Ruby Wax: Frazzled (MICF)

US-born actress, comedian and TV personality Ruby Wax has lived the majority of her life in the United Kingdom, but her celebrity in Britain (and by extension, Australia) has always been anchored to her brassy, borderline obnoxious, larger than life Americanness. Loud, uncowed and defiantly proud of her razor-edged skills as a raconteur, she has earned a place in the hearts and minds of her adopted nations with a whip-lashing wit and a devil-may-care attitude.

Behind the grandstanding and on-screen flamboyance, however, is an exceedingly sharp mind, which Wax has rigorously applied to the less publically visible parts of her career, as an author and scholar of psychology.

These two seemingly remote hemispheres of her life come together in Wax's latest one-woman show, Frazzled: a frank and candid examination of the psychological toxicity of modern life and how to overcome it - based on her guide to mindfulness of the same title. The result is something of a surprising oddity: odd because it features the mega-watt personality of classic Wax cheek-by-jowl with moments of peaceful guided meditation, and surprising because this unlikely combination is remarkably successful.

That's not to say it's a completely flawless marriage. Wax can be a little undisciplined with her material, occasionally losing focus when distracted by her audience. There's is also something undeniably surreal about sitting in a full auditorium, quietly concentrating on the way your bum feels against the seat, or listening to the hum of the Arts Centre's air conditioning while an iconic celebrity croons reassuring mindfulness techniques at you.

However, the galvanising X-factor that binds this show together is its authenticity. Wax has suffered from mental illness - notably, depression - and has also been a poster-woman (sometimes unwittingly, we're told) for mental health advocacy. With two degrees in psychology - one from Berkeley the other from Oxford, so she ought to know what she's talking about - Wax is able to weave in fascinating details of the mechanics of stress and the chemical processes that can manifest in such destructive ways when our hectic lives consume our thoughts.

Between the more earnest portions of the evening, there are still plenty of laughs, particularly when Wax digresses into some thigh-slappingly funny anecdotes about her mother's eccentric behaviour. But Wax's intent is not the same as a common-or-garden stand-up. Those in search of wall-to-wall gags should arguably look elsewhere, but there's a very good reason why Wax has remained consistently in demand as a performer and speaker since her TV heyday in the '90s. Her charisma and affable personality, occasionally (and very entertainingly) spiked with withering sass, makes her a magnetic stage presence and certainly worth the price of admission. The fact the audience walks out of this show a little wiser and perhaps a little less stressed is a welcome bonus.

Ruby Wax presents Frazzled, 2 Apr at Arts Centre Melbourne, part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.