THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST - EP.90 - RUBY WAX

Episode Date: April 26, 2019

Adam talks with comedian, writer and recipient of an OBE for services to mental health, Ruby Wax, about panel show terror, awkward interviews and dealing with depression. Ruby also strongly objects to Adam's choice of gift.Thanks to Séamus Murphy-Mitchell for production support and to Anneka Myson for additional editing.Music and jingles by Adam BuxtonRELATED LINKSRUBY WAX: HOW TO BE HUMAN TOUR DATES 2019http://www.rubywax.net/tour.htmlFRAZZLED CAFÉhttps://www.frazzledcafe.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwtYXmBRAOEiwAYsyl3M3RWPs3rPIBrVQPZm4C4fpHXRlBqdUk8sYLKS0kwuHIdvAJdXTGmxoCkhoQAvD_BwERUBY & JIM CAREYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nplyLNYJERUBY & O.J. SIMPSONhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNaXht8PywRUBY & CARRIE FISHERhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XYV4vCzW7ARUBY & DONALD TRUMPhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpjQAwhWBCIRUBY & SANDRA BERNHARDhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Ei54XfciARUBY TALKS TO JO BRANDhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYQzjYpYIlMALISTAIR McGOWAN AND RONNI ANCONA AS RUBY & LOUIS THEROUXhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a8FFXKyxD8DR GLEN WILSON 1999 GUARDIAN ARTCILE https://www.theguardian.com/media/1999/jul/09/tvandradio.television1CYRIAK: LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE VIDEOhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLXaJRjC5CETHE ADAM BUXTON APPhttps://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-adam-buxton-app/id1264624915?mt=8ADAM BUXTON DVD/DOWNLOAD @ GO FASTER STRIPEhttps://www.gofasterstripe.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I added one more podcast to the giant podcast bin Now you have plucked that podcast out and started listening I took my microphone and found some human folk Then I recorded all the noises while we spoke My name is Adam Buxton, I'm a man I want you to enjoy this, that's the plan. Hey, how you doing, podcats? Adam Buxton here. Very nice to be with you. Oh, it's a beautiful evening.

Out here in the Norfolk countryside in late April 2019. It's windy but you may be able to hear the roar of the rush hour traffic out here near Norwich. Come on guys, get out of those metal coffins. Listen to Greta. Listen to Extinction Rebellion. Come and join me and Rosie and just smell the flowers. It's easy for you to say. They've got actual jobs they're going to and lives they've got to maintain, you stupid middle-class podcast puns. Whoa, all right, Rosie. I don't like it when you get all class war dog on me. Don't tell me you're a climate change denier. No, of course I'm

not. I'm just sick of your tone. My tone? Yeah, those dreadlocks you started wearing and you're always playing bongos. I find it offensive. Noted. Getting very chippy these days. Is this anything to do with that Easter egg you ate on the weekend? I don't want to talk about that i'm going gambling all right off you go have a nice gamble i think rosie may have eaten an easter egg a small one i don't know where she found it we did try and keep all the chocolate away from her because obviously the dog community don't get on well with chocolate and yesterday rosie was very jaded and had a couple of little possibly chocolatey pukes. I don't know. But hey, look, that's disgusting.

So let me tell you about podcast number 90, which features a rambling waffle fest with comedian, writer and holder of an OBE for services to mental health. True fact, Ruby Wax. Ruby was born in 1953 in Illinois, USA, but she grew up in Chicago. Her parents were Austrian Jews who left Austria in 1938 to escape the Nazis. In the 70s, Ruby moved to the UK and pursued a career as an actor. She joined the RSC, the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1978. And she met Alan Rickman, who she became friends with.

And Alan Rickman ended up directing many of Ruby's comedy stage shows. In the 80s, Ruby joined forces with comedy titans Tracy Ullman, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders for the flat-sharing sitcom Girls on Top. And Ruby would later appear in and script edit Jennifer Saunders' show Absolutely Fabulous. Towards the end of the 80s, Ruby became better known as a chat show host and as a presenter of a variety of offbeat documentaries and she enjoyed huge success and award glory with her 90s tv shows the full wax and ruby wax meets in which she interviewed all the most fun people of the time you remember emelda Marcos, OJ Simpson, Pamela Anderson, Sarah Duchess of York, and Donald Trump. Ruby's interviewing style was characterized by some people at the time as, and I quote, intrusive, obnoxious, and irritating. That's quoting from a headline on a 1999 Guardian article by psychologist Glenn Wilson.

Dr Glenn Wilson, I don't think he thought that Ruby was intrusive, obnoxious or irritating, but he was acknowledging that some people did. He thought that she was a startling combination of quick brain and loose mouth. With wax, he continues, there is absolutely no line drawn between thoughts and words. If it enters Ruby's mind, within a fraction of seconds, it tends to come out of her lips. By the end of the 90s, Ruby had experienced several severe bouts of depression, and her 2002 memoir called How Do You Want Me was candid about the experiences both in her childhood and her adult life that contributed to her struggles with mental health. Ruby's 2010 stand-up show Losing It

dealt with her clinical depression head-on and as well as earning a master's degree in mindfulness based cognitive therapy from Oxford University and being awarded that OBE in 2015 for her services to mental health. Ruby is now the author of several books that promote better mental health awareness and an understanding of the human brain. These include Sane New World from 2013, A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled from 2016, and her latest, How to Be Human, a manual,

out now in paperback from Penguin Live. My conversation with Ruby was recorded at her West London home in March of this year, 2019, and we talked a bit about various aspects of her career and her ongoing quest to better understand the workings of the human brain with the concept of neuroplasticity i.e the brain's ability to change during a person's life popping up a few times in the conversation you will also hear how ruby responded when i mentioned the name louis theroux, she didn't respond well.

And towards the end of our conversation, you will discover why Ruby hated the gift I bought her so much that she demanded it was put in the bin and left there. I tried to take it away with me, but she wanted me to leave it in the bin. None that by the way is to suggest that ruby was anything other than charming funny and very interesting company i'd never met her before and it was a real pleasure i had a good time but we started by talking about the fact that ruby will be visiting this part of the world norwich later this year in september along with her housemate monk and mindfulness teacher gilong tubten and the neuroscientist dr ash rampura as part of ruby's how to be human tour she's touring around the country now in fact the tour kicked off this week on the 24th of april 2019 there are links in the description of this podcast to tour dates and

various videos that we mention, interviews that we mention in this podcast and other bits and pieces. I'll be back for more stodgy waffles after my chat with Ruby Wax. Here we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the show you're going to be doing in Norwich and when? Sometime in September, my tour starts with The Monk and the Neuroscientist. Yeah. Because my book is How to Be Human, the manual. And they come in at the end of each chapter. And our relationship is, well, we've married now.

And I always say we met on Tinder, but we didn't. And The Monk lives here in my house. Does he still? Yeah. Oh, okay. He travels the world. He's a friendly face of mindfulness. And his mom's a comedian. Yeah.

