Why Cancel Culture is Ruining Comedy with Ruby Wax

27 Jul 2025 · 42 min · 15 chapters

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In short

Ruby Wax argues that cancel culture and fear of offending have made comedy less “wild,” less philosophical, and more cautious; she also connects comedy, mental health, and social media envy to broader cultural decline and political psychology.

Guest backgrounds

Ruby Wax is a UK-based comedian, writer, and mental-health advocate (OBE). She hosts/creates the “Frazzled” mental-health initiative and has long interviewed celebrities for documentaries and shows.

Key claims

Fear ruins comedians’ careers because it prevents free-flowing “winging it.” Modern celebrity culture and social media comparison worsen anxiety and depression. Cancel culture hasn’t directly “killed” her comedy because she says she avoids offending, but she believes it has increased overall caution. She describes depression as episodic and sometimes like a “death trance,” and says mindfulness helps her notice it early.

Notable examples

Trump allegedly threatened her (“if I ever see Ruby Wax again, I’m going to kill her”) and she says he disliked her until she matched his crudeness. She cites George Carlin and masked comedians (e.g., South African performer) as models of truth-telling. She contrasts past documentary access (e.g., staying with Bette Midler) with today’s PR blocking. She mentions Bill Cosby’s hostile greeting and claims later she could spot “criminal” behavior from interviews.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

The Impact of Cancel Culture on Comedy

0:45 to 2:24

Discussion about how cancel culture affects comedians and the comedy scene.

“been aware or i i don't say anything i don't think that offends people or it offends people so much that they don't even realize it.”

The Role of Comedy as Social Commentary

2:24 to 3:55

Exploration of comedians as modern philosophers addressing societal issues.

“Because if you're funny and there is a PR, they tell their PR to scram.”

Celebrity Interviews and the Art of Connection

3:55 to 6:10

Ruby discusses her experiences interviewing celebrities and forming connections.

“And then I knew I had her and she worked in a factory where she had to chop, chop, chop pineapples.”

Maintaining Happiness Amidst Chaos

6:10 to 8:04

Ruby shares her thoughts on staying happy in a declining society.

“That's when you go, whoa, we really are having a depression.”

Insights from Interviews with Controversial Figures

8:04 to 10:35

Ruby reflects on her interviews with Donald Trump and other controversial figures.

“I was still trying to keep this perky thing going.”

Challenges of Fame and Personal Growth

10:35 to 14:01

Discussion on the challenges of fame and how it affects personal identity.

“I'm very worried how they'd come across, yeah.”

Understanding Depression and Its Triggers

14:01 to 16:46

Explore Ruby Wax's personal experiences with depression and coping strategies.

The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

16:46 to 20:46

Discussion on how social media influences mental well-being and self-comparison.

“Yeah, because it feels like that's obviously not an area you can't go then.”

Political Leaders and Public Trust

20:46 to 26:41

Examining the qualities desired in political leaders and the current landscape.

“So why should I put myself in the eye of that?”

The Evolution of Fame and Celebrity Culture

27:31 to 28:00

A conversation about the changes in celebrity culture and what defines talent today.

“But when I, for my job, when I interviewed people, they were movie stars.”
Show all 15 chapters

The Changing Landscape of Comedy

28:00 to 30:10

Explore the evolving nature of comedy and what makes it entertaining today.

“Nobody knows what we're rebelling against.”

Ruby's Journey in Storytelling and Neuroscience

30:10 to 32:40

Discover Ruby's unique approach to storytelling through her books and neuroscience.

“And entertainment has been taken over by Netflix.”

Mindfulness and the Power of the Brain

32:40 to 34:13

Learn about mindfulness practices and how they impact our brain function.

“But usually when you do that, you get a hangover from your own anger.”

Reflections on Success and Regret

34:13 to 37:57

Ruby shares her experiences with success, failure, and personal growth.

“I don't think people can tell the difference anymore.”

Understanding Disruption and Celebrity Behavior

37:57 to 39:02

Discuss the meaning of disruption and the pitfalls of celebrity culture.

“You know, I thought, oh, I'm quite important.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00I can't get over it. I can't stand people doing better than me. He said, if I ever see Ruby Wax again, I'm going to kill her. Really? The most excruciating moments of my career. He hated me. Was there anyone that really surprised or shocked you that you interviewed over the years? Well, people like, nobody gets addicted to kale. We just get addicted to bad news. Do you think the UK is in decline? You really are having a depression. Can jokes about mental health be funny? Well, mine are. now i think there's too much fear to be wild and wild is what's entertaining do you know who andrew tate is psychologically he's unhinged what's a secret you've never shared or a story you've never told um ruby has cancel culture killed comedy oh that's good um i don't know because i've never been aware or i i don't say anything i don't think that offends people or it offends people so much that they don't even realize it.

