Ruby Wax: Absolutely Famous

Ruby Wax brings her show Absolutely Famous to the Theatre Royal Brighton on Thursday 7 May, starting at 19:30. It's a two-hour evening, including an interval, and she's not on her own — her lifelong friend and A-list producer Clive Tulloh joins her on stage. The two of them spend the night reviewing clips from her old TV shows and telling scandalous stories that never made it to air.

If you recognise the name but can't quite place the face, Wax built her TV career on the BAFTA-nominated Ruby Wax Meets, and later Full Wax, where she interviewed people like Donald Trump, OJ Simpson, Pamela Anderson and Madonna. Her provocative, abrasive style was kept in check by Tulloh, and that's exactly the dynamic they play with here: the two of them looking back at those interviews and filling in the gaps. It's as much a conversation between two old friends as it is a comedy show.

There's a fair bit more to her than the interviews, too. She's worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appeared on primetime TV and scripted Absolutely Fabulous. In 2015 she was awarded an OBE for services to mental health, and she holds a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from the University of Oxford. The show sits somewhere between those two sides of her — the sharp, funny broadcaster and the mental health campaigner. The critics have described it as 'deeply thoughtful and resolutely frothy' (The Times), 'fascinating' (The Telegraph) and 'hilarious' (Entertainment Focus).

It's playing at the Theatre Royal Brighton on New Road, BN1 1SD, a Grade II* listed building that's been entertaining audiences for over 218 years and is one of the oldest theatres in the country. Tickets are £32.80 as a guide price, and the whole thing runs for two hours with an interval, so you'll be out well before midnight.