She was the woman on The Kumars, but not Mira Sial. So he's English. He's funny. He just happens to be a mindfulness teacher. And he wears the robes, so when he sits there on that red sofa, I can't see him. He's incognito. And I like to bring my friends over to gradually they realize there's a monk in your living room. Anyway, so they helped write the book and they're funny and really smart. How was it that you came to know him and have him living here? I heard him at a conference somewhere in Sweden. And he was so good and so funny and so on it, and scientific, because if I don't smell it or I don't see it, I'm not buying.

The minute I saw him speak, it came out of my mouth. I said, would you move in with me, which is an odd thing to say to a monk. And so he did. And the happiest time of my life, it's like having a scented candle. Yeah. He's not here now because, you know, he's in demand. He's doing other monkey business. He does monk stuff. Yeah. 50 shades of red. But wasn't there something in you that was a little suspicious when he said, yeah, sure, I'll move in? He didn't say

it like that. He made me beg. You know, he said, oh, I have places to stay and blah, blah. And then I said, well, just try it out. And then I locked him in for a while and he got used to it. Didn't he, sorry to be so literal about this, but didn't he suspect that there was some ulterior motive, that there was some agenda? Well, he knows that I studied mindfulness at Oxford, you know, so it's not like, I don't know what he does. You know, these are my rock stars. So neuroscientists and monks, where I could talk mind, if they were at a table and there was a celebrity, I would be crawling toward the neuroscientist.

And they know it. It's thrilling when Tupton, you know, both of them are, I'm not saying Oxford has to be smart, but, you know, they both got their PhDs. So I like that banter. And then Tupton's life story is sensational. Oh, shit. Stop it!

Look. What's your cat's name, Ruby? Socks. And he knows that I'm being interviewed, and he'd like to be interviewed, too. We can totally talk to you if you want, Socks. Oh, no, he's been in films. Look, he's working his way to the mic. Socks does very much seem to be.

He does match the mic. He might mount it. Advertising the fact that he's available yeah yeah uh hello socks has come over to me and is now sat down in makeup looking at me yeah he knows hello socks i don't know any cats really socks i only know a dog rosie is the dog i live with and i was just listening to your show on Audible and I was listening to you talking to a doctor all about, he's a sort of nutritionist guy and he's talking about microbes. Oh, Tim Spector.

Tim Spector. Yeah. And he was talking about all the... Come on, Adam, get to what he was talking about. Well, he was saying that it's nice to live with a dog because you get a bit of dog germs. He was saying that it's nice to live with a dog because you get a bit of dog germs. He was saying other things too. He was also promoting the benefits of smearing vaginal secretions on a baby soon after they're born, i.e. babies that are not born vaginally.

Don't have the bacteria. Yeah. Yeah. So the show you're doing in Norwich though, this is you and your two pals. Well, I do the first half because it's comedy. And we've done it about 60 times already and then in the second half because i say okay now stuff i got confused because my whole show is i like to do what bill bryson does is you take what i find the

most interesting thing on earth which is what are we you know what are thoughts how do you pick the people you pick how did we get like this? What did evolution do? Was it meant to screw us up? How come the thoughts? What are thoughts? You know, what's the future? So in the second half, they come out and the audience really love because one's an expert on the science of the mind and the other one says where it is. They're funny with it, but it's what I wanted to know. And then the audience can ask questions. And where did you meet? Tupdin, I met in Sweden and took him home. Tupdin's a monk. Tupdin's a monk and the neuroscientist is? He's a professor at Yale. He's really young. He's good

looking, but don't tell him. And he's a neuroscience and a neurobiologist and he's a microbiologist. So you're getting the full whack. And when I ask him a question, he doesn't have to look it up. And I say, what are you looking at on the computer? And it'll be lawnmowers. You know what I mean? He hardly concentrates. Just multitasking.

But when you ask him something, it's bingo. People like that are amazing. How is your sort of recall, mental recall? I have no mental recall, so I depend on the kindness of a monk and a neuroscientist. None. I was asked to go on Question Time, and I said, you don't understand. I don't know anything. I feel like that, too.

No, ask me any question about history. Any. Just ask me. I won't know. How about, when did Columbus sail the ocean blue? 1492. There you go. Okay, that's it.

Come on, you're completely on top of a very significant event. That's all, who won wars, no idea. Yeah. Uh-uh. No, I feel the same way. I really do. You don't. I do.

Are you asked to go on those shows where you're supposed to know something? No, they learned their lesson. I once went on Have I Got News For You. Oh. And it was a terrible nightmare. Do you have sweat running down you? Because I've had that flop sweat. Yeah, oh, mate, yeah. I'm a news for you. Oh. And it was a terrible nightmare. Do you have sweat running down you? Because I've had that flop sweat. Yeah.

Oh, mate, yeah. I'm a sweaty man anyway. So I at least knew to wear a black shirt. Right. So that. The stains wouldn't show. Yeah. Yeah.

When you try to be funny and you say things that everybody looks, because guys pretend, yeah, we're nervous too. We don't know what we're saying. Then they get out there and it's like pit bull fighting and you're in the corner going yeah i know what a house plant is not funny at all and you know it yeah i've got exactly i'm surprised that you feel like that though i would i don't know anything but if i study let's say i got interested in the mind, I became obsessed. So I zeroed in on it and, you know, got myself a master's. But I'm stupid outside of that. So that's it.

Neurosciences, that's it. For me, it's all, if I want to talk about anything in that way, there has to be a lot of prep. And then I'll be okay, you know what I mean? But I can't go into anything cold. I occasionally do a show called 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Count. That's a brilliant show. You know what I mean? But I can't go into anything cold. I occasionally do a show called Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Count. That's a brilliant show.

Are you funny on it? I can't watch TV shows because it upsets me. Yeah, it's too stressful. I agree. I don't really watch it go out. So I couldn't tell you. Do you do it all the time? No, I've done it a handful of times.

It's one of the only shows I'll do because I know a lot of the people that work on it and they're nice. I've worked with them before. And also they put me in what they call dictionary corner, which means that I don't have to do the gladiatorial bit. Right. I don't have to do banter. I don't have to come up with stuff. I'm not part of the game. What are you doing there? So like three times in the show, they will hand over to me and say, what have you got for us? And so I'll just do a little bit that I've pre-prepared.

Right. Okay. And generally the bits go fine. I mean, I really put a lot of time into preparing them. I bet you do. And then after the bit has finished, Jimmy Carr, the host will sort of try and banter with me a little bit. But you won't do it. And I'll try, but it'll, it'll be awful. Right. And the audience immediately chills. Yeah. You can feel it. You can feel they go like animals about to eat some prey because they smell your fear. Yeah, exactly. They smell it.

Exactly. They don't like it. And I was thinking, like, the last time I did it was just last week, and I was looking at the other comedians on there, just thinking, how do they do it? What is it about those kinds of people where they just seem to be so effortlessly funny? Easy, and they're hilarious.

Yeah, Alan Carr and Catherine Tate was on there. Maybe they're on beta blockers or Xanax. Well, they just don't seem to hate everything that comes out of their mouth in the way that I do. Yeah, I can relate. You know what I mean? Yeah, I feel like I'm home. Did you ever listen to your voice? Yeah, well, I've been on the radio a lot.