0:59I haven't modified what I say, but I think it has. I think there's a fear. And if you spot fear in a comedian, it ruins their career. So if they're thinking about what they're saying, rather than winging it, which is when somebody's a genius, when they're just free-flowing, then we've lost it. I think in stand-up, but I'm not a stand-up. Right. And I don't watch it a lot. I think it's ruined it, probably. Yeah. I mean, wasn't comedy the place where... That was for philosophers. Yeah. That was the original place that, you know, the philosophers in Greece would stand up and they would say what's really going on.

1:35They would be the underbelly and the conscience of them. And not worry about getting killed. And not worry about... Because they could address things that are political or controversial in a safe environment. That's their job. And now you can't. Now you can't. And there's been a couple of comedians like Barry Humphreys or whatever. he can say because he's in the mask he could say whatever he wanted right and there's somebody in south africa who did that too he used to you know mandela loved him yeah he could he was playing the outraged woman and he's a you know what i mean so he had a costume he had a front nobody could attack a woman right so they've always been used to kind of take or george carlin he really spoke that was the truth he was the barometer of what was really happening in america i don't know if a lot of comedians do that anymore they just go for hey isn't life wacky yeah but they really should be philosophers I think yeah and um how do you think it would be if you started now in today's world doing what you do I mean would you have to be a lot safer I couldn't do what I do did because I started off doing documentaries and then when I did celebrity documentaries there was no PR so I could stay with them a week so I'd meet Bette Midler and they'd say you have five minutes and I turn it into three days.

2:52Wow. Because if you're funny and there is a PR, they tell their PR to scram. Yeah. And so you have to let me live in the mansion for a week. But my brief was always you have 10 minutes. But if you throw away your questions and you just wing it with them, you know, you play tennis mentally, then they say, I really like you. And so you become friends and we cut it into a half an hour show. Oh, wow. So you couldn't do that anymore. No. Well, because you just get blocked. You get blocked by the PR. Yeah. Yeah. they don't want to break the celebrity mystique. Right. And I just broke it. I like that.

3:25Like, if you think about it, life's kind of like that. It's about getting the in. You get in for 10 minutes and then you're in for a week. Yeah. So it's just about getting the in. It was like cracking a code. Right. You know, or cracking into a bank. Because I'd always like think, where's their, not their weak point, but I knew Bette Midler didn't want to be a movie star and some interviewer, but we were both waitresses. So I said I was a better waitress. and I told her what my shift was and, you know, I became kind of, we went low class together. Yeah. And she said, no, no, I was a better waitress.

3:56And then I knew I had her and she worked in a factory where she had to chop, chop, chop pineapples. Right. And then once we're two girls together competing and I'd let her win, you know, she'd say the funny stuff. She sang, we went to Harvey Nichols, they filmed it, she was singing down the escalator and everybody else, you would break them. Right. So how did you learn to get in then? I don't know. You know, it's like, how does somebody do business? Yeah. How does somebody get it? It's partly schmoozing. Right. And it's partly, you know, if you're funny, you can get people, their mouth is open and then you can get anything else in.

4:33Yeah. So they never had an interview that was good at comedy. Right. You were the first. I was the first. Wow. Yeah. So they thought, well, this is going to be fun. So Jim Carrey, we couldn't get rid of him. I'm not being arrogant. No, no. I was just saying, this is my idea of a good time. Like, in my mind, I was making a friend. Yeah. And I did with Carrie Fisher. We stayed friends for 35 years. You know, it was like flirting. Oh, wow. Yeah. I've just played tennis with her. I mean, mouth-wise. Yeah. Right. So how did you learn to be funny? I don't think you learned that. Really? Uh-uh. No? No.

5:08You were just always funny your whole life? No. I wasn't funny when I was young because I was so disturbed. I was really disturbed. So I was kind of gormless with my front teeth in another time zone and kind of the ugly runt. And then at 16, I said in a show, I said I turned from an ugly duckling into Joan Rivers so that I could get the guys. Right. Because I couldn't get them with looks. I know you'll find that hard to believe. But I'm not at my best today. But when you turned on the funny, you could get anybody. So I learned that. Yeah. Most of them were gay, but I got them anyway. Who cares?

