 Cats and the winner of season two of Taskmaster.

She said that she loved building relationships through the experiences she had, saying that showing authenticity on the shows and productions she'd been on really helped.

She said: "I think people build relationships, which I certainly do with my favourite comedians, and I think authenticity is really important to people, so my language of love is telling secrets as I love over sharing and it makes people want to over share with me too.

"I think I'm a really safe place to not do small talk as I have so many people who, through the intimacy of listening to my podcast, really know me and vice versa and I feel like I have so many friends in a country where I am merely a guest."

That intimacy has been key for Katherine, who moved to the UK in 2007 from her native Canada and has developed her reputation as a stand-up comedian since through working clubs, TV and going on tour, while also being able to explore new ways to take herself out of her comfort zone with her shows.

She said: "A lot of people see that I'm doing a section based on the texts people are sending in and they say that it must be daunting because it's a 45-minute section where you don't know what's going to happen, but I don't feel that.

"I think I'm seasoned as I just don't find it daunting, I really think it's exciting and fun and I'm really curious about out as I like the way comedy has evolved, probably through podcast culture as people are more interested in getting to know each other.

"I really feel like the people who listen to my podcast are the ones who come to my shows and social media has facilitated a lot of that, so I think it's an exciting time for comedy."

Katherine also said that the societal changes in comedy had been good, but also felt that she didn't judge people by whether they called her a comedian or a comedienne.

She said: "It doesn't bother me as I don't mind being called a comedian at all as I think I would say that even though I'm a very progressive person and I think it's great to be inclusive and aware of diversity and everything else.

"I'm also not easily offended and I think there are people who look for reasons to get annoyed, but being called a comedian or a female comedian has never bothered me as I love being a comedian and I love being a woman."

Katherine's trip to Wolverhampton to play the Halls is one which holds a special and unusual place in her heart, being it's where she got her only non-designer dog Manny, while she said she also loved coming to the West Midlands.

She said: "My dog Manny is from Wolverhampton and is a little terrier who I rescued where I met someone at Wolverhampton train station 14 years ago and got him in a little box and brought him home.

"He's my favourite dog and I need to prioritise him a bit more in my life as he's getting old, so I might bring him to Wolverhampton with me so he can get a taste of the city backstage.

"I really do love the Midlands as I love the attitude and the sense of humour around there and always have had fun gigging there because the sense of humour is really and everyone is funny, so if I they think I'm funny, then that's a huge honour."

Katherine Ryan appears at The Halls Wolverhampton on Saturday, February 8, with doors opening at 7pm.

Tickets start at £32.90 and can be bought at the Halls ticketing site.