The Chaser Report - ARVO: Chris Ryan has No Complaints

Episode Date: April 5, 2022

Comedian Chris Ryan joins Charles and Dom for an Arvo chat! Chris talks her show "Can't Complain" and teaches Charles and Dom what things you should complain about, how to make comedy and parenthood work, and what it's like to do a gig for the SAS! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Striving for mediocrity in a world of excellence, this is The Chaser Report. Hello and welcome to an afternoon edition of The Chaser Report. Dom Knight and Charles Firth here with comedian Chris Ryan, who's performing as we speak at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Chris, welcome. Thanks for having me. It is great to have you actually in the middle of the run. You've had a few days into it.

What's it like to have the festival back in full swing again? Well, it's slightly overwhelming to see so many human beings, you know, after a year where I've largely been sort of trapped at home with my nearest and dearest to be exposed to so many humans is kind of, you have to break yourself back into it. Yeah, even just being in a crowded room, I haven't done that for quite a while. I mean, Charles has been touring as well, so he's been in. But to me, the notion of being in a room with more than 10 people is bizarre. I have COVID at the moment, so I'm not allowed to leave the house. So it's like being back in lockdown land again. So that must be very, very strange.

Your show is called Can't Complain. Are there complaints about the past year or so in this show? Well, the thing is, you know, people ask you, like, what's your show about and stuff? It's just these are the jokes that have arisen from a time when I've been housebound with, like, my family. And at a stretch, my parents, you know, that's it. you know and occasionally the odd trip up to the local shops so these are strange little things that have come out of my head in a time that is very strange so and then to try and put that in the framework of a show that will make sense to people rather than be some strange

amount of brambling it's it's a it's a weird time to be writing comedy you know so has the last year given you an appreciation of how much you love and adore your family or or not so much? Look, I, it's a, that's a good question, Charles. I think with any, I think we are hardest on those closest to us. And they are also, they are the best and the worst, you know. So, and they copped the best and the worst of you, probably the worst more than the best. I think I did actually get a big appreciation of my family.

I have a 16 and an 18 year old and the 18 year old just, moved out in January to go to university, and that was a massive, profound moment in my family's life. And also, my parents are getting older, and we do spend time with them. And so those are the things that have shaped this show, really. I feel like, though, if I were choosing a comedy festival show to go to, I think I'd want to hear people complaining. Like, the idea of can't complain feels like, is that the wisest name for a show in 2022? Look, I think it comes from the idea that I was bumping into a lot of people at the shops and I'd ask them how you're going and they'd start out telling you the truth, but then they'd realize, oh God, there's so many people who've got it worse. I can't complain. And it's like, no, you absolutely can. We are in a safe space for complaint. And that is entirely what my show is about. So, yeah, I realize I'm a privileged person. I know that I've got it good and I should shut up forever, but I'm not going to. And part of that privilege is being able to talk about it for an hour.

I know what you mean, though, whenever I've bumped into anyone, you know, the occasional event that I would go to over the past year or two, everyone's always like, oh, how's it going? And you can't actually answer that question? Seriously, can you? Because it's a long ramble, it's a monologue, it's a bit emotional and it's oversharing. So we need a new small talk opener. Mate, this is the thing, you know.

Actually, it's changed my personality. Like, I want to go in for the massive deep. chat or nothing at all, you know, it's massive deep chat or I give you two minutes and then that's it, you know, like it can be nothing in between. I'm keen to solve this problem now for myself. What do we say other than how you're going? Oh, nice to see you or, but it isn't so often. Honestly, you almost have to pretend you're on the phone and just keep going.

Just don't even talk, you know, like just keep walking. So are you from Melbourne? Are you from Melbourne? Sorry, I'm from Canberra. Oh, you're from Canberra, okay, right, okay. Everyone from Melbourne that I've ever met, sort of experienced lockdown so differently to everyone else. They've got this sort of righteous anger about how much worse they had it than everyone else,

which is, at one level, you go, it's good that they're processing it in that way, but at another level you go, oh, come on, we all suffer. Like, it's not like we all didn't have to go through horrible things. I know, it's so true. but I do feel bad complaining given that Canberra didn't do it as bad as Melbourne. So, like, we're all stuck in this, oh, God, I should be a better person than I am. Yes. And that's life.

Yes. And I think I'm of an age, I'm 48. I'm still trying to find out how to be a better person. And I thought I'd have it figured out by now, you know. And, yeah, so I guess part of it is all that sort of self-analysis that you go through. Like, people ask me, oh, what's the show about? And I'm like, I don't know. They're like, how do you talk about COVID?