5:44I want to come back to all the comedy stuff, but how long have you lived in the UK? A long time. Okay, so... More than 30 years. Right, wow. Unfortunately, I was talking about it, but I think it's important. Do you feel sad? Do you think the UK is in decline? Not as much as America. Right. Yeah, but I mean, I do, I tour my shows and when I do see the North, it's... The North of the UK. The North of the UK. You know something's really wrong. Yeah. Or some areas in Wales. That's when you go, whoa, we really are having a depression. Yeah. And there's just people roaming the streets. There's no employment.

6:22So I wouldn't see it in London, especially because we're sitting in Notting Hill Gate. They ain't starving. Yeah. Yeah. They're thin because, you know, they're on Ozempic. Yeah. But up north, we're in trouble. Not everywhere. I mean, Leeds is cooking. Right. And Glasgow is pretty sexy. Yeah. But I think Birmingham's having a hard time. Yeah. Yeah. right and um and america i haven't been there i mean i go and shop and then i'm out again but they say you can feel it in the air there's a real unhappiness probably not in arkansas and in the you know the farming yeah people who are sometimes i'm not standing on all twos uh those those states the southern ones yeah uh they're probably rejoicing but they won't be for long once walmart shuts once those gates shut they're gonna know something happened you seem happy yeah i am happy so how do you stay happy when the nation is not well you know you you feed yourself how much tv you can watch or how much news i mean we're all creatures of addiction you know nobody so we have to see the news and it's you're salvating for it because you know as humans we're still sort of animals and so we love a car crash yeah that's I think why Trump won because he couldn't stop the you know the gossip was so good yeah and now we're getting now we're getting the brunt of it yeah so um you know nobody gets addicted to kale we just get addicted to bad news and so I know how much to you know um watch I know how much in how many injections I can take before I right and you you ration yourself I ration myself yeah and that's an intentional thing totally intentional because you know i could sit in front of el jarez all day yeah is that a bad i'm not judging i'm not here to judge and um you mentioned donald trump there you've spent some time with him lovely time can you tell us about him like what he's really like he's vicious and he's on his well when i met him 20 was it 20 years ago or 15 years ago he was um sharp but um and had instinct like gutter rat instincts so he said at one point because he made me so nervous because it's like um it reminded me of my dad who treated me like an idiot and if you treat somebody like an idiot they become it right i mean that's a real winning recipe okay but if you treat them like they're you know whoa are you in unusual and you that's how i got the celebrities too right i didn't kiss their ass but i i they could see i thought this is totally an original.

9:01Well, he treated me like garbage. Did he? Yeah. And then I was so nervous. I was still trying to keep this perky thing going. What I know now, I would have handled it really differently. But he said at one point, you're angry, but with a smile. I thought that was so accurate. And then he called me obnoxious and he said, let's land the plane. We were 33 ,000 feet. And I had laughed at him when he said he wanted to be president of the United States. So I thought, what a kidder. This guy's got a sense of humor. And then I saw it wasn't a joke. And he threw me off the plane. And now he's president of the United States.

9:35President of the United States. Good luck me going there. And he said to John McEnroe, who I saw, you know, because he's playing here. He said to McEnroe, who was my next interview after him, if I ever see Ruby Wax again, I'm going to kill her. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. He hated me. Did he? He hated me on sight because I wasn't, you know, I didn't find him like, you know, lay down and do whatever you want to me because that's what he expects women to do. Right. Because he told me at one point we were in a car and he had this, we had, we didn't have the sound on, but he tried to offend me by telling me what he likes to do with women.

10:14So I offended him right back and said, here's what I like to do with women. I don't really, but you know, I wasn't going to go, ooh, kind sir, please stop. that's just too sensitive I didn't want him to win and once he knew I could be as crass as he was then he liked me because I was one of the boys yeah yeah wow and um was he the most intense person the worst worst interview I've ever done really yeah because I got nervous if you get nervous you've lost it right yeah okay and what about the the weirdest well Bill Cosby greeted me by putting his hands around my throat and then dragged me across the room he hated me too but you know all these people that years later you could see were criminals you could kind of watch my show and figure out who wasn't kosher right wow and you said you could go back and watch your shows and see who's like a criminal so who's like the the craziest oh they those two are are they yeah yeah yeah everybody else was a dream yeah i mean that's how i got people so tom um hanks and um uh jim carrey you know they were dreams yeah because they played ball with me and you madonna no horrible oh wow horrible very self-obsessed right so didn't really get the joke that this isn't you know just play with me she took it too seriously right and um so we were a mismatch i mean maybe your sense of humor button was off that day but it didn't work yeah oh were Were they very worried how they'd come across on your show?

