'Brutally funny, very clever, and a great writer'

Comedians have being paying tribute to former stand-up Gina Ryan, who has died at the age of 54. 

She passed away last Thursday, and her friend, and fellow comic, Marian Pashley broke the news to the wider circuit last night.

Pashley told how Ryan came to comedy via comic poetry, adding: 'In the later 1990s this became out of kilter and she evolved to be a pure stand-up, with great presence and great gags.  

'She stopped performing full time, around 2005 or so, but as is evinced by the responses on social media, is well remembered, as are many of her jokes.'

Comedians shared their memories after Pashley invited them to come forward on Facebook, saying: 'I strongly feel her career as a comedian should be remembered, and celebrated, as she was brutally funny, very clever, and a great writer.'

Robin Ince recalled: ‘Gina was fantastic. I had to follow her every night at the Big Value Comedy Show in Edinburgh, I never did as well as her, she was superb night after night. 

‘She had some of the most brilliantly dismissive putdowns when misogynistic men heckled her. Particularly fond of the way a persistent idiot at a gig in Milton Keynes wouldn't give up but in each return he was smaller than before, shrivelled and destroyed by the end. All it took was a wave of Gina's hand, she dismissed and crushed him each time…  This year was the year we were going to finally catch up again after too long, pandemic put pay to that. A really, really sad loss.’

Dominic Frisby added: ‘I’m so sorry to hear this and send much love. I did the Big Value Comedy Show with her in Edinburgh in 1999 and it became like Groundhog Day she stormed every night like clockwork. Acerbic as fuck. She was a true comic of the old school. My condolences to all her loved ones.’

Jeff Green wrote: ‘Very sad news. Sorry to hear this Marian. I remember our nights down the Comedy Caf, Gina was def a woman who held her own and although I didn’t know her deeply I always sensed she was a super smart, passionate and decent person

Mark Hurst added: ‘Sorry to hear this. A fixture at the Cafe back in the day, where we had many a post-gig natter. For some reason I always remember her proclaiming with annoyance, 'I've *so* lost my fags..' RIP Gina.’

George Egg said: ‘Oh my goodness that’s so sad. I remember her really fondly. Especially two trips from London to Norwich and back a month apart and both times the gig didn’t happen but we got paid. Such a joyful drive back both times.'

Comics also shared some of her favourite gags, including: ‘Men are like buses - you wait forever for one and then they’re shit’ and  ‘I came out to my father recently. I’m not a lesbian, he’s just a bigot with a weak heart.’

Before comedy, Ryan gained a degree in English literature at the University Of East Anglia before moving to London, being in a couple of  fledgling bands - 'a good songwriter, by all reports', Pashley recalls.

Ryan was most active on the circuit in the 1990s and early 2000s, and made a few TV appearances, including BBC One’s The Stand-Up Show, and developed a sitcom for Channel 4 about three ‘totally inappropriate’ female New Labour MPs in 1999, although it was never picked up.

As well as the 1999 Big Value show, she went to Edinburgh in 1996 as part of the Stand Up Women showcase.

Published: 25 Aug 2020