I'm like, I don't, I'm not a scientist, you know. I'm just, all I've got is my own weird thoughts. Yeah, but in that day and age, that's enough. Like, in that day and age, that makes you an expert. In fact, actual scientific background is, is actually, you know, disabling somewhat when it comes to talking about this stuff. And there's a bit in my show about, you know, I am nostalgic about a time when imbeciles knew they were imbeciles

and they just talked amongst themselves. We didn't, you know, they didn't run for Parliament or get interviewed on Fox News. they were just, you know, in the background, and they were happy times. Now, Chris, how did you start doing this whole stand-up business? Because, you know, you were a journalist before this. You got a family. But yet last year you were nominated for Best Newcomer at the Melbourne Festival. Congratulations on that.

That's very prestigious. By the way, and you won the Best Newcomer in Sydney in 2019. Why explore the world of comedy? I keep trying to leave it and failing. Yeah, I didn't know what I was getting into, mate. I think I just always enjoyed the stage and I think I always enjoyed performing. I used to sing in bands and, you know, be in the school musicals and stuff. And I kind of always sort of liked the idea of making people laugh.

And so I just entered raw comedy in 2012 and that was that. And I just, it was kind of like a weird drug addiction. You know, you get a few laughs. You're like, oh, I'll have a few more of them, thanks. Yeah, but you never get the biggest laugh, so you're always chasing that bigger laugh, yes, yes. I now understand Greg Fleet. Well, it's like any addiction, you know. But yeah, it's been kind of fun.

It's been good to have strange new people in my life that I can relate to that I never would have met any other way. You know, it gives you a renewal, you know. Is it hard to gig as a parent, though? Like, don't you have to, don't you have responsibilities? Oh, um. One of them just moved out, didn't you? No longer. I don't know.

I suppose heaps of blokes do it, hey. Well, I mean, yeah, exactly, but not ideally. I don't know. What does Hughesy do? What does Tom Leeson do? No, no, but it's, no, because I'm touring at the moment and find it incredibly, I mean, my kids are much younger, though. the sort of 11 and 13 and you go 10 years I waited 10 years so when I started raw comedy in 2012 I wanted to hit the road and I'd become the oh wow do the do Melbourne you know and all of this

with about five minutes of jokes and pretty rubbish ones at that and it just wouldn't have suited my family I couldn't do it so I waited and I just got better in Canberra and and I waited the first time that sentence has ever been said I got better in Canberra Yeah, I know. Don't you go there to get worse? Yeah, well, yeah, I got worse and better in Canberra. But I think, yeah, also, obviously you have to have a supportive partner that is prepared to cop this lifestyle. Yeah, yeah.

Because do you get home and then find you just can't sleep for the rest of the night? Or is that funny? Yeah, yeah. And I find, like, I'm even struggling to sleep here now in Melbourne, you know, like it's the brain. is a pain in the bum, really. Yes, we should just get rid of the brain. Well, I do try. There's what a lot of people in Canberra do when they enter parlor.

The Chaser Report, now with extra whispers. But even though it's a tough lifestyle and, you know, difficult and chasing the laugh and having to tour and all that sort of stuff, surely it's more uplifting than being a journo, Chris. Oh, look, I think there's pros and cons to it. every career, you know. I loved being a journal. I was in small town regional newspaper papers down the south coast of New South Wales. Oh, is that why you had to have a career change? Yeah, because the editor would have had to die or I would have had to move to something like Tarry. I don't know. And I just thought I just can't keep going around the country and hoping for an extra

five bucks an hour. So I, yeah, I got rid of that career. But I did love it. I had the best time in the newsroom with great mates you know local stories being you know held accountable for every single story in a regional town oh yeah at the shops i can imagine how awkward that be you just written an article about someone's yeah i don't know burglary or awkward thing and suddenly got to talk to them you know in the cafe in the one cafe yeah right they'd ring you up they'd just ring you up and tell you if you got it wrong you know if the cWA ladies if you've reported it wrong you know they'll just get on the phone no harm about it just get straight to you yeah right well compared to that it sounds like a relatively socially adjusted career being a comedian.

Look, I think- You wanted to become respectable, so you became a comedian rather than a genius. Oh, not at all. Absolutely not. I realise that I have gone lower in station. I think I've always, I mean, I've always jumped around in careers. And I think if you've got that kind of brain that constantly needs to be entertained or challenged, you know, you will have several careers in your life.