11:47I'm very worried how they'd come across, yeah. Most people weren't like that in those days because it's so tiring being famous that they were so relieved that I didn't care. Right. Was there anyone that really surprised or shocked you that you interviewed over the years? Well, people like Pamela Anderson or Sharon Stone, I was shocked. I was surprised how smart they were. You know, I knew Pamela Anderson would be able to age gracefully. and other people um are locked in their their image of themselves and it isn't the correct image so i knew they'd flip out when they lost their fame they flip out but did they flip out yeah yeah um tom hanks and um bet middler and goldie they're perfectly fine without it yeah they probably miss it because nothing's better than getting a seat in a restaurant that's booked uh but they're they're You know what I mean?

12:39They're in their skin and probably a little relieved. But maybe don't watch a lot of shows where it could be them. Do you ever miss, you know, the old days when you were wildly famous? Well, I miss the old days when I was in a canoe race at my camp. You know, people say, do you miss this? I go, well, there was life before that. No, I mean, yeah, I miss it, but I miss canoeing. You know, and I was a great water ski champion. I was at camp um so I you miss certain things but then you go to Oxford and you think I don't miss anything this is too cool I've got something here that you said depression is like the devil has Tourette's in your head the the sounds in your head are like you usually have we usually have thoughts in our head probably even you that go I'm not good enough I'm a fake everybody But there's a reason for that too, but we're not talking about that now.

13:36It's very negative. That's good for survival though, isn't it? That's what we need. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been eaten. You have to go, wait a minute. It's a snake. Yeah, that's too much for me. It's run like hell because I'm going to be lunch rather than have lunch. Yeah. So we need that negative stuff, but now it's too much already. Right. Because everything around you, social media, is telling you how little you are and that you're not coming in first or even billion. everything around you is to tell you you're not good enough so the culture is the is the flaw not you yeah and if you suffered with depression or i have depression you have it yeah not right now no that's how i got my obe because the queen liked that i had depression so i got an obe so i had an upside for you yeah yeah so but how do you mean you have it i have it it doesn't it's not always there it comes and goes it's episodic so that's why people think you're making it up because how do you have something and then it and then it's gone and then you have it again yeah but you have episodes you know you get herpes once in a while you don't always have it so depression if i had it i wouldn't be doing this podcast you'd see it in my eyes i wouldn't be able to come here is there like a trigger for it or something nobody knows oh yeah and what happens to you when you get well you go you go into a kind of death trance you're no longer you so to if i had to move across and get some coffee or something i wouldn't be able to i wouldn't be able to do it you just numb out wow it's like you've been drugged and there's nothing you can do to get out of it and it decides when to leave how long does it normally last well for me it used to do five months and they changed my medication and now because of studying the mindfulness when i'm not depressed it's like going back to the gym I can see it coming because I'm kind of tuned into my brain I know when I know what I know where my body is and when it's uncomfortable so I can feel it coming it's like an animal that spots an earthquake right you know it knows something's wrong and so I'll seek help really quickly rather than think oh come on Ruby pulled yourself out of it yeah I won't be cruel to myself yeah and how does it make you feel talking about it uh well i do talk about it in my shows and my big charity is called frazzled and that's where i used to when i did my shows in the in london i'd invite people off the street to come in and i'd have the state-of-the-art drinks talk about how the mind works and what happens right and then i'd have therapists and they could see therapists yeah and i handed out cookies and then i started frazzled in marks and spencer so up and down the country people would come because steven steve roe gave me all the cafes people would come in it's a little like aa they talk from the heart about what's going on and you'd see them feeling so much better you know it's such a relief for other people to go yeah me too they didn't necessarily have depression but we're getting it before it kicks in yeah so we're the kind of um you know we're the safety blanket before the shit hits the fan so we're still going but because of covet it's online and i do it every two weeks i have about 100 people and it's called frazzled frazzled right and go frazzled cafe.org and it's free yeah and if anybody listening would like to help us could they please get in touch with you yeah because we're getting more and more people and um we need more facilitators we've been going seven years and it really is it's like calling it before it happens so we save so many people going every time you see other people listening They go, oh, God, it's not, you know, it takes the pressure off.

