Following sell-out shows around the country, and a month-long run at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, much-loved comedian and author Ruby Wax will take centre stage in High Wycombe with her one-woman show, Frazzled.

The “outrageously witty” US-born comedian is coming to Wycombe Swan this month with the show, which promises to give audiences a “tour of the mind”.

Speaking to the Bucks Free Press about the show, she said it was a “rollercoaster ride” for audiences, who she found identified with the things she talks about.

She said: “It’s about why we’re so frazzled – we need stress but we’re getting stressed about stress.

“It’s how we perceive everything and it’s not for survival’s sake anymore, it’s more ‘How do I pick one toothpaste out of 5,000 choices’, ‘What’s going to kill us, North Korea or too much salt?’

“That’s the kind of stuff that’s driving us nuts. We need stress but this kind of stress is not good for our health.”

Organisers said she will explore a “scientific solution to modern problems” – mindfulness – based on her book, A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled.

The mental health campaigner graduated from Oxford University four years ago with a Master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which she said has helped shape the show.

She added: “I work on [the show] and I keep working on it to make every line good.

“I sort of take you on a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes I’m talking about my mother, other times I’m going off on tangents.

“What we were like hundreds of thousands of years ago – we were very well adjusted then. Now we’ve kind of lost it.

“Before it was just who’s going to kill you, who isn’t, what’s safe, what’s dangerous.

“But this isn’t about survival anymore, it’s about envy, it’s about comparison and it’s about too much choice, and that’s what’s making us nuts now.

“I went to Oxford to get really good material but then to turn it into comedy. That was the idea.

“The feedback’s been great. People come up and go ‘that was a great insight’ and that’s about the best you can do.”

Arriving in Britain from the United States in 1977, Ruby started her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She went on to write and perform in her own television shows.

Since then, she has campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness about mental health issues, including speaking at Downing Street to raise money for neuroscience research.

She was awarded an OBE for her services to mental health in the Honorary British Awards to Foreign Nationals in 2015.

Speaking about her own struggles with mental health and how she realised she needed to do something about them, she said: “You have to see how your mind works and not just say, ‘Oh well this is me’.

“A lot of people go, ‘Oh this is how I was born’ but there’s a lot of things you can do to turn it around.

“Whenever I do the show everybody nods their head going, ‘Oh yeah, that’s me’.

“When you get those negative bad reviews in your head like, ‘I’m not good enough, everybody knows I’m a failure’ – everybody gets it. But then I give you the answer as to what to do about it.

“I don’t think you can spend a better evening.”

For more information about the show, or to buy tickets, visit https://wycombeswan.co.uk.