Glitter Room

Katherine Ryan has very little interest in living with a man, and she is more than happy to explain why. She compares men to dolphins: highly intelligent creatures that are best enjoyed on vacation, but absolutely not something you want eating up resources in your house. Her focus is a loud rejection of the idea that a single woman, especially a single mother, is someone in need of saving. Instead, she presents sole parenting not as a struggle to be endured, but as a luxury of absolute autonomy.

Filmed at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, this was Ryan’s second Netflix special, released in 2019 when she was already a dominant figure on British television panels. The hour takes its title from her home renovations, specifically her daughter’s bedroom, which she had covered in actual glitter despite a contractor warning her that “no man will want to live here,” which was precisely the goal. It is a thesis that carries through her routines, whether she is mocking the concept of a Khloé Kardashian-style revenge body, dismantling the patriarchal themes of the musical Hamilton, or admitting to her own past failures of feminism during a misguided trip to Japan.

Critics noted that while the transition to a televised special slightly softened the warmth of her live theatre run, Ryan’s refusal to play into expected anxieties about single motherhood made for a refreshing hour. Her persona remains imperious and unapologetic throughout.