17:17People going, yeah, that's me too. It feels like, oh, I found my tribe. And so that's such a relief. You can see him smiling. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Can jokes about mental health be funny? Well, mine are. Mine are. I've been doing three shows about that. Yeah, because it feels like that's obviously not an area you can't go then. I can because I'm mentally ill. Right. So everybody knows she's an expert and they listen. Yeah. It's like if you're that, if you're not a racist, if you are it, you know what I mean? If you're Jewish, make your jokes about Jews. Or, you know, if you're black, make it.

17:57But they know I'm from that country. Yeah. So nobody gets offended. Right. How do you feel like social media has affected our mental health? Well, you know, it's a no brainer. if you if everybody looks like they're having a good time you're pressing our envy button and when we're envious we're we're the most vulnerable you know we want to be the king honcho we want to be the alpha in the tribe and just to be nothing to see people who look beautiful and you don't makes you compare yourself and that's detrimental to our health comparison and competition is great because we're supposed to compete, but not with half the world.

18:42You know, the neighborhood was great because it would make you step up to the plate. Or in a business, you know, you'd want to achieve for the love of the business. But when it's zillions, you know, the world, you're nobody. You're a cog, and that's really pushed home. And I'm not even talking about Twitter. I'm way off that one. Like, my opinion is important. if i was a news person or my daughter-in-law's katie balls who's a editor of the sunday times in washington i just call her over and i say you're having a political conversation katie sit down what you want my opinion what putin's waiting for me to make a phone call to hear what i think we don't need to know what you think unless this is your profession and then you get trolled anyway i don't know what i think do you know what i mean i don't have enough information yeah it's all guttural feelings and that isn't that isn't um valid enough for an opinion i don't think you know we have gut reactions like you might remind me of somebody i went to high school with so i hate you immediately same with gut reactions oh i knew somebody from palestine i knew somebody with a little mustache right in german i know so you know we're we're getting our anger out probably not based on the facts yeah and so you're wasting energy and making enemies and then everyone's doing it online everybody's doing and you don't know what's true and not true anymore just throwing shit at each other just like dogs yeah when they get really angry and they run up and down the stairs frothing yeah and then yeah calm down that's what twitter is like just and you know savages so do you um like ration how much time you're on social media I don't go on at all.

20:28Right. I pay somebody to put my stuff on. Right. You know, I'll film it. Yeah. But I don't know how to get on. Right. Because it would be my addiction. And I'd start comparing. I know it's, look, I'm human. I know what happens. So I'm not going, oh, I think I'll get over this. I can't get over it. I can't stand people doing better than me. I can't stand it. Right. So why should I put myself in the eye of that? Yeah. Do you know who Andrew Tate is? Yeah. You do. What do you think about him? I don't believe in talking about it because that gives him publicity. Right. That's how Trump won. We never, we can't get his name off our lips.

21:04So do you not think Trump should have been president? I'm not going to say, but what do you think? Well, I'll say if you say. No, you say first. But then you'll say. Yeah, I'll say. Yeah. I think Trump got in because he was different enough from what hadn't worked for a long time and people wanted a change. I totally agree. I'm not a politician. I'm not an expert. Right. But that's it's easy to look back now, having seen his two terms and knowing his personality. I remember reading Art of the Deal thinking he was a like gung ho business guy. We can all be entrepreneurs. Right. um and but yeah he was different and i think the world needed sure and it's and the americans that weren't heard wanted to be heard yeah they were picking a leader who was taking their eventually gonna screw them financially right i mean you know if china doesn't trade who do you think gets affected yeah but they believed in this kind of cowboy mentality you know that he would be that When people are scared and they're angry, they need a leader who's terrifying.

22:14And he's terrifying. Is that because you knew him intimately? I think to look at him on TV. Yeah, but it's different. You spent time with him. Then I can't tell. I mean, I know what I think and feel. Yeah. But I'm scared what's next. Yeah. So you think he could be quite destructive? Oh, you think? Well, I mean, I'm asking you. Honestly, I don't really know. I don't really know either. But I have a feeling when somebody isn't in their right mind, and I don't mean mentally ill, I mean they're not in their body, they're not tuned in. I can see you are because you're present and you're looking in my eyes.

22:54When somebody is playing a part and we don't know who he really is, it's dangerous. He's playing something. And does he know what he's doing or is he winging it because he's so addicted to gambling with the world? I mean, what's Putin's scenario? I mean, that's somebody not in their right mind. How did we get people like this surrounding our world? I'm asking you. How did that happen? Well, we need people want strong men because they're so frightened. You want Big Daddy. Sounds like you want Big Daddy. Yeah. Well, you know, you don't want a wimp. So, I mean, the UK definitely doesn't need a wimp.

