Following over 40 sold-out performances in 2023 and 2024, Impatient Productions have announced Ruby Wax’s triumphant return to the West End for the first time in ten years, with her most raw and funny stage show yet, ‘I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was’, for a two-week run at the Ambassadors Theatre in Central London.
Laced with humour and based on her bestselling book of the same name, in the I’m Not As Well As I Thought I Was stage show Ruby reflects back on a series of life-changing journeys she undertook in search of meaning – swimming with humpback whales; embarking on a 30-day silent retreat in California; joining a Christian monastery – that ended up taking her in a very different direction. After ten years, Ruby’s depression resurfaced, and at the start of 2022 she was admitted to a mental health clinic.
“The original idea behind this show was based on the extreme journeys that I wanted to take in order to find an antidote to living a frazzled life. Along the way I wanted to find meaning, peace, happiness – the stuff we’re all chasing. However, after some transcendent experiences, I ended up in a mental institution. Obviously, I didn’t find what I was looking for.” - Ruby Wax
Directed by Alison Summers, the show sees Ruby subvert our stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding mental health and happiness in her most honest, compelling and vulnerable performance yet.
Highlighting the importance of community and connection around mental health, Ruby encourages audience members to participate in a live Q&A at the end of each performance, giving people the opportunity to share their experiences with others. A meet and greet will also take place after the show, with copies of her latest book on sale.
Ruby Wax is a successful comedian, TV writer and performer of over 25 years. Ruby additionally holds a Masters’ degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her services to mental health. To date, Ruby has sold over one million copies of her books worldwide. She is the author of books Sane New World and A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled and has toured all over the world with the accompanying one-woman shows. Both books have reached the number one spot on the Sunday Times bestsellers list, along with a third book, How to Be Human: The Manual.
In March 2017 she launched Frazzled café in partnership with Marks & Spencer and held daily sessions online at Frazzled.org during the coronavirus lockdown.
For tickets and more information, visit: rubywax.net
