Here’s the quirky twist: Ruby didn't stay in the US. She fled to England. Why? Because British people seemed more neurotic and she found that oddly comforting. She landed in London in the 1970s, a total stranger with a sharp New York mouth.
She enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). But she didn't want to be a serious actress. She wanted to break the fourth wall. She wanted to make audiences squirm with laughter.
The Comedy of Chaos
In her early 20s, Ruby started performing. But not the funny joke-joke kind of comedy. She did shock theatre. She’d lie on stage, wrapped in plastic wrap, and talk about death. It was brilliant, bizarre, and utterly unhinged.
Then, she met a man named John Cleese. Yes, that John Cleese, from Monty Python. He saw her raw, unpredictable energy. He said, “You’re not an actress. You’re a comedian.” It was the first time she felt truly seen.
Ruby Wax: 'My parents told me I was a loser. That's not something you