23:39The UK needs someone strong, I feel like. Yeah. And yeah, that's an interesting point. You want that strong person when there's weakness around. Yeah. And if that's who's there, that's who's there. I mean, yeah, our leader in the UK doesn't really seem to be strong, have strong, decisive leadership, vision. What happened to people with vision? I think they get scared, too, is that they want to appeal and they want to make sure that they're in power the next time. So they I don't know what his his his ethos is. But surely you should know. He's not doing a good enough job if we don't know his ethos.

24:18I think when people aren't transparent and you tell me which politician in my lifetime was ever transparent. Well, yeah, I mean, that's probably the system. It could be the system. But I think in the old days, you know, Eisenhower or even Carter, you kind of knew what they were as human beings. I'm keeping it psychological on purpose. Why? Because it's my area. I'm not political. Did you say you're apolitical? I'm not apolitical, but it's not my expertise. But I can read the landscape. I can read when somebody isn't trustworthy or they've got a problem and they're taking it out in the world. Do you think politics maybe attracts those people?

24:59It could do. Who knows? Or it corrupts those people. Yeah. I mean, Tony Blair started off on the right foot. That was hopeful. And then something corrupted. Yeah. I think about this a lot because this is our world. and it feels like we're sort of fucking it up a little bit yeah but who tell me who's going to run it where are these guys well yeah the democrats like i can't really see anyone in the uk or the world that i would think has got the strong decisive leadership isn't that unbelievable and the values you know i i'll do what kind of a world are we in that we can't find one person or maybe those people just don't want to be in that career but from the business world who would you choose well i like people like richard branson ray dalio these people who have got seven decades of experience but seem to want to give back to the world and seem to have good values i think we need because i think in the uk probably in america's better but in the uk okay, we need more entrepreneurial people helping running the country because we're a business.

26:07We have an economy, except the economy is messed up. When the economy is messed up, everything is messed up. The National Health Service is messed up because the economy is messed up. And, you know, like really successful entrepreneurs, if they're too still on the upward journey, then they've got too much ambition. So you want somebody – what do you think of Elon Musk? I mean, there's an entrepreneur. I am – Again, there's a moment where psychologically he's unhinged. So, you know, the idea was great, but he's totally unhinged. Right now, your personal data is being sold and exploited and probably without you knowing.

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27:30You've been in media for how long? Maybe 40, it could be. Yeah. Yeah, a long time. So how's it changed? Well, I'm not in it anymore. But when I, for my job, when I interviewed people, they were movie stars. They were stars. They weren't this celebrity thing. So even with Liza Minnelli, who was seriously, use the word again, not in her right mind. She was, you know, on something. And you thought, oh, my God, this is so out of control. old but then she sang in my face about a foot away and you went yep that's talent when somebody's got talent all is forgiven they can be as nuts as they want and somehow with celebrity now unless they're a great actress or they can sing or something i don't get it just being famous for being famous right not not because they're talented and money ran out that's why you had to do so many reality shows and boy is that addictive you know we really want to see who's going to screw up or like married it for a site which i adore you're just watching the fall of rome it's gladiatorial yeah and that makes us feel better because better than than us and you know i think a lot of people like to see people who are attractive falling down the hole that's kind of sad in a way isn't it yeah but that's the way it went you know they had to do cheap tv so they just got normal people speaking when i did it or to other documentary makers you got gold that were extraordinary people saying extraordinary stuff that was a documentary or you know entertainment shows I forgot which ones but there was the young ones and there was my show girls on top and there was um you know the comic strip I mean that was new and really refreshing and had great lines and absolutely fabulous there's no question when you have a great line but you just wing it and have sort of what can I say tell me who's a great comedian now that really is funny I mean, there's Veep in America, but I don't know what is funny here.

29:30I don't know. That makes me laugh. I think they're careful. I think they're... Scared? Nobody knows what we're rebelling against. You know, comic strip was rebelling against the generation before, and there was a wildness. Now I think there's too much fear to be wild, and wild is what's entertaining. Yeah. Wild is when you go, I've never seen anything like this before, as the pythons were. Yeah. You know, they kicked the ass of the generation before. And then Comic Strip, well, they didn't kick the ass, but they were refreshing and new and hilarious. And then what? I mean, they're hilarious shows now, like Phoebe, who did Fleabag.

