One of the Udderbelly’s hot daytime tickets for this year, Ruby Wax combines comedy with campaigning for better understanding of issues around mental health. Herself a survivor of a mental breakdown Ruby teams up with friend and fellow survivor Judith Owen to create a ‘memoir’ of the triggers and manifestations of her illness.
This is an odd fit as the quirkiness of Ruby’s sharp talking comedy isn’t a comfortable fit with the strange blockings – she moves from drinking tea casually as people file in, then wheels herself around on an office chair, writes comments on an easel and generally upstages Judith who plays the piano and provides a charming but incidental sound track throughout. Judith finally gets a chance to show her funny side in the question and answer session at the end of the show.
In truth I liked the concept more than its actual execution and strangely don’t remember the message as clearly as I should a day or two later. The audience are clearly gagging for more information and reassurance about mental illness but it’s impossible for Ruby to do this in the10 minute Q&A so she directs them to a series of events which she is hosting at a later date.
Its fantastic that Ruby and Judith are bringing attention to mental health issues through the medium of entertainment but I do hanker for Ruby’s banter with Imelda Marcos, Roseanne Barr and Pamela Anderson! All potential mental health case histories in their own right I’m sure, but that’s what I call entertainment.
Show details: 4.10pm, Udderbelly Pasture, book tickets HERE.
Rating: 
Funny Women Team