Do you listen? Yeah, because I also edit this podcast. Oh, my God. So you'll have to hear me. No, that'll be the fun part. I like other people. I like listening to other people. I don't like listening to myself very much, but it's got easier over the years. Don't you find it? I used to edit all my shows. Right. All of them because I didn't trust anybody else. So I watched it, you know, and I tell them because I was a control freak. Yeah.

In, out here, in, out. But I was concentrating on the comedy. Right. And cutting when I looked embarrassed. Yeah, exactly. So it made me now look cocky and obnoxious because every line is full of confidence. They don't know 20 I was already throwing up in the loo. Yeah.

Yeah. I love your face so Like a painting by Picasso The eyes to the right The nose to the left Other faces make me border But your features are all in a nice Order

Order Now we have a friend in common, which is Clive Tullow, who worked with you quite a bit, right? 25 years. Yeah. I made that man. And now, nothing. Clive now has a production company called Burning Bright, which made a show called Bug that I did for Sky Atlantic a few years back. that I did for Sky Atlantic a few years back.

But he was your producer on a lot of shows where you would go and meet celebrities and you kind of... No, I did documentaries first, which was my love. And then they said, oh, why don't you do celebrities? So I thought it was going to be temporary. And then they cut me off of my favourite food, which was documentaries. What sort of documentaries were you making? Oh, with the Cool Clucks Clan. And then I did snake worshiping in Alabama,

where in church they throw cobras at each other while they're playing hillbilly music, because they took it literally, how the serpent will not bite you if God loves you. So a lot of them were missing their fingers. And they had pet cockroaches. I did the hardcore stuff. I loved it. Yeah. I mean, you were a sort of a, um, a Louis Theroux. I knew you were going to say that. Well, I know. I knew you were going to say that. So,

and can we not discuss it? Because everything I did, well, a lot of it he took. So, and I've moved on. I have a new career, career but i if you say that word to me i'll vomit okay okay i mean i've evolved right but there's still a little bit of anger really so it was a little bit like travis um the band travis and then coldplay came along and suddenly everyone just sort of yeah and they said oh yeah are you imitate and don't even talk about it it makes me sound but that's that's good. Yeah, are you imitating? Don't even talk about it. It makes me sound. But that's stupid, though, because you're different. Because I remember back in the day,

John Ronson, the journalist, was also irritated by Louis and felt that they were being, you know, he was irritated by comparisons, which I never got because I thought, you know, in a very... Yeah, but that career has gone on and on. And if I had not reinvented, it would be a kick in the face. You know, nobody likes to be replaced. But I don't think anyone ever thought of you as being replaced.

You did the kind of... You clearly blazed that trail and then you moved on to other things. No, I did move on. And better I moved on then, like leave the party before it leaves you. Because you would have left at some point. You know, only men can work until they're hideous. Whereas women, you know, the first sign of a, you know, you're out of there. That is sadly still the case.

I know, but I'm not going to be. Although it's going to be changing, don't you reckon? Oh, you think? Yeah, because we're having facelifts. Because we're having a revolution, Ruby. Yeah, well, I'll be dead by the time. having facelifts because we're having a revolution ruby yeah well i'll be dead by the time but still i mean i'm not going on is that all these obstacles i don't want to be a cliche but i said in my show you know what made me smart was that i know how to fail i know how to fail you know you know it

doesn't get any easier but um like i i can take humiliation and work around it it doesn't kill me that i know that there's a great expression that at a certain age you either turn into wine or vinegar and so i had to marinate really quickly but you've turned into something totally different though yeah but only through adversity i wouldn't know yeah but that's how most people do anything worthwhile isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Who wants to be just carrying on doing the same old shit for their whole career? Yeah, I was already losing my mojo, you know. At a certain age, you're not zany anymore.

It must have been very stressful doing those shows, wasn't it? Well, I was having so much fun. I didn't care. You know what I mean? I was young enough, and I got to stay in really nice hotels, and Clive was hilarious. So the guests were not the important one. It was really, back then, I was always into psychology. So I'd study them underneath the laughing, you know, ha-ha. But I'd get to put a Rubik's cube together as to what made them what.

And that was my kick. That's why I didn't want to go on and on because they're pretty similar. So this we're talking, you started doing those kinds of shows towards the end of the 80s? No, the celebrities were the 90s and 2000s. Right. There you go. And you talked to, well, just talking of Clive, another innovation from that show was having your producer be on screen with you. Yeah. I don't think anyone had done that before as well. No. And that worked really nicely.

Yeah. Like when we did Tom Hanks. Clive, can you imagine, he's a producer. He was dying all night because I said, you'll meet Tom Hanks in the hallway and you'll tell him that something's really wrong with me and that he's supposed to laugh at everything I say. So Tom Hanks comes in and I did say something and he became hysterical, but I forgot I said that. So you watch the ego get bigger and bigger. Like now I think, all I said was my necklace had like a cock's head on it, you know, a chicken head. Well, he was on the floor, but he does it so well. Because I knew you couldn't do a straight interview with him.

You know what I mean? So you have to play. And while I was interviewing him, we had Clive in the background stealing the soap. And then when I did Jim Carrey, you can see it on YouTube, I knew don't do a straight interview. He'd done a thing all day where he talks to one journalist. I said, I'm on my knees. My children need the food. Just be really funny. And so to do that, you have to be funny. You know, like people go make me laugh. Well, I worked it, you know, worked it until he was so crazy.

He said, we're in the Dorchester that he could do a magic trick where we had big silverware on the table that he could pull the tablecloth out and nothing would spill. And it was really expensive. So I went behind a sofa, some instinct, and he pulled it out and the ceiling was damaged. That's how much crap went everywhere. So the rest of the show he spent on his hands and knees trying to get it off. Have you watched the documentary about Jim Carrey

doing the Andy Kaufman film? Yeah. He's got a genius in him. Yeah. Yeah. But were you thinking, like, from a psychological point of view, that's pretty fascinating viewing, didn't you think? Yeah, but he was such a persona.

As you get older, that persona cracks. That's why I think a lot of older comedians you know who play younger like idiots have heart attacks because you're not fitting it's like your skin got tighter but you're growing so i expected him to crack and of course now i think he's into mindfulness they either go that way or an institution yeah yeah um and do you remember all your celebrity encounters no i never watch them you don't no carrie fisher became my best friend for 30 years so that was worth the whole thing yeah she seemed like an amazing person i was a genius i watched the documentary about her i can't watch that it is very emotional i obviously don't know her at all didn't know her

but um yeah the fact that she ended up living so close with her mother and they had this very strange, stressful, but ultimately very close relationship is very touching. Yeah, she seemed extraordinary. Extraordinary, yeah. And what would you talk about with Carrie? We'd riff. We'd just riff.

I think I was her feed a lot of the time. And then at some point she'd pass out. I think I was her feed a lot of the time. And then at some point, she'd pass out. I think it was certain medications. And I'd think, what did I say wrong? And I'd ask people, I said, is this story funny? I said, because she'd fall asleep in mid-flow. But we loved each other and we traveled a lot. We went to Thailand and Utah and she could make me die laughing. How about O.J. Simpson? Not funny. Not funny. And, again, surprised that he tried to kill me with a banana. Yeah, that became a sort of key,

almost incriminating piece of evidence that at one point he... So this was 98, I think, was it? Yeah, maybe. Shortly after the trial and his acquittal. And we did the interview in a white truck that we just, the same one he escaped in. Right. And then I'd call restaurants and say, a table for two, and they'd say, what name?

