Skip to content
Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

In Trouble

Katherine Ryan

Netflix · 2017 · 63 min

A Canadian comic talks hometown grudges and celebrity squads in London.

Watch on Netflix(opens in a new tab)

Katherine Ryan acts as a glamorous, pop-culture-obsessed outsider looking in, delivering mean-spirited gossip with a sweet, bright smile. On stage, she acts less like a traditional stand-up and more like an over-dressed, self-aware diva who is entirely comfortable being the bad guy. The energy of the set relies on this contrast: she looks like someone who would be in Taylor Swift’s “girl squad” but spends her time explaining why she would actually be kicked out of it for being too realistic.

A significant portion of the set details her upbringing in Sarnia, Ontario—a town she repeatedly describes as the armpit of Canada—and the challenges of raising her daughter, Violet, to be a posh, demanding British schoolgirl. She also recounts a real-world controversy where a joke she made on a UK panel show about the Philippines sparked international outrage. Instead of apologizing, she uses the backlash to highlight the absurdity of online anger, showing how the scandal actually helped her career rather than ending it.

Filmed at the Eventim Apollo in London, the 2017 release marked a major milestone as Ryan became only the second UK-based comedian, and the first woman, to get a global comedy special on Netflix. At the time, she was already a fixture on British television panel shows, but the special introduced her dry, celebrity-fixated style to a wider international audience. While her material on political landscapes and celebrity drama dates the show slightly to the mid-2016 era, her precise timing and willingness to play the villain keep the hour lively.

The set list

7 bits

  1. Donald Trump and Americans moving to Canada

    Predicts Trump's election win and jokes that Trump turns his own populace into refugees while making relocation to Canada difficult.

  2. Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj VMA Twitter feud

    Examines celebrity culture as modern religion through Swift's patronizing tweet exchange with Minaj regarding award nominations.

  3. Bill Cosby rape allegations and victim-blaming

    Critiques reactions to sexual assault accusations and the absurdity of asking victims why they did not come forward sooner by imagining female comedians committing the crimes.

  4. Practicing a toast for her sister Kerrie's wedding

    Delivers an edgy, scandalous roast of her sister and roasts her Canadian hometown as an unpleasant wasteland.

  5. Dating a Jewish man and religious differences

    Reflects on white Canadian privilege and introduces circumcision commentary paired with crude dick jokes regarding a hypothetical child.

  6. Daughter Violet and the dead pet rabbit

    Recounts her young daughter's innocence and naivete surrounding the death of their pet bunny.

  7. Defying the aging process

    Jokes about women defying aging by shrinking their bodies and voices down into slightly bigger babies.

How it plays

Tone
Raunchy, satirical, biting, cheeky, and irreverent.
On stage
Raunchy, cheeky, self-deprecatingly blunt, and unapologetically provocative, contrasting an outwardly polished persona with sharp bite.
Pace
Begins deliberately with conversational crowd work before moving into punchy, rapid-fire routines and anecdotal storytelling.
About
unusual romantic relationships, single motherhood and parenting, celebrity culture and worship, aging and female beauty standards, Canadian roots and hometown life, social politics and privilege

What the critics said

Critics praised Ryan's sharp charisma, stage command, and crowd interaction, though some reviewers found the social commentary uneven and provocative without enough depth.

In the room: Energetic and responsive packed theater audience that eagerly participated in front-row banter and cheered her satirical political observations.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: comedy.co.uk, chortle.co.uk, pro.imdb.com, decider.com, editorial.rottentomatoes.com, pastemagazine.com, vulture.com, en.wikipedia.org, media.netflix.com.

Backstory

Filmed in mid-2016 at the conclusion of her UK Kathbum tour, taped shortly prior to the 2016 US presidential election.

Details

Released
Taped
2016, Hammersmith Apollo, London
Runtime
63 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Colin Dench
Topics
After
Glitter Room (2019)

More from Katherine Ryan

If you liked this