I'm not a nasty person.
— Katherine Ryan
Stand-up comedy is not a man's job. It's an alpha job: To be the only person in a room with a microphone who's allowed to talk.
Growing up, I loved comedy even before I knew that you could be a stand-up comedian.
I didn't really realise that I was going to have more obstacles because I was a woman. It was never something that I thought about.
When I think about women of color and their place politically in the world and culture... they've had two layers of just garbage to overcome. To me, a black woman is a woman-woman.
I'm proud to be Canadian. But I identify as being a British mum.
The beautiful thing about comedy in the U.K. is that it has a clever twist to it, and when you really break it down, the joke isn't filthy at all: it's clever.
I was a product of the society that said women are for decoration, and I do think girls should be able to do whatever they want.
I have a really different touring life to most comedians because I go home every night to do the school run in the morning. So I'm not in hotels or living it up.
I always tried to fit in, so I was a cheerleader with the orange skin and white-blonde hair, and Hooters was part of that.
I was lucky to develop in the U.K. because I find comedy - in addition to being caustic - it's quite literary over here, and alternative comedy isn't so alternative.
I started doing little amateur nights at the comedy club that was right next to the restaurant that I waitressed in when I was in university. I was probably 22 years old. I didn't do it with any intention of making a career out of it; I had just always valued comedy.
In Canada, good waitresses are tipped well. I learnt that the harder you work, the more money you make.
I'm from that generation where there aren't that many pictures of me as a baby.
I thank God every day that there was no YouTube or Twitter when I was a teenager. I would have had a channel, and it would have been mortifying.
One of my favourite things about living in the U.K. is having that chance to go to festivals.
All I've ever wanted to be is a strong, powerful, beautiful black woman.
I've always been attracted to comedy that was really close to the line and made people a little uncomfortable, because that's where progress comes from.
My dad's Irish, so I was visiting Ireland a lot as a kid, so it's not totally foreign to me.
You'll never make a success of yourself when you're doing an impersonation of somebody else.
My mother was a businesswoman; my grandmother was a businesswoman - it never occurred to me that life might be harder because you're a woman. It wasn't until later and I had a bigger sense of the world that I realised that.
I think it's better, if people aren't getting on, that they should divorce.
I got into comedy at exactly the right moment.
I'm very careful not to tell a joke just to get a reaction.
I was born with the confidence of an 89-year-old man. So it's strange when people ask, 'What's it like being a female comedian?' It never occurred to me that I'd be limited as a woman - that I couldn't be a scientist, a doctor, or anything I wanted.
I'm a single mother. It's silly to turn down work.
People who like my stuff and know what my agenda is have never mistaken me for being racist or poking fun at the wrong thing.
I wasn't properly performing in Canada. I was just starting out, and when everyone starts out, they're terrible. I'm sure there are some Kellyanne Conway videos of me just really dying on a stage.
I really loved making my mom laugh, and I knew that she thought that I was funny. It was really valuable, in my home growing up, to be able to have a chat and participate in a conversation and be funny. Whatever I could do to make my mom laugh could either get me out of trouble or just get me more attention or get me respect in the house.
When you're really famous, there's very little authenticity in people, so you prefer the company of children.
When I talk about celebrities, I don't dislike them - it's what they represent.
I feel like my comedy voice is to take the news and everything that's happening and put a funny spin on it or to pick out the things I find funny about it.
I love Britain. I'm an Irish citizen, but I was born in Canada, and I'm a British comedian, really. My entire career has been over here.
I talk funny 'cause I come from Canada.
I don't know that I'd be a comedian if I stayed in Canada.
I wanted to be liked when I was younger, which I think a lot of us do; I'm not ashamed to say it. I was a product of my environment, a product of my culture.
If I'm in the position where I get to hire someone, where I get to decide who joins me on tour, then I am mindful about that, and I try to suggest women that I know who I think deserve more exposure.
I'm not a Rachel Dolezal. I don't fake tan; I don't have the cornrows, I don't misappropriate. I just want to be Beyonce.
If I ever move back to Canada, it'll be because I'm terminally ill.
I'm a flirt by nature, and I like flirting with that line of what's passable and what's not, and I genuinely don't believe that I cross it.
I'd never say something that I didn't feel I could defend.
I was seen as a little weirdo. But I was certain I wasn't a weirdo. I knew who the weirdos were, and it wasn't me!
In Canada, we just have rich and poor, but we don't constantly remind poor people about it.
I feel like I'm always on the right side of wrong and trying to shout out for the underdog.
I was really lucky to have been raised in this really powerful matriarchy where my dad was around, but I was with my mom and my grandma most of the time. They were heavy influences on me. My mother has a career in technology; my grandma sold real estate.
I was certainly not a class clown; I confused and angered a lot of people with my sense of humor.
Justin Bieber is a lovely chap.
The Kardashian family have earned their place as an American dynasty.
We don't have glamour models in Canada at all.
I don't worry about whether or not people like me.