And I'd say, OJ Simpson. And he just, they just hung up. Uh-huh. But. Yeah, at one point he sort of, he grabs a banana and he sort of. Tries to kill me with it. In a comedic way, mimes stabbing you. From Psycho, going, ee, ee, ee, yeah.

But it's obviously a very chilling moment. No, because I know the camera crew's there and I'm thinking, bingo, that's a good shot. Yeah. And then his idiot, sorry, his agent the next day said, oh, OJ was just kidding around. I said, well, what was he doing? He said, get this one. I can't make this up., well, what was he doing? He said, get this one. I can't make this up. He said, he likes to imitate films.

Thinking psycho. I said, what film was that? And he said, Cats. Okay, A, it wasn't a film. And B, where does a banana come into Cats? Maybe he's thinking that cats go, ee, ee, ee. Oh, I never thought of that. I never thought of that. I never thought of that.

I don't know. I'm trying to give OJ the benefit of the doubt. Oh, please do. Because he hasn't had enough of that so far. No, no, no. Did you go into that thinking, I'm going to be interviewing a guilty man? No, I don't really think like that.

I don't pass judgment. You know, I keep my mind open. Sure. Because otherwise they smell it. Right, right. So even when we went by Judge Ito's house and he screamed asshole out the window, you'd think, well, he's got a sense of humor. Yeah. And then his agent said, oh, he could tell me where the knife is, you know, for a certain amount of money.

Oh, they were a good pair. Is that real, Melody? Oh, they were a good pair. Did you see it? Have you got it? Where's my charger gone? Where's my phone charger? The battery's about to die. It was on the table. Round and round in their heads go the chord progressions, the empty lyrics,

and the impoverished fragments of tune, and boom goes the brain box. At the start of every bar, at the start of every bar, boom goes the brain box. When you talk about neuroplasticity, you talk about the idea that you don't have to characterize yourself as, oh, I'm a negative person or I'm a catty person. You can reinvent yourself at any point. At any point. Was that something that you did? Because I'm thinking like when I used to watch you on TV, sometimes it would be uncomfortable because you would be very spiky and edgy with people. You would be deliberately needling them and trying to get something out of them. I remember you talked to Sandra Bernhardt, the comedian. And I'm sure she was on board because she herself has got that same sort of edginess about her personality. No, she hated me.

Oh, really? That wasn't my fault. She really hated me. A few of them did, like Don King, you know, he was a killer too. And Burt Reynolds didn't like me much. They really didn't like me. But sometimes you have to love people to play, what is it, fencing with them? Because I edited it so you don't see the whole me yapping and the day goes by. Because I used to stay three days, so it looks like I'm being quite abrasive. Whereas

that was just time smashed together. You can really tell. Like with Trump, that was a terrible interview because I'm asking dumb questions because he scares me so much. And when people time smashed together. You can really tell, like with Trump, that was a terrible interview, because I'm asking dumb questions because he scares me so much. And when people scare me, it's like on those talk shows, it can't make sense. So I asked dumb questions. It's still visually, I guess, interesting, but I could have hung him with what he told me when we weren't in range. Where did you meet Trump? On his plane at 33,000 feet. And then he said he wanted to be president of the United States, so I started laughing. And he said, land the plane, I want her out of here.

But you got on Trump's plane. How did he let you on the plane? Well, the interview was set up. He didn't know who I was. And as soon as I opened my mouth, he said, get off. I had said a couple of things that were dumb because I could have just said, oh, tell me more about yourself. But I attacked him because he scared me.

Do you remember what you said to him? Stupid, stupid, moronic, not funny. Yeah. Again, talk show. So who are you dating? You know, so you could see him register, oh, I'm with an idiot. Then he said, get her off the plane. And I thought I'd throw me off too. But he's terrifying.

He is terrifying. Terrifying. Because it's pure self-belief. And that's my definition of mental illness. When you don't doubt yourself. Right. Yeah. Is that a definition shared by? No, probably not. They say like neurotics think they're right, but psychotics know they're right. But yeah, neuroplasticity is wherever you focus your attention defines who you are in your life.

So if you're always looking for the perpetrator, if you see yourself as a victim, that's, you know, you set up that cycle because it's better the devil you know even humiliation becomes addictive and if you want to change it you have to do it intentionally so I had to really reroute my brain and I did it by going to Oxford and then studying you know it's not for everybody I studied mindfulness which I don't like that, but I understand it's training your brain. And what's great is the neuroscientists, or pretty much most neuroscientists, if you put somebody in a scanner, that's why I was interested in going to Oxford, is that now you can see a brain. When I really was interested many years ago, you couldn't see one that was alive.

So I'm not practicing unless I see the six pack. And sure enough, that's neuroplasticity at work. Intentional neuroplasticity. Your brain's changing every second. But you're repeating your habits, whereas I intentionally broke my habits. And that watershed for you was when you suffered particularly bad depression around 2010? Yeah. But you'd been depressed 2010? Yeah. Yeah.

But you'd been depressed before? Yeah, yeah. Yes. So it was just another one. Right, okay. But then I didn't have a career, so there was no safety net. Okay. Yeah.

When did you first in your life start thinking, oh, I suffer from depression? Oh, nobody knew when I was a little kid, but nobody knew what it was. It just feels like part of your body is awake and the other part's asleep. So you feel like you've been drugged. So they thought it was mono and glandular fever. Carrie used to say, I'd say maybe it was Epstein-Barr. And she'd, yeah, she called it Epstein-Barr and grill. But, and I had blood tests, but only much later said they said you have depression

what do we call it in the uk mononucleosis we call it yeah well it's grand yeah yeah there you go yeah yes which is one of those sort of uh nebulous conditions that they they're never quite sure why you've got it oh it's viral though is it yeah it's viral though, is it? Yeah, it's viral. Right. Okay. Yeah. It's not like me. No. Okay. Yeah. I'm in the process of writing at the moment about my life for a sort of not really a proper memoir, but you know, some of it is anecdotal and right. So I'm going through old diaries and photographs and remembering things. And the process is frequently unsettling to say the least, like traumatic sometimes, you know, to think back over your life in that way. When you wrote your memoir, was it difficult? I mean, did you enjoy the process?

My parents were always the, you know, gave me great lines because you didn't even have to edit them. They were just insane the minute they came out of their mouths. You couldn't make them up. Run with the hyenas, you know, or whatever. at him. They were just insane the minute they came out of their mouths. You couldn't make them up. Run with the hyenas, you know, or if civilized people don't bring sand in a building. When she was behind me on a shag pile carpet cleaning the floor, because I had to take showers outside of our house, not bring the crumbs in. Crumbs were her nightmare. So I could remember the stories of my mom. And she was obsessive compulsive. Is that right? Well, she won the award. She had everything. But nobody again knew what it was. The police would come over after she'd have one of her screaming fits and say, in Chicago,

you know, your mom's having a change of life. And I go, yeah, but she's been having it for 87 years. They were trying to, you know, say she's menopausal. She's nuts. So I had that. But I really couldn't remember. You know, when you're traumatized as a kid, you don't remember anything. So I didn't really have a lot of detail. It's blank.

