Interview: Ruby Wax

Featured image: Ruby Wax (left) and Judith Owen. Photograph: Trevor Leighton. Courtesy of Arthur Leone PR.

Ruby Wax, the bombastic presenter, talk show host, and Comic Relief Does Fame Academy ‘sensation’, is now taking London and Edinburgh by storm with her show, Losing It, which featured on our Must See Theatre in London This Summer list. Losing It, in which Wax appears alongside singer Judith Owen, talks about living life with depression, an issue that is very close to the both performers’ hearts (Wax herself has bipolar disorder). We chatted to Wax in July ahead of her taking her show up to the Edinburgh Festival.

SSG: What’s Losing It about?

Ruby Wax: It’s about the fact the there’s no instruction manual about how you’re supposed to get through life. We’re all winging it; everybody only knows as much as the next guy does, and we have no idea. How are you supposed to know how to act when you grow up? Nobody gives you that information. Then gradually, I start to go talk about people that really can’t deal with a normal kind of malaise that we all go through. And then it goes into depression, but it’s all very comic. I take the audience on a rollercoaster ride. After the interval the audience talk. They’re very open because I’ve been open, and their stories are incredible.

Your show focuses on depression. Do you think that’s something that’s not talked about enough?

No. There’s still a stigma. People are fired from their jobs if the boss finds out they have it. A lot of people think you’re making it up because you can’t see anything – it’s the latest witch-hunt. The point is, it is physical. When you really have it, it’s not about being sad. Depression is not about singing the blues. It’s when you don’t know whether to have a manicure or jump off a cliff. People want a place to meet because people with mental health problems aren’t like alcoholics; we don’t have a place to meet. So as well as doing the show I open the theatre once a week where they can come in and I give them a brilliant speaker who can tell them where support is. And then I’m launching a website called www.blackdogtribe.com, which goes live in October, where you can meet your own people, your own tribe, and find out more about living with these kind of mental disorders. It’s one in four people that suffer, so it’s a pretty big population.

How long have you been doing the show now?

Well, it’s been running it for two years. We toured mental hospitals for a year for free, and they really liked it. And then the Menier Chocolate Factory really liked it.

Are you nervous about taking the show to Edinburgh?

No, not at all! I think it’s going to be really fun. I lived in Glasgow for three years and I’ve performed there a few times. My stuff goes down well in Scotland. I’m dark and so are they. We’ve got a lot in common and I get a really good reaction, because they’re smart.

Judith Owen joins you and adds a musical element to the show. How did you come to collaborate?

I used to go out with Harry Shearer who does the voices for The Simpsons and was in This Is Spinal Tap. Then she married him. When Judith and I met she told me how depressed she was. A depressive loves a depressive, so we bonded. Her music is unbelievable, but I hate cabaret. So she underscores what I’m saying. She’s playing while I’m talking, in a way, but I leave blanks for her. It’s a little like jazz. She’s doing the emotional part to what I’m talking about. Her music is pretty sensational.

And Thea Sharrock directs your show. What’s it like working with her?

She’s magnificent! She’s going to be the next great thing out of England. Alan Rickman used to direct my shows, then he couldn’t. So he bequeathed her to me.

So what was it like being on The Apprentice: You’re Fired?

You’re Fired is an opportunity to read into who the contestants really are. That’s really what I love; to try and figure out what’s sitting in front of me. I don’t really like panel shows where everyone is trying to out-funny the other guy. To me, this is really fascinating; when I can see the whites of their eyes, and I can see if they’re making up stuff, and when they’re bright, or bluffing.

And what did you think of The Apprentice as a show?

The premise of the show really scares me so much, because they’re acting like a rabbit in the headlights, so you’re not really seeing real people. It’s hard to distinguish who’s really good and who’s out of their mind with worry. I don’t think its how real business should be run, because this way you’re not going to get the best out of anybody.

Will we see you return to the more ‘traditional’ comedy circuit anytime soon?

I never really did stand-up, so that’s a hard one to answer. I think that I’m doing comedy now, but I’m doing it whilst speaking about stuff that’s relevant. I’m trying to do what George Carlin used to do, which is kind of speak the truth, rather than make some funny jokes about elephants.

And do you know any funny jokes about elephants?

[Laughs] I don’t know any. I used to get paid to chuckle about stuff I wasn’t really interested in; I don’t care about how fat everybody is etc; it just doesn’t hit me. Now I’m talking about things that interest me.

As an American who has made a career in Britain, do you think British comedy is different to American comedy?

It has to do with intelligence rather than country. There are people I could tell you who like Benny Hill, worldwide. And then there are other people who get The Office. That’s an intelligent show, and we get that in America. I really don’t think there’s a difference anymore. The references might be different, but people like Sasha Baron-Cohen are translatable anywhere.

And what’s your opinion about the comedy America is producing at the moment?

Well, there’s shite, and there’s great! But there’s nothing as great as 30 Rock. To me, nobody can top that.

So after Losing It, what’s next?

I’m currently studying at Oxford and they’re letting me do a show as part of my masters degree. It’s about how the brain works, and it’s going to be funny. I like this thing called ‘infotainment’ where people learn stuff, but it’s also very comic; like the way Bill Bryson does it.

And anymore celebrity reality TV shows?

I won’t go on one of those shows, unless it’s for Comic Relief. I’ll always do whatever Comic Relief ask me; then it’s ok to disgrace myself!

And finally, Starburst or Opal Fruits?

I’d would rather put a dog in my mouth than eat either!

Thank you very much for your time Ruby, and break a leg for the Edinburgh run.

Thank you very much, Take care. Bye bye.

Losing It is currently playing at the E4 Udderbelly, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL, until 29 August 2011. Tickets are £15-£17.50 (concessions available). To book call 0844 545 8252 or visit the official website.

The production will then transfer to the Duchess Theatre, London, WC2B 5LA, from 31 August 2001 until 1 October 2011. Tickets are £25-£29.50. To book call 0844 412 4659 or visit the theatre’s official website.