DO we take more care of our digital technology than we do of ourselves? Ruby Wax thinks so.

"We upgrade our iPhones but we don’t pay the same attention to our minds,” she says. “We need to know a bit about how the brain works - why we think the way we do - so that we can upgrade ourselves."

In her new show, How To Be Human, Ruby takes a "tour of the mind". It follows Ruby’s previous one-woman show, Frazzled, which focused on mindfulness. In this new show, based on her bestselling book, How To Be Human, Ruby sets out to explore our thoughts and where they come from. Along the way, she answers questions about, among other things, evolution, emotions, the body, addictions, relationships, sex, kids and compassion.

In the second half, she introduces Gelong Thubten, a monk who talks about how the mind works, and neuroscientist Ash Ranpura, who explains where everything that makes us ‘us’ can be found in the brain.

“Where do thoughts come from? Why do we think what we think about? This show is a tour of the mind; if we understand how it works, we can try to negotiate our way through it,” says Ruby.

The show addresses technology, and our addiction to it. “Even if nearly every part of us becomes robotic, mechanical fingers crossed we’ll still have our minds,” says the promotional blurb. “Hopefully we’ll use them for things like compassion, instead of just chasing what’s ‘better’ like a hamster on a wheel.”

Digital technology can be overwhelming. Do we underestimate the impact it has on our mental health? “We’re part technology, part human. That is what we have become. That’s not our fault, and I’m not going to bitch about the digital world. We created technology and we all use it. I don’t think we should beat ourselves up about it. We just have to know our tipping point,” says Ruby. “Look, I’m on online shopping right now, I just wanted you to know that, but I’m not actually buying anything. That’s quite a big deal for me.”

She adds: “It’s too easy to say ‘unplug your phone’ or ‘put out that cigarette’. If you know a little bit about how the brain works, and you can put yourself in context in terms of where you came from, you can learn to address your behaviour. We’re the Angel and the Devil, and sometimes you have to get to know your Devil."

American-born Ruby shot to fame in the UK as an actress and comedy writer. She has a Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University and has spoken openly about her experiences of depression, and of how she “battens down the hatches”, stepping away from contact with the world, when she senses it returning. In Frazzled, she told how mindfulness has helped her to stay calm.

But, as she points out, this new show “is not about mental health”.

“It’s about understanding the mind, looking at where we came from, as individuals and humans, and how this has shaped the way we think," she says. “Don’t forget, it’s a comedy show. I have a monk and a neuroscientist on stage with me, and they’re funny. What we do is always with a sense of humour.”

Ruby, who is married to producer and director Ed Bye, spent her early acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She later starred in Eighties sitcom Girls on Top alongside Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Tracey Ullman and fronted shows including The Full Wax and Ruby Wax Meets which saw her interviewing public figures as diverse as Donald Trump, Pamela Anderson and OJ Simpson. She was script editor for Absolutely Fabulous, appearing in some episodes.

Would she consider a one-woman show reflecting on her life and career? “No, not interested," she says. “Who wants to know about me? I don’t want to stand there and go: ‘I’m Ruby, I was born in Illinois...’

“I think a show about how the mind works, something that affects all of us, is more interesting than a show about celebrity. In my last show I talked a little about my mother, because she’s a fantastic person to talk about. But this show isn’t about my life. It’s a tour of the mind. We’re human, we’re complicated beings, but we’re all the same. After my show I want everyone to leave knowing we’re all part of the same thing.”

Suddenly she breaks off, declaring: “I came off online shopping - I didn't buy anything, I turned it off! And that was my choice."

* Ruby Wax - How To Be Human is at the Alhambra on Wednesday, November 14. Call (01274) 432000.