And your parents, I mean, they were themselves traumatized by events. Yeah, so they passed it. Yeah. Not on purpose. And what was it that happened to them? What was their experience? How did they come to be in America? Oh, they never told me, you know, and then I did,

who do you think you are? Because my parents never mentioned anything. Never. And then they took me to Vienna and they showed me where my dad, he did tell me he was in prison as an aerobics teacher. And it turned out the guy, historian, said, no, they were making Jews jump up and down like rabbits to humiliate them. And when the older ones fell over, they beat him. So my dad probably picked him up, you know, because he was so young. And then he got out of Vienna by taking an airplane from Vienna to Brussels. Now, where'd he get the money? Nobody took airplanes. Then he got

to Brussels and he stows away on a ship going to America. And the guy said, how does your dad get on a ship? And then how does he get off one? And then, you know, in America. And then my mom was this beauty. I didn't know that. And she went to university and studied classics and spoke seven languages and majored in economics. And she was a serious babe. Of course, the woman I met was insane. And then my great, great aunt, great, great, great, great aunt were all insane. They told me they were mentally ill and showed me their institutions. And you found all this out just doing that show, did you? How would I know? Oh, man.

Yeah. They literally never talked about their past? Nothing. I knew they were from Vienna because they spoke like this. Sorry. So there was a clue they weren't American. Yeah. But I didn't know how they got out.

Because your surname originally is spelled W-A-C-H-S. Yeah. But nothing was American. Yeah. But I didn't know how they got out. Because your surname originally is spelt W-A-C-H-S. Yeah. Yeah. But nothing was mentioned. Yeah. God. And what was that? How was it for you finding that stuff out when you were doing that show? Every night afterwards, I buy myself a pair of shoes online. That was my reward. I'd like you to go in my closet and have a look. They're all from China, so they weren't expensive, but I'd focus my brain. I'm on medication, so a lot of it doesn't hit really hard. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. On the positive side, it must have made sense of a lot of the experiences you'd had with your parents because they were- Well, I could see what they passed. Not that genetics determines everything, but my dad passed his fury.

My mother passed her hysteria. I could have gone that way. I could have been a comedian or a serial killer. I really was imbued, and I didn't have any brothers and sisters. He always said, you're going to end up a heroin addict. You're going to be insane like your mother.

And maybe he was right. But you were sort of quiet and timid for a while until you suddenly discovered your comedy gene. Well, see, if I didn't have it, I would have gone insane. Right. But every time I came from Chicago, I'd get off the bus at the Hilton and I'd walk around the corner and I'd go to Alan Rickman's house. And he was with Rima. And I do a monologue for four hours to tell what happened in Chicago, the torture, and then they put me to bed.

So then Rickman said, you should write shows like this. How did you get to know Alan Rickman? He was at the Royal Shakespeare Company with me. Right. Yeah. And how did you get to be at the RSC? Nobody understands. Friends of mine say there's two mysteries.

One was who shot Kennedy, and two was how did you get into the Royal Shakespeare Company? Yeah. But you wanted to be an actor then, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. Rather than a comedian. I didn't know what comedians were.

Okay. I mean, I knew there was, I grew up with, you know, all those Jews, Bob Hope and Dick Van Dyke. There you go. Sid Caesar. And who's the one that does the Jewish jokes? Oh, Jackie Mason. Jackie Mason. All of those I grew up with, but I didn't think I could be one. Was Joan Rivers on the scene? She was the first woman.

Yeah. And you presumably admired her. Oh, she was brilliant. And she had to do that kind of self-deprecating humor, which I didn't really like. And do you know who Henny Youngman is? I know the name. He started the joke, waiter, there's a fly in my suit. Oh, yeah. And my dad knew a friend of his. So we all went out for dinner.

And my dad said, she wants to be a comedian. And I was, again, I couldn't speak. be a comedian. And I was, again, I couldn't speak. And Henny Youngman came and hit me on the head and said, maybe she should try to get a job in PR. And then many years later, I was in the Montreal Festival doing comedy. It wasn't very good. But he was, Henny Youngman was doing the emceeing. So as I went off, I slammed him in the head. You and Joan Rivers seemed to get on well when you interviewed her. Oh my God. Yeah. She was fantastic. That was cool because it seemed to be like... We were riffing. Yeah. And you had a similar sort of thing going on and maybe you could imagine that psychologically you were coming from similar places. Would that be fair?

Yeah. Sometimes you can smell somebody of your species, like Carrie and funny Roseanne Barr. Right. Yeah, and Sandra Bullock and Bette Midler. Something's going on underneath that you're completely connected. You know, you get that cha-cha rhythm. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 to come back to the neuroplasticity thing it just seems so much at odds with a lot of what's online at the moment with people being, especially in the digital age where your whole life is lived and there's a record of it,

people going back to things that other people said and did when they were 15 or whatever, when in a way you're kind of insane anyway, you know, because all the chemicals are still in flux. You haven't really settled on a proper functioning personality. Your whole existence is defined by testing boundaries and saying and doing the wrong things. Definitely. Again, I think people should learn about teenage brains. Yeah. Because you were one. It's like shouting at a baby to stand up on all twos. It can't happen until the brain develops certain areas.

Right. They have to take risks. So it just seems colossally unfair to me that people can be vilified for, you know, offensive things they said in those days. Do they do that? Yeah, it happens all the time. Oh, wow. You mean they'll say, oh, 10 years ago you said this? Yeah. They'll call up a tweet and say, look at this. Oh, my God. You racist piece of shit or whatever. And it's usually for some. Yeah. I'm not saying it's like a brilliant comment. Obviously, it's something that they should probably have apologized for. But I don not saying it's like a brilliant comment. Obviously, it's something that they should probably have apologized for. But I don't think it's something that indicates that this person is necessarily a horrible bigot.

You know, I mean, we're all struggling with prejudices that we try and manage in one way or another, you know. Well, we are. We're natural born bigots. And so neuroplasticity, again, is understanding it. Don't kick your ass about it. But we're born with biases. So you practice how to hold the rein because you're wrong. We look at somebody, like I'm even looking at you, and you remind me of somebody. Now I'm treating you that way. Then I get pissed off that you're not that person. And you don't even know

I've done this. No question do you remind me of somebody? Is it Harrison Ford? Yes. Thanks. Yeah. And how was it for you then being the kind of person because I empathize with you, most, especially with the, you know, panel show thing. I haven't really met anyone else who flopped agrees with me in that way. I'm sure you didn't flop but i did i flopped just that feeling of just don't even remind me my rectum is shut now remembering yeah in a corner and going to people going was i good and you know it was a mess the worst thing is when they try they don't ask you back they don't ask you back sure but the faint praise immediately afterwards.