And this is probably the one that suits me the best. I think, because I'm allowed to travel. I'm allowed to meet new people. I'm allowed to make people laugh. I'm constantly challenged intellectually with writing. And it probably, unfortunately, fits quite well into myself loading. So, you know. Well, that was going to be my question because my therapist says that I do comedy

because of deep childhood trauma. Who hurt you? Look, I cover this in my show, actually. I think I had it too good as a kid, you know. Oh, no, oh, what trauma. Oh, how traumatic. No, look, the truth is. Growing up in Canberra, oh, no.

A victim of stability, right. I grew up in India. Oh, right. And I had a nanny, and I feel like an idiot for that. Like, I feel embarrassed about that. That's been something I've really stayed away from in comedy for the longest time. But I just finally, my dad wrote his memoirs, see, and the show's framed within dad's memoirs, you know, basically.

and big part of his career was in India and I obviously as a kid you know parenting is just hijacking kids so I just went along so I grew up in India and like my yeah I mean I guess my brother was I had an older brother but he was sent away to boarding school pretty young I was pretty much on my own in the house a lot with just the staff of the house because it was the 70s and that's how it was so I guess that's probably

that need to be seen and heard probably is what's informed my comedy It does sound like a classic sitcom premise, though, Chris. Home alone with staff. That's a new twist on the formula. Oh dear. Speaking of travelling places and meeting new people, very keen to hear about your trip to the Middle East to perform for the troops,

because you were here of commandians doing this all the time. I can never imagine what that experience must be like. Was it fairly terrifying at points? Look, it was insane. A friend of mine, Lee Keggi, has done this very many times, and he suggested I do it, that it's a really good thing to do. And look, I've had nothing to do with the defence forces. I've never, you know, been a person that's interested in wars or defense or anything.

But I got a bit of an insight going over there, just seeing these extraordinary people who just go away for months at a time, leave their family and friends and just suffer in the desert. Like, it is hot as hell. You can't drink enough water. You have to have like, you know, substitutes in your water to give you all the chemicals back that you need. But it's unbelievably hot. Your eyeballs sweat.

It's 40-something plus all the time. Is that an expression or do your eyeballs actually... I think, well, maybe it's actually everything around your eyeballs. Like, there was sweat drooping into my eyeballs and it was so hot. So, yeah, it's tough conditions over there. I felt safe because I don't believe that any, well, yeah, I don't know that they would take the risk with. You felt safe because you were with the S-A-S. I know, yeah, that's what I was fucking thinking, oh, shit, I'm on the chase of reporting.

Yeah, I mean, I could see you're processing where to go with that thought. I was like, oh, shit, what do I say? Did you get to kill any civilians? Oh, mate, you know, I'm all about killing. What are you talking about? Yeah, I mean, we stayed within the walls of the place where soldiers live. And, you know, we did gigs outdoors to very tough looking people. Some international troops as well.

It was weird and surreal and hot. And I met some really brilliant people. And I had an enormous amount of respect for the average people that are there just trying to do the right thing. What's the best material for that? audience because I can imagine just thinking of your repertoire just what do you lead with with a crowd full of overwhelmingly male question I don't think I have the answer for you I mean it's tough it is a tough gig you've got to especially as a woman too because the percentage of women in the defence forces is increasing but it's still very low and so one to two absolutely nail the women

in the audience no worries they're all on board with me but you know it's only you know yeah I think a lot of the men are probably not my vibe, but there were a lot that were too. So I just did my stuff. You just can only bring your stuff. Do you go more blue? Yeah, I think they love that. Actually, no, we were given instructions not to, yeah, not to, yeah.

Not to offend their delicate sensibility. It's a weird combination of a wild war zone and heaps of OH&S requirements. and, you know, diversity requirements and stuff. So it's a complex environment to do gigs in, for sure. It sounds like a pretty terrible place to have to just endure physically. But I've got to tell you, after being stuck at home for a week with me having COVID and my daughter, who's for being completely well and full of energy,

I would happily get on that plane right now. Mate, you know what? To be fair, I laughed more in that two weeks with the people I was going with than I have probably in the rest of my life. I had a great time. Why don't we do a Chaser Report week in the ADF, Charles? Yeah, yeah. So there you go.

Right, well, you're in Melbourne for until the 24th of April. Then you head to Perth, the 6th and 7th of May. That's a Friday and Saturday. And then here in Sydney, Thursday, the 19th of May and Sunday, the 22nd of May. All the best with it, Chris. Thanks, heaps. Gives from run microphones with part of the ACAST. Creative Network.

Catch you next time. See yeah.