Author, actress, comedian, academic and honorary professor, Ruby Wax is deeply fascinated with the brain and it's inner workings.
“I was always interested in how the mind works. Always. That's how I started my life and then I thought, 'mindfulness, I don't have to be a neuroscientist,' but I could see how your mind works, a little bit. You know, we're still in the foothills,” Ruby says, reflecting on why she decided to pursue a Masters degree at Oxford in mindfulness based cognitive therapy. After completing her thesis, Ruby wanted to share her insights through her new show, 'Sane New World'.
“I like being informative and funny at the same time,” states Ruby. “I think part of it is understanding how the machine works. If you get a little tour of the inside equipment we all have, it's not so frightening. You understand why you have the voices, you understand why you flip out and can't think clearly. To me it's so comforting to understand that everyone has the same equipment and this is what happens when you go too far over the tipping point.”
Discussing some of the techniques she has learned over the course of her tertiary education, Ruby states, “we can individually take on and bring down the cortisol, there are ways to do it. Nothing is 100 percent, but just like when you get a six pack when you're doing physical exercises, there are things that are really interesting out there that might be able to, not get rid of it, but see it coming. Knowledge is power.
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“I did a show about mental illness a few years ago that was a comedy and I thought, 'well I need some more material. I want to do niche mental illness work,'” Ruby explains jokingly. “This show isn't really for the one in four with mental illness. I say this is for all of us.” For Ruby, 'Sane New World' is clearly a passion project. “This is my favourite thing I've ever done. This is the top of the tree, because even if nobody laughed, it's still really interesting and there's a big light show going on behind me that digitises what I'm talking about so, you know, if you don't like me, you'll love the lights,” says Ruby with a laugh. “You get people nodding their heads sort of indicating this is them too and that's really satisfying.”
Talking more specifically about mindfulness based cognitive therapy compared to other areas of psychology, Ruby explains, “it depends which one works for you. The only thing about mindfulness, and believe me, they're all after the same thing (I'm not an evangelist) is that I like the fact you don't have to pay for it, you can do it on your own. And I always say, being a Jew that's half the cure,” jokes Ruby. “You don't have to run to anybody at 2 o'clock in the morning and say, 'fix me!' It's an exercise. With cognitive behavioural therapy, you need to work with somebody and you might learn how to do it but you often times have to work with somebody else and pay them. But they're all going for the same thing.”
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As a comedian, Ruby flat out rejects the suggestion that mental illness is more present within the comedy community. “I think comedians are neurotic and narcissistic but it's one in four. How many people are actually that funny? To me it's like saying weather girls have shingles.” She also agrees that perhaps the reason why that perception exists is because comedians can speak more openly about mental illness compared to the average person. “Your job isn't on the line, you know, you're self-employed, because everybody else might find themselves out of a job if they spoke about it. It was easier for me because who's going to hire me? I wouldn't have said it while I was on TV because I would have been discriminated against, probably subtly.”
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Speaking very openly about her own struggles, Ruby has worked tirelessly to remove some of the stigma surrounding mental illness. “It's not politically correct to ostracise someone with a physical disability, well why do it with a mental one? It's just physical, if you carved open their brain you would see something malfunctioning. So why can they be treated as if they're sub-human?” asks Ruby.
Ruby Wax Tour Dates
25 - 26 March – QPAC Cremorne Theatre (Brisbane)27 March - 5 April – Arts Centre (Melbourne)
7 April – Canberra Theatre (Canberra)
8 April – Dunstan Playhouse (Adelaide)
9 April – Arts Centre Paradise Showroom (Gold Coast)
11 April – Seymour Centre, York Theatre (Sydney)