Oh, that was really good. Their voices are pitched too high. Oh, no, that was great. I remember my agent saying, this is on Have I Got News For You. She was like, no, it was fine. And you looked really good. Yeah, that's great. That's great.

You looked really good in the monitors. Thanks very much. I did a charity for, I swear to God, I was talked into it, building playgrounds in Russia. Yeah. It was run by that model that looks like, you know, Herzegovia or whatever. Yeah. And I got talked into doing that.

I'm in a room full of oligarchs and I'm saying things like, did anybody see some laundry, you know laundry left? Because my family had to flee pretty quickly. And then a menu saying, these are other areas you've built playgrounds in Russia. And I just made it up. I went onks, schnutz, tefach, loch. I went on for 20 minutes pretending. When I say I died, but I didn't care. So I saw the necks turning away in disgust at me, but nobody was watching. And then when Herzegovia, I introduced her, and here she is, the woman who made this possible. She stood up and she kept going and going. And when she got to her full height, I said, you look like a fucking pig. Nothing. Nothing. And then I introduced Paloma Faith. That was her first, probably first gig. And

we were both sick in the bathroom. I had a disease and she didn't. So I said, and I'd like to introduce Paloma Faith, who has really bad diarrhea. And she came out. I was hated beyond hated. Why did you tell Eva, that's a girl, but she looked like a pig? Because I knew it was funny. Yeah. Nobody thought it was funny. You look like a fucking pig. That's what came out. Now, I thought I'd get a lot of laughs.

I mean, that is an edgy gambit, I would say. Sometimes it goes so badly that it sort of imbues you with this crazy confidence. Yeah. I'm amused. Crazy confidence. Yeah. Like, do you ever watch the sort of presidential roast they do at the correspondence dinner? Do you know the thing I mean?

Yeah, I know. That's always fairly uncomfortable. And especially when you've got Trump there. Well, there was the Obama one where Obama was teasing Trump. Oh, you remember that. Yeah, it was brilliant. It was brilliant. teasing Trump, who was in the audience. Oh, you remember that. Yeah, it was brilliant.

It was brilliant, but it was also sort of, it's horrible to look back on because Trump was so humorless and so angry, clearly. It felt as if he was stewing and he was going, you wait. Yeah. And then it was like- Well, he's stewing the whole time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Horrible. Anyway, the reason I started talking about that again was because I wonder how you got on then as a parent. When were your children born? When was the first one born? In the late 80s.

Okay, right. Yeah. So you were having to deal with teenagers when you were also dealing with depression at some point. Yeah, but I had the kind of depression that was once every few years. Oh, right. So Ed would say she's in a coma or somewhere, and then he'd deal with it. Not until they were 16 could they see me in an institution. Right.

And then they said, oh, I see all the other inmates are brilliant and fun. So they weren't too scared. But I waited. Right. Okay. What is an onset of depression for you like? How do you know that it's happening? Do you always know?

No, I only know since I practiced mindfulness. That's the point of it, part of the point, is that I can hear the early warnings. Whereas when you're not paying attention, you get busier and busier because some part of you knows and you're so ashamed that you're going down. So you start accepting jobs and having dinner parties.

I mean, I've said it in my book that I started going to every event I was invited to, and I found myself at a charity event for Save the Puffin. And they asked me to do a speech. There was an old woman saying, what a disgrace it was, Scottish, about how the puffins were being blown off their rocks so they couldn't lay their eggs. And I said, but it's a fucking bird. I asked to leave.

I did everything. I learned scuba diving in December because I had to learn scuba diving underneath Brighton Pier. Yeah. I had to. That was insanity. But I didn't know I had depression because you don't stop. And then suddenly I said to Penny, I said, do I look insane to you?

And she said, yeah. And then you're insane. Right. So now, because of the mindful, every day I check in, check in the weather condition, you know, even if it's for a minute. And I can hear the difference in that internal dialogue. of it's for a minute and I can hear the difference in that internal dialogue so if I know it's coming and I haven't for about five years then I shut everything down and I checked in a retreat that was silent so it I didn't get depressed about depression or I didn't get the layer of shame it just passed quicker but it hurts like hell of course but. But when you're describing, like, for example, when you're doing your scuba diving,

that sounds almost manic to me rather than a sort of... Well, I didn't have manic. Okay. But the lethargy is so intense that you try to bump it up. Right. Yeah. It's so, your body's going, please stop, please stop. And you're going, no, I'm fine.

You're arguing with your body. You know, like the cruelest slave driver. We're the cruelest to ourselves. That's what's unbelievable about human nature. Yeah. Is it sort of overwhelmingly physical then? Yeah, it is physical. I mean, what's mental?

It's, you know, your brain has chemicals. It has, now it's 50 billion neurons. They used to think 80. I'm not going to argue. And all of it is running under your radar. But there is no imagination. In order for you to think something, there's a rearrangement in your brain like sand that's constantly shifting. It's so complex. So when you feel sad, something's happening when you're attracted to something. Every second, something's happening. So mental illness is a broken leg in your brain. But I suppose for a lot of people, for most people, I suppose, the experience of sadness or melancholy is something that maybe lasts for a few days.

Yeah, that's not depression. No, that's not depression. And that means you're boo-hoo sad. Yeah, yeah. This is dead. You're just dead. There's nobody at home. Yeah. And it lasts and it lasts.

And things like taking a shower are beyond your wildest dreams. And are you frightened when you're in that state? Or are you just sort of numb? No, you're out of it. You're out of it. Right. Yeah, it's a state you can't describe. Yeah.

Hmm. Is it a question of learning to cope? It's learning to catch it early. Yeah. But it's still going to hit. I mean, I wait for it every day. I wake up with violence in my head telling me what an asshole I am. But that's just my usual record. And I don't want to go to a shrink and say, blame my mom.

I know, you know, I know the story. Now you pay me. So I hear it. And then I sit with it. That's mindfulness. And gradually you get this new relationship to your thoughts that they're just thoughts. It's just recordings. And so you have a distance from them. Then when the depression starts, there's a different quality. They're not just vicious. They're, I always say it's like the devil had Tourette's. That's what it would sound like. And where is that coming from then?

A disease. It's a disease. But is your mind replaying things that were said to you? No, it's a disease. Right. Yeah, there's happy people with depression. It's like saying, do all weather girls get shingles? Who the hell knows?

