Never having performed comedy while living in Ireland, it wasn’t until comedian Katie Boyle came to America that she first stood on stage and did a standup set. “The first night I tried it I immediately knew I wanted to pursue it.” That was 10 years ago. Since that night, Boyle performed as a “New Face” in the 2023 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, was featured in NY Funniest showcase and New York Comedy Festival in 2022, and her debut album and special, I’ll Do It Myself, was released through Pinch Records in 2023, hitting #1 on iTunes Comedy Charts. Her last special, Don’t Tell, premiered in November 2024.
Before touring throughout the UK, Ireland and Scotland this summer, Moves sat down with Boyle to discuss all things comedy and to always expect the unexpected when up on that stage.
Since moving to America from Ireland, how has your pursuit of comedy changed? Have you noticed a difference in what jokes land with a crowd?
I started comedy after I moved here, but I go back all the time and I find that the Irish audiences will be more interactive, more likely to join in and have fun. They need less of a setup too whereas here, if I talk about something Irish, I have to factor in the explanation of the cultural difference. I have to alter my English here too because we speak a different kind of English. Even something as simple as saying “bin him,” meaning to dump someone – because we say bin for trash can – I always have to make sure the audience can understand what I mean for the joke to land, and then I have to remember to change the words back when I go home. A lot has changed in 10 years. I think people have become more sensitive and volatile with politics. If your joke doesn’t align with them politically, it definitely feels a little less safe.
When did you realize you first had a love and talent for stand-up?
The first night I tried it I immediately knew I wanted to pursue it. I never ever considered it before, but with moving to America, I wanted to try things I wouldn’t have at home. There was a show I went to that let audience members tell a joke at the end, and I did, and that was 10 years ago. When I tried it for the first time I immediately loved it, and that was that.
How have you grown as a comic and how have your jokes reflected that growth?
I find it much easier now to do heavier topics, but that’s a combination of just doing comedy longer, getting older, and going to therapy. I really think therapy helps comedians even if you do it just for a little while, because if you understand your issues, you can be more real and genuine on stage and in your jokes.
As someone who uses crowd work to interact with the audience during a set, when has your crowd work led to a particularly funny or unexpected memory?
I reconnected with a friend from school, someone I used to kiss in my teens, from the stage. I hadn’t seen him in over a decade. We are both from Ireland, but he came to my show in Rotterdam, and through crowd work – I couldn’t see him he was in the back row – I found out who he was. Another one was, in San Diego, I interacted with two Irish women on opposite sides of the showroom who said they didn’t know each other, but through crowd work I found out they were from the exact same town in Galway, are in the same line of work, and had been here for 25 years. After the show they talked and found out that one of their husbands was childhood friends with the other one’s brother. It’s a small world for the Irish.
In your experience, what are some ways stand-up comedy is different for women comedians than for men comedians?
Women have to defeat the stereotype that we aren’t funny. For example, after a show in rural America where the men before me performed poorly and I’d a really fun time, I overheard girls from the audience talking, saying, “I didn’t expect her to be so funny. I’m shocked the men were so bad.” Their original bias was men are funny, women aren’t. Now that show wasn’t a fair representation of male comedy either because they were younger, less experienced comics, but it was funny that the automatic thought they had entering the show was that men are funny, women aren’t.
A lot of men are offered better show deals instantly and they can work the road faster because there are a lot more older men bringing younger male comics to open for them so those younger men get to meet the club bookers and book their own shows. That’s mainly just because there are more men and it’s a male dominated field, but there are also other elements, like it’s easier for men to bring men on the road because they can share hotel rooms. So the more women who headline, the more younger female comics get brought up. Social media is also helping get more women into comedy because more women’s comedy is being seen by more people, which leads to more women wanting to do comedy and feeling like they can.
Do you feel pressure from social media’s critique of comedy and the modern-day “cancel culture” that looms over creative figures? How has this affected your comedy?
I personally don’t like to upset people, but cancel culture, I don’t even know what that is anymore. I see more TikToks of people apologizing for stuff who I’d never seen before those videos. It hasn’t affected my comedy. Sexual assailants and harassers are still working without issue while a woman will get ‘cancelled’ for being angry or rude or whatever, so I do think the energy on who to cancel is sometimes misdirected, but sometimes it’s not. Sometimes someone gets cancelled because they are a danger to the people around them and bringing attention to that is a way to warn people. As a whole, I don’t like it and that’s because I’d worry for the person who gets cancelled over gossip, unfair expectations, or lies, and it can affect their mental health. There’s a thin line between cancelling and online bullying.
What comedians do you most admire and draw inspiration from in your work?
Every single Irish woman comedian I see working is hilarious. From Aisling Bea, Deirdre O’Kane, Joanne McNally, Emma Doran, comedic actor and writer Sharon Horgan, writer and stand-up Maeve Higgins, and newer comics coming up on the scene – now Aoife Dunne, Amy Walsh, and so many more I’m forgetting. But every time I see them perform, I feel inspired. They all are completely themselves on stage, acting, or writing just all so naturally funny. They all tackle hard topics too, whether it’s mental health, shame or politics.
I saw Earthquake in 2019 and I found it so inspiring the way that he connects with the audience and they’re just laughing on another level. Like, he literally crushes. I honestly get inspired every week by different comics. A few months ago it was Danish Maqbool because he was making the deepest story funny and emotional and I was like, god, that’s skill, and it gave me the confidence to take a risk and work on a bit I was afraid to. Last night I saw a bunch of comics at Carmen Lagala’s show talk about not wanting to be mothers or not having a relationship with theirs, etc, and each comic inspired me because they were making such taboo or emotional topics hilarious. I get inspired when I see Mike Britt murder with crowd work at New York Comedy Club. I just started watching Zainab Johnson and I’m excited to watch more of her comedy.
Do you have a writing process? If so, what does it consist of?
I like to write on stage so that it sounds conversational. Also the pressure to make the story funny in front of a live audience helps me think of punchlines.
What excites you about your job and what conversely frightens you?
I love what I do, it’s a creative outlet for me and gives me dopamine. I love that anyone can come to a comedy show. You don’t need an art degree to understand it or have watched 10 hours of stand-up. You just go and laugh at what you find funny. I love that!
As a woman, I have felt unsafe due to a lot of angry men online, stalkers, and having my location always known. Political jokes now feel more dangerous, especially as a woman and an immigrant.
What would you say to people who want to get into stand-up comedy? What advice worked for you?
A friend once said to tell yourself before a set that the audience will always enjoy it more if you’re having fun too. Whatever you want to do in life, try it at least once.
If you could perform with any comedian, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
I would have liked to meet Norm MacDonald. I just think he would have been so fun to see live and chat with in the green room after the show. He seemed so silly.
Is there something distinctly Irish about you that reflects in your comedy? What is it?
Irish Catholic guilt is a theme I’ve joked about my whole career.
What’s a joke that just lands differently than you often expect — positively or negatively?
I have a joke about Saint Brigid giving the first recorded abortion in Ireland, but right now, I feel like people have visceral reactions to the topic of abortions. So the joke is fine, but when I posted it, I wasn’t expecting such an angry response. When I make jokes about England colonizing Ireland, people get mad too, implying I’m lying when it is in fact history.
CREDITS
Photographer: Ilona Lieberman
Videographer: Pablo Andrés Monsalve Mesa
Hair & Makeup: Eloria Michelle
Location: New York Comedy Club, Upper West Side, NYC