About

Photo: Anneliese Nappa 2023.

Chris Ryan

Australian Stand Up Comedian

Chris Ryan’s hard truths and relatable cynicism, paired with a raw, genuine vulnerability have become her signature take on the hilarious absurdities of life. Touring the biggest comedy and arts festivals in Australia, Chris has had a meteoric rise in the past five years, cementing her as a household name in Australian comedy.  

Awarded Best Newcomer at the Sydney Comedy Festival (2019) with her debut show, Bogus, she went on to create a new show Big Hair, Big Dreams that saw her nominated as Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2021. 

Her laconic take on everything from romance to passive aggressive co-workers has also earned her spots on Australia’s premium Comedy Galas, having appeared on:

  • Melbourne International Comedy Festival All Stars Gala 2023 (ABC TV) 
  • Melbourne International Comedy Festival OXFAM Gala 2022 (ABC TV & ABC iview)
  • Just For Laughs Australia 2022 (CH10)
  • Melbourne International Comedy Festival Up Front Women’s Gala (2021)
  • Melbourne International Comedy Festival Audible Presents Live (2022)
  • Sydney Comedy Festival Gala 2019 (CH10)
  • Canberra Comedy Festival Gala (most years from 2013-2025)
  • TEDx Canberra (2018)

Following the success of Chris debut tour, she toured Can’t Complain in 2022, sold out to multiple crowds with Busy in 2023 and completed a national tour of her fourth stand up show Good-O to rave reviews.  

Chris Ryan has gone on to film and release two specials to date, growing an impressive social media audience along the way. Her debut special, Big Hair, Big Dreams was filmed in 2021 in Canberra with thanks to a Homefront Grant, supported by the ACT Government. Chris went on to release her second special Busy in 2023 on Youtube, which has been selected by media company 800 Pound Gorilla for international release online and via Spotify in August 2025. Good-O, along with her other two filmed specials is now streaming free on Chris’s YouTube Channel.

In 2019, Chris was invited to perform comedy for the Australian troops in the Middle East and has toured across Australia’s major cities and regional areas with Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase, Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, Grapes Of Mirth, and most recently was hand picked as the national support act for for UK based comedian, Jen Brister (2025) and for Judith Lucy and Kaz Cook’s national tour, Kaz & Jude’s Menopausal Night Out (2023-2024). 

Chris has hosted and performed at major corporate events including hosting and performing the feature comedy spot at the 2020 National Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball, at Parliament House. She has MC’d the She Leads event for the YWCA Canberra twice, done comedy for in house events for Mecca Cosmetic (2023-24) the NSW Property Council (2024) and Qantas (2024) and co-hosted the RSL & Services Clubs and Leagues Clubs Australia National Conference (2021). Chris is no stranger to working with and performing for some of the biggest brands in Australia.

Chris is growing an impressive CV in the TV commercial space as well. She appeared on The Project (CH10), on an episode of SBS Letters & Numbers (2023) and secured a guest role in the ABC TV show Austin (2024). Additionally, she was approached by ActewAGL to star in the company’s website video about EvenPay billing in 2024. 

In 2020, Chris taught herself to use semi-automated animation software and produced a six-part online series called Chats with Mum, an unscripted, sometimes outrageous series of chats with her Mum, Wendy Ryan. Chris produced and released a second season in 2021, both can be viewed on Chris’ YouTube channel. 

Chris’s stand up is based on her life and the people in it, making it real and relatable, delivered in her signature understated, laconic style. If you’re looking for a song and dance, you’re not getting it but you will get laughs — plenty of them.

TESTIMONIALS 

 “…a distinctive, vital voice…a trenchant, acutely funny hour, raging against modern malaise but never pretending to have all the answers.”
Sydney Morning Herald review of Busy – 2024

“I loved working with Chris for the first time and look forward to working with her again soon. She was such a delight and we were so happy to have her on the show. Chris Ryan is a legend.”
Ros Bellenger, Talent Producer – Letters & Numbers (ITV)  

“She seems to be one of those rare comedians that are so good at what they do, and so comfortable doing it, that they make comedy seem easy. She commanded the attention of the room effortlessly; she evoked waves of laughter without so much as a sweat… Ryan has all the wisdom that comes with life experience with little of the (boring!) maturity, and it’s fantastic.”
BMA Magazine May 2019. 

“Chris was in total control from the moment she hit the stage, a comedian with a unique outlook and broad appeal.”
Justin Hamilton, Head Writer Show Me the Movie (Network Ten) 

“Chris Ryan was absolutely brilliant, working collective crowd touch points and making the fine line of discomfort and hilarity bleed into one with total mastery.” 
Merrick Watts –  Grapes of Mirth, 2020. 

AWARDS
2021 – Best Newcomer Nominee – Melbourne Int Comedy Festival
2019 – Best Newcomer Winner – Sydney Comedy Festival

TOURING LIVE SHOWS

2025 – Extreme Tenant
2024 – Good-O
2023 – Busy
2022 – Can’t Complain
2021 – Big Hair, Big Dreams 

TELEVISION

2024 – Austin (ABC TV)
2023 – Letters & Numbers – Competitor (SBS TV)
2023 – ABC Melbourne International Comedy Festival Opening Night Comedy All Stars Supershow – Spot (ABC TV)
2022 – Just For Laughs (CH10)
2022 – Melbourne International Comedy Festival Oxfam Gala – Spot (ABC TV)
2021 – Sydney Comedy Festival Gala – Spot (CH10)
2021 – The Project – Guest (CH10)