30:10But consistently, nothing's that funny. And entertainment has been taken over by Netflix. Who watches regular TV anymore? Who watches it? So I think it has changed. I'm glad I'm not around now. I wouldn't have a show. Right. And do you miss those days? No, I don't because I did what I could then and now you wouldn't be allowed to. Right. So it's not possible anyway. Yeah. Yeah. And the tours you do, what tours are you doing now? Well, I write, I've written seven books. Wow. Did you know that I wrote books? Well, I didn't know that you'd written seven books. Did you know I wrote a book? No, I'll be honest.

30:47I won't bullshit you. No, I've written seven books and each book becomes a show. And then I tour it in Australia, New Zealand and Cape Town and the UK and Scotland and America. So would you go and just do the show of the book? Well, I have to rewrite it. So it's a kind of, and Alan Rickman was my director until he died. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so he taught me how to, they aren't stand up. They have a story, they have a narrative. Yeah. But they're very, they're funny, but they're serious. so he taught me how to do that to you know walk on the wild side yeah yeah okay and if you had to pick one of your books that you think should best work what would it be tell us about it well say new world was i i went to oxford 12 years ago and i had to write a thesis so i wrote a show and i wrote about neuroscience without being funny right yeah the um professors came and watched it and that's how i got my master's but then i added comedy and then i toured that so you get a real real landscape of the inner mind and I tell you everything about what makes you you in a dumb form you know what I mean if I really talked about neuroscience you'd leave the room but I made it very funny and you get you get a tour of what makes what's the difference between a brain and a mind and how it works and how messages get through and how you're influenced by certain chemicals and so I gave you a tour but very funny and people like that and so what did you learn about your own mind?

32:12Well, that was my interest. You know, always I studied, I wanted to go to school and study the brain, but the only way you could study one is a corpse. And I'm not really interested in dead meat. So I had to wait till you could watch in an MRI scanner. And then I got into Oxford because I was interested in mindfulness, which I thought sounded way too vegetarian, but you could watch what happens when you practice it in a scanner, an MRI scanner. so that was the pleasure why would I do something like that I don't have time in my life but when you can watch certain areas in the brain buff up just like when you're doing sit ups you get a muscle in your you're going to get a six pack even if you're having a cigarette at the same time same with mindfulness you're not trying to get rid of your thoughts but if you do these little exercises that area just like lifting weights gets larger the landscape gets larger and so you can do what everybody wants to do which is focus when you want to focus conserve your energy when you want to like get the cortisol down even if somebody's shouting at you you've really enhanced that anterior cingular cortex and the insula which are areas where you can pull down your own cortisol so you're in charge of the brain it's not you're not the slave you're the master it's not a hundred percent because if the shit really hits the fan and somebody's really shouting or there's an incident we still need to be animals like if your mug run or if somebody's giving it to you and it's not fair, give it back.

33:40But usually when you do that, you get a hangover from your own anger. So by pulling down the cortisol, you're not getting poisoned the next day. Because we do that. I mean, the most destructive to our minds is how we think. You know, everybody should be stressed. Everybody is anxious. But what this culture does is you're stressed about stress. We're not supposed to be so stressed. Nobody else is that stressed. I got to hold it down. I have a job that's killing me. so shut up you know all this stuff just do the job you wouldn't be so exhausted and realize i mean part of mindfulness is you got a kind of mental gauge of i can't take this anymore so if you pull it back and you rest it then when you go back to work everybody else is burned out and you're really got the energy so it's like driving a car with a clutch what's the what's the secret you've never shared or a story you've never told um if you share that you have depression you can't go much lower yeah i mean you better be you're an advocate for that now aren't you yeah yeah um not lower but you know more intimate yeah i um i you know i have the same fears you probably do you know i think i'm falling apart i think i'm losing my mind i think you know you never think you're as good as you used to be but that might be social media too yeah because i'm competing with something i don't even look at it but i feel insufficient next to these people that get 20 million and then there's influencers and nobody can tell the difference between them and like somebody a really great philosopher or a great comedian they can't tell the difference anymore they get followers now how fair is that yeah i think talent should get it talent and brains And why don't they?

