Desert Island Discs

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs: Katherine Ryan, comedian

Katherine Ryan, comedian

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Katherine Ryan, comedian

Katherine Ryan, comedian, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne.

Katherine Ryan, comedian, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Katherine Ryan is a Canadian comedian and writer.  Her edgy and provocative routines have led to sell-out tours, comedy specials on television and her sitcom series The Duchess.  Based on her experience at the time, the Duchess tells the story of a successful, happily single mother and Katherine wrote it out of frustration because she believed no one else was telling a story like hers on screen.

Katherine was born in Sarnia in Ontario where she attended a local French-speaking primary school.  The school celebrated the arts and Katherine became a musical theatre enthusiast who could sing, dance, write and act.

Later she moved to Toronto where she studied city planning and worked for a branch of the restaurant chain Hooters.  She credits the latter with teaching her the value of being entertaining and smart.

In 2008 she relocated to London with her boyfriend and a few years later she got her big break as a comedian, performing on the panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats.  By now a single mother to daughter Violet, she developed a rapport with audiences by sharing stories from her own life – both funny and sad.  She describes her tendency to connect with her fans in this way as her “language of love”.

In 2019, while filming an episode of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are in Canada, she met up with her high school boyfriend, Bobby.  They hadn’t seen each other for 20 years but the spark was still there and later that year they married in Denmark and went on to have two children together.

The programme was recorded on September 6th.

DISC ONE: Spice Up Your Life - The Spice Girls 
DISC TWO: The Real Slim Shady - Eminem 
DISC THREE: La Isla Bonita - Madonna
DISC FOUR: Soul One - Blind Melon
DISC FIVE: 22 - Taylor Swift
DISC SIX: Psychic City (Classixx Remix) - Yacht
DISC SEVEN: Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
DISC EIGHT: 16 Shots - Stefflon Don

BOOK CHOICE:  The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
LUXURY ITEM: A hat and skincare set
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Spice Up Your Life - The Spice Girls 

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

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Desert Island Discs

Katherine Ryan, comedian

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