Ruby Wax - East Meets Wax 1/8

In this 1989 documentary, American Comedienne Ruby Wax takes a comedy show from Britain to Russia and can't make anybody there laugh. It's hilarious watching her try though. Her pretty but depressing interpreter never smiles doesn't get her at all. The funniest bits are watching her in real life doing things like offer toilet paper at an open air market. This film is intriguing from a humanistic and historical vantage point because Ruby is such an amazing interviewer. Her success ultimately isn't her actual comedy, but the way she gets a handful of real people to open up to her on camera about the difficult times they experienced under communism.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• 1989
• Ruby
• Wax
• East
• Meets
• Documentary
• American
• British
• Comedienne
• Russia
• Soviet
• Union
• Communism
• Communist
• short
• film

[theideasman]

Thanks for posting!! It's great.

[tamschillin]

Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Glad to meet a Ruby Wax fan from New Zealand! Wow! I love her interviews. I have some Ruby stand up stuff from the 80's if you're interested...cheers!

[savagesloth]

Ruby is the bomb!

[marshhen]

The interpreter is an actress ! Ruby is overplaying obnoxious to satirize herself and the situation. American viewers maybe do not recognize this ?

[Rab1975bit]

@nyc11104

This is hilarious! It's her sarcastic cynical sense of humour, her style of comedy works in the UK that's why she's so popular here.

She's in character, she's supposed to be this exaggerated stereotypical loud American who's ignorant about the rest of the world. (We know not all Americans r like that, the audience is laughing at this caricature of an American person, if everything has to be so earnest, the world'd be so dull)

The interpreter is Probably even played by an actress too.

[preopdollop]

Its you who doesnt understand what Ruby was doing when she made this programme.

[Rotschild1957]

That's not relevant.

You don't understand that people in Russia under communism DID NOT SMILE because there was nothing to smile about.

We can not imagine such a society but with enough socialism it will come.

A German study showed that people in East Germany under communism sat more with their head down and back arched in public places.

[preopdollop]

This film has never been released on DVD in the UK, and so i,ve waited 20 years to see it again...cant thank you enough for posting the whole show! xx

[preopdollop]

@Rotschild1957 Ruby explained after this show was made that although it looks spontaneous, it was, infact, scripted..or at least the parts with her and anna were.

This is why this show is genius and very advanced for its time....

[Rotschild1957]

Russian people did not smile because there was nothing to smile about. Ruby totally doesn't understand this, shows no respect or compassion at all.

I don't think many people understand the warning that is in this movie..

Wait a few years and you will probably understand what I mean. You know, socialism....

[supermonto]

The existential condition of Ruby in totalitarian state + her interpreter reminds me a subject scheme from Alesha's "The Jealousy" (1927), only the roles are transposed: interpreter is young and monstroulsy earnest, and Wax is older one, cheerful, silly and human. FANTASTIC STAFF

[richrio7]

This is sadly one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

[BlakeVII]

I remember this when it shown on TV back in 1988. I remember laughing my head off, she was so funny, Ruby not understanding the interpreter. But I also remembered the sombre moments in the documentary.

She did another documentary of going back home to see the parents, that was the best. Does anyone have it?? Would love to see it again.