Chris Ryan is rapidly becoming one of Australia’s most exciting comedians. She’s a favourite on Australia’s comedy circuit, won best newcomer at the Sydney Comedy Festival and a nomination for the same award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and is regularly popping up on TV and radio.
I caught up with Chris at Smith’s Alternative. Smith’s is one of Canberra’s best venues for live music, poetry, theatre, cabaret, comedy…and pretty much anything artsy. But we’re hanging out today because Chris is a massive fan of their coffee and cakes.
I’ve known Chris since she was a newbie comedian fresh off the back of winning the ACT heat of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy competition (in her very first comedy performance no less). I’ve loved seeing Chris progress from a natural performer to a genuine pro and begin by asking Chris how her stand-up has changed since those first days.
“I think I’m more comfortable being myself and talking about things that show up in my life, now,” she says. “I’m not trying to be someone else or to have a tough facade to protect myself so much as I used to.”
It’s funny hearing that Chris used to try to be something other than herself because a trademark of her comedy is that it feels so authentic.
I’m not trying to hide that I am a 50-year-old mother with grey hair and a bad attitude.
“When I started out, I would try and write jokes about nothing much because I thought that would make more of the audience like me,” Chris explains. “I wanted to have broad appeal. I used to hate the idea of all-women comedy nights or doing material about being a mum or a woman.”
So was there a moment of revelation that prompted Chris to become the comedian we now know and love?
“It took [Australian comedian] Mandy Nolan watching one of my sets and telling me I was doing the inane jokes of a 20-something male to try and fit in for me to realise I had been hiding myself,” says Chris. “She was a catalyst for change in the way I wrote comedy. She told me to let people behind my door and show them what my life was about. Since then, I’ve leaned more into who I am and what I really think about things and people in my life. I’m not trying to hide that I am a 50-year-old mother with grey hair and a bad attitude. If I lose a few people because of that, so be it. I think I am finding more people who get it, and the shows are all the better for that clarity.”
Chris has definitely been finding an audience, which is clear from her ever-growing fan base across the country and her string of sell-out shows. I recount an interaction I had with one of those fans after a recent show who said, ‘Chris just gets me’.
“That’s the best,” Chris responds. “I’m so grateful those people have found their way to my comedy, however that has happened. I hope they will stick around for as long as I am doing this.”
It’s refreshing to encounter a comedian who can resonate with people in such a deep way – while also being relentlessly funny – but I ask Chris if it’s difficult to be so honest on stage.
“Sometimes it’s really hard to say what I honestly feel,” she admits. “But I kind of want people to know. It’s important to me to show my ugly, scared, scary and sad parts as much as the funny, ‘brave’ and cheeky parts. I never want to hide the fact I am deeply flawed because I think we all are, and it would feel fake if I was to make myself out to be any kind of hero in my story.”
It’s a privilege to have that much autonomy in life, particularly in a job.
Chris loves stand-up. That’s evident when you see her on stage and perhaps one of the reasons her shows are so engaging. But it’s also clear when you talk to her about the craft. She’s someone doing something she’s not only very good at but also passionate about too. I ask Chris what she loves most about being a comedian.
“I love that it’s the one place no-one can tell you what to do,” Chris says. “You chose what to say and how to say it and nothing is off limits.”
Chris isn’t making a statement about wokeism. She’s talking about exposing her thoughts and feelings.
“The way I mean it is more about being a woman, being a mum, being a child raised by a generation that was told to be seen and not heard and rejecting whatever those shackles expect in terms of what I’m allowed to say or how I’m supposed to behave. I take full responsibility for my shows, I also take full credit. It’s a privilege to have that much autonomy in life, particularly in a job.”
Chris has been all across Australia this year performing her new show Good-O, which earned four stars from the Sydney Morning Herald. Now she’s back where it all started in the nation’s capital performing back-to-back shows, which are being filmed.
The night feels kind of electric.
I ask how it feels to bring Good-O home to Canberra.
“I love Canberra, it means a lot to film my show in my hometown, with a sprinkling of dear friends and family in the audience,” Chris says. “I will always be grateful to Comedy ACT, Tim Duck, Dave Graham and all the movers and shakers who created the Canberra Comedy Festival and built a comedy scene in Canberra. I’m a huge fan of Canberra and the more live comedy we have here and the more people attending, the better! I love seeing Canberra comedians at open mic shows and I feel like we are luckier than all the other cities in Australia in terms of the camaraderie we enjoy here.”
Good-O will be the third of Chris’ four nationally-toured shows to be filmed. I ask if recording her show is exciting, nerve-wracking, or no different to any other performance.
“The idea of filming a show imbues the night with more pressure, which can make me perform better – except for the times when it makes me perform worse,” she jokes. “No, I care a lot, so I try and make it exciting, try to be in the moment and give the people who come the best night I can. The audience at these filmed gigs are fantastic. They know it’s important to lean in and laugh and the night feels kind of electric thanks to that great energy. It is exciting, there’s something special about knowing that whatever happens on the night will be captured.”
So what is Good-O all about?
“You hit a time in your life (around now for me, at 51) where you take stock. Some big stuff has probably happened by now — kids, relationships, careers — and you’re looking at the back end of your life wondering how you can stop making the same mistakes. I am, anyway,” Chris explains. “Good-O is a show about trying to find a way to live my life without either confronting every bad person in the moment or detaching completely and letting everything through to the keeper. It’s also a show for anyone who is sick of the dumbing down of the world and who is irritated by the idea of fake, monetised social events, motivational speakers and laugh yoga.”
I finish by asking Chris why I always feel so good coming out of a Chris Ryan show. She says, “I try to leave the audience with some hope. To soften the blow of criticism and self-judgement with a gentle, It’s okay to be an idiot, we all are sometimes.”
So true.
Chris’ Canberra showings of Good-O are all but sold out. Get in now to grab the last tickets!
Chris is always touring and performing. For details of where she’ll be next, check out her website.