It's like a tumor, except you got it in your head. Do you feel as if things are getting more positive as far as the kind of public conversation around it goes? Oh, yeah. It does seem to be. Yeah, yeah. They know now. I talked to, in front of the Met police, you know, all the big boys. And, you know, there's a department for mental health because they know now every murder isn't because somebody had a kidney infection or mugging it's because something went wrong mentally so you better fix it and put money toward it you would think that a lot of the people who do those jobs as well the cops and people in the emergency services

they must um have a lot of shit they need to do. Yeah, I just asked them yesterday if they'd open a Frazzle Cafe in the Met, which is what I invented. It's like in partnership with Marks and Spencers, and it's up and down the country. It's free, and you can go into the cafes, not just walk in. You have to go through FrazzleCafe.org, and we invite you. And there's a facilitator,

and it has a form, you know, it's like AA, and you meet every two weeks. And so they've been going for more than a year, and people find that it's their people. They can be honest. So I thought in the Met, that'll be pretty good. So you go in there and you sort of sit around with other people who signed up? Only 15, right, in the beginning. And then somebody takes over like AA and then other people, it's not therapy, can say that resonates with me. You talk in your show as well, in the one I've been listening to, about, this is a show called Ruby Wax's No-Brainer, which is a series on Audible. Oh yeah, on Audible. Yeah, it's terrific. I know. I really enjoy it. No, I knew it was good, but where

is it? I mean, people... It's on Audible. I know, but you know. You can get a free trial. Audible sponsors this podcast occasionally. Alright. So I'm going to be positive about it. Use Audible. I actually was happy to take them on as a sponsor because I really do like listening to audiobooks

and the whole idea of having these series now on there, which is just like, you know, it's a series of radio programs, I suppose. Yeah, they also do my audio book. Yeah. So I'm nice to them. Yeah. No, they're good, I think.

And they do John Ronson's things as well on there. And anyway, it's an excellent series, Ruby Wax's No-Brainer, beautifully produced. Yeah. Who's your producer there? Whistledown. They were brilliant. Oh, yes. So we went around America and whatever and found the experts, the leading, cutting-edge experts on longevity, death, stress, younger brains, nature, nurture.

Again, now I work with the real big boys and they're fascinating and one of the encouraging things in there is that the whole idea that you're set in stone as a person yeah isn't is not the case there may be negative traits handed down to you genetically from your parents but that does not mean to say there's you won't necessarily pass it yeah but you have to do some work right you can't just wish it in what way what sort Yeah. But you have to do some work. Right, okay. You can't just wish it. In what way? What sort of work do you have to do? Well, again, there's brain training. Specifically, I do mindfulness, but tai chi, certain martial arts.

You have to learn to self-regulate. That's how they're teaching kids now. When they have a hissy fit, they're having a cortisol rush. And that's when we get scared or when you're on a TV show. a cortisol rush. And that's when we get scared or when you're on a TV show, just by recognizing it, you know, and sort of understanding this is my record, whatever. The standing back and observing always calms it down. Not immediately, but it means you're saying there is anxiety rather than I'm anxious. But you have to do it every day, like a gym. But if you do Pilates or yoga, you can't be multitasking. You're smoking a cigarette and you're learning the piano. If you're focused on your physical body,

the cortisol goes down. And so you learn, if I pull it to my breath or I pull it to my feet on the ground, it won't stay there. But at least you start realizing that the thoughts just keep going, even if you don't want them. They're a constant record. Yeah. And they're usually negative. And in the show, How to Be Human, the neuroscientist really explains why, which I wanted to know. Yeah. Yeah.

And you went and got your degree at Oxford or your master's. Master's. Is that the same thing? Well, you could have a bachelor's. Right. Yeah. In mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Yeah.

How long did that take you? Two years. Right. Was that fun? No, it's not fun. Just a lot of reading, was it? I can't remember, but I told them if they don't take me, I'm studying it anyway. Right, okay.

Because I wanted to know about the brain. But then at the end for my dissertation, you have to write a paper, but rather than doing a practical where they see you doing your practice, I did a show. It was the first time they gave somebody a master's for the show. It wasn't completely funny. It's a show that I knew my stuff. And then I flipped that into my show Frazzled.

Oh, that's a good way of doing it. Yeah. Relaxing with a group of people Sitting round a cool and jazzy sofa Everybody's eating cake and pies and crisps And sipping fizzy pop from cups Relaxing with a group of people Sitting round a cool and jazzy sofa

Everybody here is eating cake and pies and crisps and sipping fizzy pop from cups So look I bought these little stupid cards that I found. And I thought that we could try some of them. Do you mind doing this kind of thing? I don't know what it is. Well, you know, there's a lot of shops. I guess they've always existed. Shops that sell sort of silly, quirky shit.

Right. Like they used to sell pasta shaped like willies. Right. And now they sell little quirky books on feminism and things like that. Right. And they sell little packs of these cards, which I picked up and I thought, oh yeah, maybe Ruby will like those. That was nice.

That was considerate. Well, it's called Small Pleasures. And I thought... Is this a vibrator? No, it's not. Would that have been a good present to get you? Well, it would be startling. It would be startling.

Yeah. But I know your birthday's coming up as well. Fuck. So I thought, well, it'd be nice to give Ruby a little birthday token. But then I thought, maybe this is the wrong one. Okay, so this is a pack of cards called small pleasures it says on the front and on the back it says beauty in overlooked things a lot of what makes life worth living isn't to do with great heroic or costly things but with modest pleasures that are all around us largely unnoticed i'm doing a sort of silly voice but

this is all true i would say say. Don't you think? Available for almost nothing. It might be a beautiful sky, the smell of freshly cut grass, or a friend who understands how we feel. With photography and a few well-chosen words, this pack of cards draws us back to an appreciation for the overlooked ordinary, gently prompting us to remember that life is more precious and richer than we generally allow. Please let me see the cards. Is it going to change my life?

Okay, let me see. So I wish that I could tell you that every single card has a picture of a big willy on it, but it doesn't. Okay, make my day. See what you think. I'd be interested in your take on these. Is this a... Well, there's a gorilla's gonads

Is it going to be helpful And then it says stuff on the back What the hell is this What is this It's a It's a gorilla What does it say on the back It says

A new friend There you go You might make friends with That's a gorilla That's a dog You've got it upside down Where's the dog That's

Oh my god There you go This is terrifying A new friend I would call the police That's a dog. You've got it upside down. Where's the dog? Oh, my God. There you go. This is terrifying. A new friend. I would call the police. What's this one? Shared sorrows. A sky.

Yeah. A gray sky. Oh, somebody's getting... How much was this piece of shit? Quite expensive. Oh, look. This is some green fungi on top of water. That's like cat sick on top of water.

And it says on the back, small islands. There you go. That's what it is. It's not cat sick on water. It's islands. She walked from his loving arms into the hole. She dug for this very occasion. Okay.

And it says, very dark jokes. Please, please tell me. am i hallucinating wait i thought you weren't making that up no she walked from his loving arms into the hole she dug for this very occasion yeah okay very dark jokes it says on the back yeah that's hilarious what this is the worst gift that is terrible there's here's some um blowfish and jellyfish and it says beautiful maybe this was worth losing my eyesight for show me the pictures and i'll try to explain what what it says on the back burning your mother a crackling fire oh these are things that make life worth living okay is that a penis in a sleeve? Holding back a curtain? Or is it my eyesight?

Sorry, that's a penis wearing a shirt. Go on, what does it say? Holding hands with a small child. I confused a child for a penis? That's not right. Who is it? Sounds like a package. Yay.

That's some of your... For me? Yeah. Chinese shoes. Do you want to see my collection? It's pretty good. It could be shoes. That is... Surely that's one of the things that should be on the cards, though, is receiving packages.

That's a wonderful thing. That's good. Well, it would be a shot of this. Right, okay. But it's small. Ruby has just received. Oh, my God. My book in.

