Backstage With Katherine Ryan guests revealed

ExclusiveThursday 26th August 2021, 1:30pm by Jay Richardson

New comedy series Backstage With Katherine Ryan comes to Amazon Prime Video next year
Acts include Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, Sarah Millican, Jo Brand and Sara Pascoe
Ryan says: "We've got the best stand-ups performing in a beautiful venue to a comedy-starved audience"

Amazon's behind-the-scenes stand-up showcase Backstage With Katherine Ryan has announced its line-up, with British Comedy Guide exclusively revealing the comedians involved.

Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, Sarah Millican, Jo Brand, Sara Pascoe, Tom Allen, Sue Perkins, Nish Kumar, Joel Dommett, Russell Kane, Rob Beckett and Rosie Jones are among the acts to have recorded sets for the series, coming to Amazon Prime next year.

As BCG first reported in March, the show is Ryan's first commission for Amazon, having previously released her sitcom The Duchess and two stand-up specials on rival streamer Netflix.

Made by Expectation Entertainment (Alma's Not Normal, The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan) and recorded at London's Roundhouse venue, other acts featured in the 30-minute episodes include Seann Walsh, Nick Mohammed, Judi Love, Geoff Norcott, Darren Harriott, Desiree Burch, Ivo Graham, Michelle de Swarte and Joanne McNally.

With cameras rolling before, during and after the comics are on stage, the show stays with them as they hang out backstage. Promising to capture them with their guard down and reveal their pre and post-gig rituals, viewers will hear them trade anecdotes and analyse each others' material.

Backstage With Katherine Ryan. Image shows from L to R: Tom Allen, Sue Perkins, Rob Beckett, Katherine Ryan. Copyright: Expectation Entertainment

"After having nearly two years of cancelled gigs, comics are as eager to get backstage as they are to get on stage again. That's why I'm absolutely thrilled to be working alongside Amazon Prime Video and the brilliant team at Expectation to launch Backstage With Katherine Ryan," said the host.

"We'll be taking you with us behind the curtain and into our sacred space so you can share in the candid hilarity that happens before and after a gig. It's a whole new way to experience the magic of stand-up."

She then posted a video of herself with her newborn son to announce the series on social media:

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Produced by Mia Cross (Live At The Apollo, The Ranganation), Ben Wicks is executive producing for Expectation and Suzi Aplin for Amazon, with Martyn Smith executive story producing.

"Thanks to the wonderful people at Amazon we've got the best stand-ups performing in a beautiful venue to a comedy-starved audience, hosted by the Queen of the Comedy Stage, Katherine Ryan," said Wicks, Expectation's creative director for entertainment.

"That's not all though, in a major blow to FOMO, we also have 40 cameras behind the backstage door. We'll see the funniest comics on earth as you've never seen them before: wildly indiscreet and completely unfiltered. Just spare a thought for the editor."

Dan Grabiner, head of UK Originals for Amazon Studios, added: "In Katherine we have the perfect host, and we're delighted to be featuring some of the very best in the business across the series."

Ryan publishes her autobiography, The Audacity, and is embarking upon her UK stand-up tour, Missus, next month.

Katherine Ryan - The Audacity

The star of The Duchess and the host of Telling Everybody Everything, this is the debut book from superstar comedian Katherine Ryan.

"While I've been very blessed to have worked in comedy for over a decade, The Audacity gives me the opportunity to connect with people more fully and honestly than a panel show allows. I've learned to be a sharp-shooter on stage, but there are so many stories that I'm eager to tell in more sincere, longer form. I hope it gives people a laugh, an insight, and hopefully some encouragement on how to live their most fulfilled, authentic lives."

Detailing Katherine's journey from a naïve ex-Hooters waitress fresh off the boat from Canada to comedy megastar, chapters will cover How to Potty Train Your Baby at 10 Months, How to Cut Off Your Racist Aunties, How to Marry Your High School Boyfriend and How to Co-Parent when you're a Single Mum.

The Audacity combines Katherine's unerring ear for the perfect line with the warmth, compassion and hard-won wisdom that makes up a life on and off stage.

First published: Thursday 30th September 2021

Hardback

eBook

Audiobook