Comedy, Catholicism, and Choice: Roe v. Wade versus Katie heads to The Edinburgh Fringe

Ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe run, comedian Katie Boyle debuts Roe v. Wade versus Katie - a bold and unflinchingly personal show exploring abortion rights, Catholic guilt, love, and life in Trump’s America. With humour and honesty, Boyle sheds light on the realities of reproductive health and the power of telling your own story.

How would you sum up Roe v. Wade versus Katie?  

Roe v. Wade versus Katie is a comedy show about abortion rights, dating, love and immigrating to the states with some references to Irish history and folklore. It’s centered around my own experiences with abortion rights, St Brigid, dating an American whose family were republican, reconnecting with a childhood crush to an accidental unwanted pregnancy at 34 in Trump’s America,

What was it like writing a show that’s so personal and honest?

It is still quite scary in a way because I have to be so honest with my own experience with abortion which is such a divisive subject. 

Did growing up in Catholic Ireland shape your comedy, even before this show?

Definitely, we didn't have a proper sex education in my school, no one ever talked about female masturbation, even a period ad was banned in Ireland in 2020 so it shows there's still so much taboo around women's bodies and sexual health. There's a shame that still embodies a lot of us Irish, one of my first jokes I've kept in my last two specials is, 'I'm Irish Catholic which means I don't believe in God but I do believe in shame’, which is just a joke about how hard it is to shed the shame we have inherited from Catholicism. I do think religion can be beautiful but unfortunately in Ireland it was used to control and hurt women and men.

You’ve said this is the most open you’ve ever been on stage. Was that scary or freeing?

Yes because with every other joke or story the audience never fully know what’s real or not but with this they can be mad at me, not just at the art because I am saying in it: I had an abortion that I don’t regret. I have to be ok sharing it to make it funny not to say I'm trying to make abortions in general funny, I'm not, I'm trying to make the subject normalized and spread the education I didn’t have through comedy. I feel like through comedy and education we can hopefully rid some of the shame women feel around their abortions. The show is also meant to highlight it’s not some walk in a park to have an abortion so why any one would shame a woman for making a decision for her life after going through that, baffles me. And sure look as my dead Irish granny would say, ‘if you don’t laugh you’ll cry’. 

What’s been the most surprising response you’ve had from someone who’s seen the show?

Two Irish girls in NYC came up to me after the second attempt of this show and told me I should do it in Ireland which I was wary of but that gave me confidence. 

Conor McGregor saw a clip shared about the show from Ireland AM and called me Demonic so that's good because I literally can't stand anything he stands for.

What do you hope audiences take away?

Honestly just how easy it can be to end up in my situation. I thought it was crazy that in Ireland they interview you for the emergency pill but even with that not once did the pharmacist say I could be ovulating and it wouldn’t work, even after taking it the next morning within 8 hours. 

So for the show I’ve written all the funny moments trying to get the pill in an Irish pharmacy.

Most of the show is the funny stories that lead to the abortion but I also want to share what it was like to actually have an abortion and if people knew, I hope they wouldn't shame a woman. I think most people are ok hearing about abortion if the woman is upset and has regret and I want to amplify a perspective of no regret in the decision. I believe women need abortion while I also believe women use it as a last resort and I think it’s crazy that women commonly have to wrestle men into condoms and yet are blamed or accused of using abortion as contraception pre having sex, “oh cum in me! I’ll just go to the hospital, not eat for 24hrs, be put asleep, no sex, baths or pools for three weeks after, deal with the copious amount of shame!” Sorry sex isn’t that good that we would use abortion as a regular form of contraception. There’s not enough education on sex but all the blame on women. 

In my case I thought the morning after pill was the most effective, a nuclear bomb of contraception, if there was a movie about the creator our own Cillian Murphy would star in it, so I used it with my partner! I want to share that too so we can all learn about the effectiveness of the morning after pill. 

Katie Boyle will be performing Roe v. Wade versus Katie at Monkey Barrel – The Tron from 31^st July – 24^th August at 10:05pm. Tickets available HERE.