DHL, two copies of her book. In another language. Oh. Because. It's the French translation of Wake Up. Reveille-toi. What's that book then? And it says A Scenery of Absolutely Fabulous. Hmm.

Well, you used to be a script editor. Yeah. So that's good they put a book about how to be human. Oh, that's how to be human, is it? Translated into French. Oh, that's how to be human, is it? Translated into French. Oh, my God. This is really bad.

Why? Because they're leading off with your Ab Fab connection. It's got no fucking thing to do with it. Oh, yeah. But that's just to hook people in, though, isn't it? That's how it works. Yeah. Ruby is disgusted and has thrown the books on the floor.

She doesn't care as long as I sell it. Can I have a look? Oh, can you read French? Oh, I am. Hi, Bobby. I am half French. Are you? No. Oh, okay.

But I like French. I like France. Look at it. Pourquoi est-ce que je reste sous marchaise? Si c'est pour écouter, c'est vraiment si d'horreur. I've often wondered about that. God, you really read French well. Thank you so much.

God, that's incredible. Can you speak a foreign language? German. Good one. Yeah. Do some German. Well, I spoke it before English. Really?

Yeah. Ich kann nicht verstehen, was du sagst, aber ich kann etwas sagen. Ich kann sagen, sieben zerquetschte Zwetschgen. Und das ist sehr, sehr... Das ist nicht, wie sagst du, ich weiß nicht, ich weiß nicht das Wort. I'm getting turned on. Are you? Yeah.

I love people who can speak that much. I spoke baby German. Yeah. So when I hitchhiked through Austria, a few people, well, exposed themselves to me because it was baby German. That makes my inappropriate comment even more inappropriate. Please throw these cards out. I don't even want them in the garbage in my house. They'll pollute my house. Give them to your children. They'll beute my house. Give them to your children. They'll be inspiring. Okay, there we go.

Out of the house. There you go. Thanks, little fella. Wait, this is an advert for Squarespace. Every time I visit your website, I see success. Yes, success. The way that you look at the world makes the world want to say yes. It looks very professional.

I love browsing your videos and pics, and I don't want to stop. and pics and I don't want to stop and I'd like to access your members area and spend in your shop these are the kinds of comments people will say about your website if you build it with Squarespace just visit Squarespace dot-com slash Buxton for a free trial And when you're ready to launch Because you will want to launch Use the offer code BUXTON To save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain So put the smile of success on your face

With Squarespace Yes Continue with Squarespace. Yes. Continue. Hey, welcome back, podcats. Hope you enjoyed that conversation with the wonderful Ruby Wax. A reminder that tour dates for Ruby's How To Be Human tour and other related links can be found in the description of this podcast. Also, I don't know if I put a link in there,

but do check out the series Ruby Wax's No-Brainer on Audible. The series Ruby Wax's No-Brainer on Audible. It's a great introduction to her stuff and the areas that she's interested in writing about these days, if you haven't read her books thus far. As I said, a beautifully produced series available on Audible. If you're already an Audible member, I think you can just get it for free. Right, other business, other important business. Audible. If you're already an Audible member, I think you can just get it for free. Right. Other business, other important business. Cyriac Harris, genius animator of weird, looping MC Escher styles of surreal and bizarre animation,

has created a video for my like and subscribe outro jingle which you'll be hearing shortly and actually he made it a year or so ago and for a while it lived as a piece of exclusive content on my app but now it is available for anyone to see. I sort of hoped that Cyriak was going to do something that would make me look cool when I asked him to do a video to go with the like and subscribe thing. I think it's safe to say he did not do that. I didn't actually ask him to do that, so maybe I should have been more specific. Anyway, I played it at a few of my live shows last year, and the audience always found it funny, so have a look, see what you think. It's magnificently strange. Now, I'm just looking over to my right, and guess who I'm standing next to?

It is a beautiful, wise old tree that has stood here for many, many years. It was so shocking last week to see Notre Dame in Paris on fire. Very unsettling to see something so beautiful that has been there for so long suddenly rendered as vulnerable as the rest of us. I shudder to think of something like that happening to the Wise Old Tree, which has watched over me and Rosie and the rest of my family for so many years and seen so many things. Tell me, Wise Old Tree, what have you seen recently?

Well, yeah, last week I saw some kids doing hippie crack. That's what all them little nitrous canisters and balloons are doing over there in the grass. That's what that is. OK, I see those quite often. I thought it was for a kid's party or something. Well, it was a kid's party in a way, wasn't it? So what, they fill the balloons with the nitrous oxide and then they inhale it, do they? Er, yeah, granddad. Right, okay. And what's it called? Hippie crack. Yeah, hippie crack, nozz, whippets, chargers, loons,

dongers, clown balls, zoin, chuckle farts, cannon and ball bags, foofles, crazy guffs, boinks, sandpoxide, dumbledores. There's lots of names. Huh. The name's very colourful, but it's very dangerous, as I understand. Can be deadly, yeah. You don't take drugs, though, do you, wise old tree? Mate, I'm studious sucking up pesticides all hours of the day, so what do you think? I'm wasted, aren't I?

I'm going to head off anyway, wise old tree. Lovely to talk to you. Look out for yourself. Inspiring. Talk to the wise old tree. So, look, before I go, quick recommendation for yourself. Inspiring. Talk to the wise old tree. So look, before I go, quick recommendation for you. Talking about TV last week.

And here's another TV show, which I'm sure a lot of you have seen already, but in case you haven't, Back to Life. Daisy Haggard's show. Now, Daisy is an actor that I worked with a long time ago, a decade ago. Oh, Lordy. On a little show, kind of a legendary show, called The Persuasionists. Yeah, I know. It was a game changer. But Daisy's been allowed back on TV and her show Back to Life is excellent.

She didn't ask me to say this, by the way. I just watched it and it was really good. A series of six parts, six half hours. After serving 18 years in prison, Miri Matteson, played by Daisy, is able to return home to her small town. Mattison, played by Daisy, is able to return home to her small town. Although Miri would like to move on from her dark and conflicted past, her neighbours have not forgotten what happened all those years ago. Now 36 years old, Miri wants to rebuild her life and make a start by moving back in with her parents,

although she soon finds herself with no friends, job or any clue about how to move on with her life. Rosie! Come on, let's head back rose don't go into the road come here come on that wasn't a fly past it was just a walk up anyway back to life also stars geraldine james Also stars Geraldine James. Excellent. Adil Akhtar. I love that guy. Liam Williams. Brilliant.

Joe Martin. Fantastic. Richard Durden. Excellent. Jamie Mishi. All good performances. The show is written by Daisy Haggard and Laura Solon, who is very talented as well. I really recommend it.

All episodes of Back to Life are currently available to watch on the BBC iPlayer. See what you think. And it's funny and dramatic and mysterious. I really enjoyed it. Anyway, that's it for this week. Thanks so much for listening. Thanks to Seamus Murphy Mitchell for his production support

and Annika Meissen for additional editing on this episode thanks to ACAST for hosting the podcast and thanks very much indeed to you for downloading the podcast and continuing to listen with your typical open-hearted generosity

I love you Bye! Bye. Thank you.