35:26I don't know. I don't think people can tell the difference anymore. Well, maybe people don't care anymore. Maybe they don't care anymore. Maybe they like being told what's good or what to wear. I mean, there's always been fashion. You know, that's never been a deep thing. So wear this. Now it's red. Now it's, you know, smell like a petunia. That's okay. But when they're getting that kind of money and they get that kind of attention, well, what can I say? that's there's fairness and there's fairness what's the most disruptive thing anyone has ever said or done to you um i i have like a lot of i'm audacious and i have no fear so i will just talk to somebody on the street and ask them why they chose that particular outfit i don't have fear so uh i don't know if that's disruptive it's just i was made that way yeah but i guess um alan rickman telling me i had talent and that he would turn me into a comedian was the nicest thing anybody ever did and he was right well he turned me into it after 30 years of beating me senseless saying stop trying to be so funny because i was desperate and desperation never gets you anywhere the cruelest thing somebody ever said well i've been ghosted you know that's cruel where you're talking to somebody and they never call you back yeah that's devastating what would you say is your biggest failure or regret um that i was i was it worked out okay but i was in america and i was doing a show you know they gave me whatever i wanted and they had celebrities lined up for me to interview and i said i am not a talk show host i'm a documentary fairy maker how what a jerk was i do you know what i mean i'd have a show to this day i probably wouldn't be able to do it but they said just sit behind a desk and interview people you know how easy that would have been meanwhile i said no i have to go out and i have to film people i was acting like a princess you know a diva and of course my picture got put up when i did my documentary show on sunset that was my picture and 24 hours later it was taken down because my show was a huge flop because you can't do the kind of documentaries I did here where I take the piss out of fame.

37:49They don't know what taking the piss out of fame means because fame is everything. So boy, was that quick, that career hit the dust. And I think, what if I just shut up? Also, I didn't like the way I behaved. You know, I thought, oh, I'm quite important. How dare you? And I moved. They put me in a hotel like the Plaza and I didn't like my room. Get that. So I made them get me another one. I mean, what the hell was going on in my mind? A princess. And I wish I could see all those people and go, yep, I got it in the face in the end. Is it not difficult to not become that, though, when you're quite successful?

38:27I guess so. Yeah. I didn't do it too much because, you know, I always am kind of aware when somebody does movie star behavior. I still, you know, where they arrive three hours late and don't give a shit. Yeah, that's disrespectful, isn't it? Or give them a present and they don't thank you. Yeah. That's celebrity behavior. Is it? Yeah. It's a disease. It's because it's entitled. Right. But I might have had it for a little while too. Well, that's very honest of you, Ruby. So as you can see, because it's tattooed on my forehead, this show is called Disruptors. Yeah. So what does that word disruptive mean to you?

39:02I think it's somebody who breaks the rules all the time. And I would identify with that. Well, that's one of the reasons we wanted you on the show. Well, isn't that interesting? Isn't that? Well, there you go. What a coincidence. I thought I was just here because I was so attractive. Ruby, thank you so much. Thank you. It's been great. It's been great. Thanks. Silver has crashed. It's back to its price in 1974. And I'm going to buy more. And if you'd like to learn how to invest and build multiple streams of recurring income, I recommend you join Money.School. Money.School is my global financial education platform to help as many people on this planet get better financial knowledge.

39:38For less than four Starbucks coffees a month, there are hundreds of hours of courses, resources and masterclasses going back a decade to teach how to make, manage and multiply money and gain financial freedom. So join thousands of other money and freedom seekers on the link money.school and start today your journey to financial freedom and more money.

40:08Thank you.

From the publisher

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Rob is joined by comedian Ruby Wax as she discusses her battles with depression, troubles with Donald Trump and views on cancel culture's impact on comedy.

From being thrown off Trump's plane to running mental health support groups, Ruby shares stories about interviewing celebrities from Madonna to Bill Cosby and shares why she believes modern comedians have lost their edge. Rob and Ruby cover fame, mental health, celebrity culture and Ruby’s approach to breaking conventional rules throughout her career.

Ruby REVEALS:

• Why Donald Trump threw her off his plane

• Her struggles with depression

• How she identified problematic celebrities years before their scandals, including Bill Cosby

• Why cancel culture is ruining comedy

• Why she refuses to have personal social media

• How she is running mental support groups in cafes across the UK

BEST MOMENTS

"I can't get over it. I can't stand people doing better than me... So why should I put myself in the eye of that?"

"He said, if I ever see Ruby Wax again, I'm gonna kill her... The most excruciating moments of my career, he hated me."

"When you turned on the funny, you could get anybody... I learned that when I was 16 because I couldn't get them with looks."

"Nobody gets addicted to kale. We just get addicted to bad news."

"Now I think there's too much fear to be wild. And wild is what's entertaining."

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ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “The Disruptive Entrepreneur”

“If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”

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