“The response to my book has been very surreal. From being No.2 in The Sunday Times best-seller list to being enjoyed by national treasures like Jo Brand. But most special has been the response from patients who have said things like “Dr Waterhouse should you really be using full names, date of births and NHS numbers?” Joking aside, it’s been incredible and I can’t wait to connect with readers in person on my first tour. The show will be a combination of stand-up, storytelling and chapter readings followed by a Q&A which is probably your best chance to speak to an NHS psychiatrist, without the 12-month waiting list”.DR BENJI
Combining his stand-up skills, storytelling and anecdotal chapter readings, Dr Benji unlocks the doors to the psych ward and answers life’s big questions. What’s the secret to happiness? What’s the best way to escape from a psychiatric hospital? And what is the difference between a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a psychic?
A woman in a wedding dress arrives at the hospital looking for Harry Styles.
A lorry driver with schizophrenia believes he’s got a cure for coronavirus.
A depressed man hides his profession from his GP due to stigma.
Most of the psychiatric cases in his book are his patients. Some of them are family. One of them is him. Why would anyone in their right mind choose to be a psychiatrist? Are the solutions to people’s messy lives really within medical school textbooks? And how can vulnerable patients receive the care they need when psychiatry lacks staff, hospital beds and any actual cures? ‘You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here’explores these complicated questions from both sides of the doctor’s desk.
Mental illness accounts for 28% of the nation’s overall disease burden but receives just 13% of NHS funding; the number of psychiatric beds in England fell from 67,000 in 1988 to just 18,000 in 2019.
Dr Benji Waterhouse is a front-line NHS doctor specialising in psychiatry based in London. He is also an award-winning stand-up comedian who performs sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival. He has written for the Guardian and Independent and was included in a list of 'Inspiring Psychiatrists’ by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has a special interest in psychedelic research and worked on the ground-breaking study featured in the BBC documentary ‘The Psychedelic Drug Trial’. You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here was acquired by Penguin in a nine-way with the TV rights already sold to the BBC Studio’s owned House Productions.
As a comedian he made a splash in 2014 winning Beat the Frog World Series when he was also a finalist in So You Think You’re Funny, Leicester Square New Act and he has twice been shortlisted for the BBC New Comedy Award. He is also a resident host for the international storytelling night The Moth in London.