Culture
We speak Liverpool comedy star Jack Ryan about his next live show this October
4 years ago
After two years on some of the most prestigious cruise liners and topping the bill in cabaret clubs throughout the Costas, young comic Jack Ryan is known around the world.
Heâs just not so famous in his home city!
But thatâs something the 25-year-old from Maghull is planning to change.
Jack is hosting his own show, Jack Ryan â Live, in Frames Lounge in Walton in October.
âAnd Iâm just hoping that more Scousers get to know who I am,â smiles Jack. âI donât dream of being famous â although I wouldnât mind that â but Iâd love to do telly one day and be someone that people know, especially in Liverpool, my home city.
âI know it sounds cheesy, but I love making people laugh. Itâs the biggest buzz.â
Jack describes himself as an old-school comic with more than 10 yearsâ experience of performing his show. With a cheeky style and perfect timing, he spends a lot of time writing and putting together his act to suit his audience and heâs studied some of the comedy greats, like Bob Monkhouse â and even got tips and advice from another of his heroes, local legend âKingâ Ken Dodd.
âI met Ken a couple of times,â says Jack, âand he was great, a lovely man, taking time to talk to me and give me advice and tips.
âIt was a privilege to learn from one of the best and he taught me not to rush through my material but to take time, and to wait for the laughter â that I would get it.
âHe said that when I was getting a laugh then, the audience would know I appreciated it. And I do.â
Like most comics, Jack began making people laugh at school, Maghull High.
âI was the class clown, always making my fellow pupils laugh with the teacher often the focus (although that obviously didnât always go down as well with them as my classmates)! And when I started doing it on stage the reaction was amazing.
âWhen you tell a joke and get a laugh, itâs the best thing in the world.â
Life on board has obviously dried up for Jack a little over the last few months, with no ships embarking on their luxury voyages and clubs having to close during the pandemic.
âI have survived on savings although I was concerned,â admits Jack, âbut more than anything I missed being on stage.
âI have been doing stand-up since I was 16, doing the clubs in the UK and sportsmanâs dinners; in Benidorm and places like that and, then, the cruise ships. I wasnât sure about them at first, I thought it wasnât for me, but itâs been absolutely brilliant.
âI have travelled the world to exotic locations like the Caribbean and as far away as Australia â thatâs where I was when lockdown was imposed and I had to fly home.
âYou get on with the passengers, you get your own cabin, youâre driven and flown to and from the ship, do two shows in a week to audiences of 1100. It really is brilliant. I had to increase my act from 15 minutes to have three hours of material and I had to tailor it, especially for the Americans whoâd never heard of The Asda!â
Now though, Jack wants to make his mark on home territory.
âI was thrilled to be nominated in a list of the top 25 funniest Scousers,â says Jack, âbut still a lot of people donât know who I am. I want to change that.
âItâs unusual to host your own show and itâs a risk, youâve got to sell tickets and get the audience in, but I hope I can do that. Iâm very confident when Iâm on stage, but the âmeâ off it is a bit different.
âI do gags and one-liners and Iâm clean â but woe-betide anyone in the audience who stands up in their seat. I will use the audience in the act, but itâs all fun,â adds Jack, who last year supported Liverpool comic Frankie Allen whose act went viral last year.
âThe show Iâm hosting at Frames Lounge in Walton will be on October 3 and I am chomping at the bit to get back on stage.
âEveryone in Liverpool is a comedian, as they say, so I know it might be a tough crowd but Iâm so excited at the thought of cracking it at home, to have fellow Scousers know who I am – and following in the footsteps of one of my heroes, Doddy.â