Comedian London Hughes Opens up About Mental Health in New Prime Video Documentary ‘Group Therapy’ | EUR Video Exclusive
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
*The Prime Video documentary “Group Therapy,” co-produced by Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat and AXA, in collab with WPP, brings together comedians Tig Notaro, Nicole Byer, Mike Birbiglia, Gary Gulman, Atsuko Okatsuka, and London Hughes for a raw group therapy session. Through candid conversations, personal confessions, and stand-up clips, they explore how their comedic craft intertwines with mental health struggles. The result is a film that’s both hilarious and heartfelt, making mental health feel accessible and urgent. I sat down with Hughes, whose vulnerability in the documentary offers a powerful lens on ambition, insecurity, and navigating comedy as a Black British woman.
Hughes initially hesitated to join “Group Therapy.” Known for her vibrant, “bad bitch” persona since starting comedy at 19, she’s cultivated an image of positivity. “I’ve always been happy-go-lucky, joyful, living my best life,” she said. But her 2021 memoir, “Living My Best Life, Hun,” revealed insecurities and feelings of not being “good enough.”
“Writing the book made me realize I should speak about this more,” she explained. Joining the documentary felt like the right step, especially alongside other comedians. “Luckily, I was around other people who also have lived the same kind of life as me and had big things to share as well,” said Hughes.
One moment that resonated came from Harris, who shared his excitement at attending the Vanity Fair Oscar party, only to feel deflated by its tiers of exclusivity.
“He told me that he couldn’t wait to go to the party. He’d never been invited, and one year he got invited. He was so happy he was there. But then he saw the VIP section, and he couldn’t get into that section. So it kind of ruined it for him. So he was like, next year I’m going to get invited. I’m going to go to the VIP.” The next year, Harris gained access to the VIP section: “He went to the VIP section, and was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve made it.’ And then everyone left the VIP section and went to Madonna’s party, and he couldn’t get into that. He was mad about that. And it was literally how I feel,” Hughes recalled.
She saw her relentless pursuit of validation mirrored in Harris’ story.
“I remember being like Oh, once I get a Netflix special, I will feel like the most accomplished comedian in the world… Then I got a Netflix special and I’m like okay, why don’t I feel accomplished… And I was like, I’m going to write a book, and once I become an author with a Netflix special, I’ll feel like the most accomplished. Now I have a book. I still don’t feel accomplished. Now it’s like, I’m working on a movie right now, and I believe once I have this movie, I’ll feel accomplished. I probably won’t. There’s probably no end to it.” Realizing even Harris felt this way was grounding. “If Neil Patrick Harris, at his big age with all of his fame, feels this way, then it’s okay for me, a newbie in America, to feel this way too. And that resonated with me.”
The group dynamic revealed shared struggles across borders. “Nicole Byer’s story about being Black in entertainment in America mirrored mine about being Black in entertainment in Britain,” Hughes noted. Notaro’s courage to perform after her mother’s death hit even closer.
“My brother just passed away a month ago, and I haven’t done stand-up comedy since. I don’t know if I can, but knowing that Tig went on stage, what a week, two weeks after her mother’s death, and made jokes makes me feel like I can do it,” she shared.
Hughes also addressed systemic racism in the UK’s entertainment industry.
“I was watching all my white friends, white male friends especially, in comedy go on to live their dreams. I just knew that nobody would allow me to live my dreams in the UK because… there’s no one I could look to and go, I want their career because it’s just not a thing. Every famous Black British person has to go over to America first.” She cited Idris Elba, who “was not famous in the UK” until succeeding in America, and Daniel Kaluuya, unknown before “Get Out.”
Hughes contrasted racial dynamics in the UK and US: “Now let’s be clear. Outside of entertainment, I cannot speak on the struggle for Black Americans. I think it’s way worse if you’re not in entertainment to just operate in Black America versus operating in Black Britain because of how blatant the racism is in America for Black people.” In Britain, she described racism as subtle but pervasive.
“We’re not going to call you the N word to your face… British people are very passive-aggressive. So racism will happen behind closed doors. Racism is insidious. It’s institutional. It’s built in. There’s no way of getting over it.” Unlike America, where “you can be Beyonce. You can be Oprah. You can be Jay-Z,” she noted, “We don’t have Oprah. We don’t have a Beyoncé. We don’t have a Jay-Z.”
For Hughes, “Group Therapy” is about connection. She hopes the documentary inspires openness.
“I hope it encourages them to not struggle in silence to say something,” she said of viewers. “Just seeing people talk candidly about something you are suffering with inside internally could help you come forward and speak to friends or family members… understand that we’re not alone in this and we’re all going through something.”
Watch my full conversation with London Hughes via the clip below.
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