Belfast poet Alice McCullough says that receiving the backing of Stephen Fry was the best way of preparing for her Edinburgh Fringe show.
"Earth To Alice" is a one-woman show which starts tomorrow at the Fringe and runs for 8 days straight.
The Belfast-born creative says she was delighted to see Mr Fry highlight her work, especially when both of them are so passionate about improving mental health provision for those who need it most.
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The famous TV presenter, writer and actor described Alice as one of the "growing list of wonderful young poets coming from Northern Ireland."
"I've been coming to Edinburgh for 14 or 15 years as a punter and to help put friends with their shows," she told Belfast Live.
"I just thought with the film being out and everything now's the time to do this."
The film Alice is referring to is a 15-minute short she created for the BBC, which ties in her show with parts of her own life story.
Alice is completely open about her own mental health journey, having been diagnosed with Bipolar One.
"Over the past five years, I've been in psychiatric hospital five times, including two times last year," she said.
"The point at which I made the film last year was when I had just come out of hospital so it couldn't be more authentic.
"I had been in psychiatric hospital when I was 18 and got the bipolar diagnosis, so I've had this condition my whole adult life."
Talking to Alice, what shines through is her determination not to simply be filed away or defined as the "bipolar poet", but rather to use her experiences in a more nuanced way to call for change for the better in Northern Ireland.
"If there's one thing I've learned is that it's not the condition itself that is the most challenging part, it's how you are treated," she said.
"When people talk about stigma, you can wear a t-shirt with a slogan, but if it's not backed up with action it's not worth it.
"Investing more money in mental health and the NHS is essential to get these changes happening.
"We're in a huge crisis at this point, it was already bad before lockdown and it's way worse now."
Alice said there are things that happened to her the first time she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital that has stayed with her to this day and drive her to try and improve provisions in Northern Ireland.
"I'm acutely aware of my own privilege - when I first went into hospital, I was in for three months and I was visited every day by my family," she added.
"Not everyone has that - I was there on Christmas Day, and you don't forget the old woman crying in the corner because she has no visitors on Christmas Day.
"You don't forget that at 18 years old."
Alice says she is now determined to try and help people understand the reality of mental healthcare.
"There is a huge amount of fear around psychiatric hospital, stigma doesn't even cover it," she said.
"It's almost like a horror movie aspect to it for some people.
"And I really want to wrestle that to the ground and break it down.
"I've seen a lot behind closed doors having been in and out of psychiatric hospital, and the situation is not ok, it's pretty dire.
"There's a real problem with getting beds at the minute, it's a serious problem and it comes back to investment."
Alice has turned to stand-up comedy as well, incorporating some aspects into her show to help convey her experiences, as well as keeping her own local flavour to her performance.
"I had that terrible relapse about five years ago, and I got back into stand-up comedy having studied it years before," she said.
"I think laughter is one of the most powerful ways to communicate this experience, sometimes you have to laugh, it just gets so bad.
"And I don't want it to be all about being bipolar as well - I'm very proud to be from Belfast and I talk a lot about Belfast, CS Lewis, Van Morrison and a lot of my heroes."
Stephen Fry is also, on that list of heroes, having talked openly about his own bipolar diagnosis and mental health.
That is why it meant so much for Mr Fry to highlight her work.
"The very fact that someone who's so eloquent, so well loved, so intelligent and funny in so may ways, came out and said that makes such a difference.
"I have my own fantastic four as such of people who I see as having done so much good and that's Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Carrie Fisher and Spike Milligan who have all talked openly about being bipolar.
"And I think without them doing that, I wouldn't be here doing this today.
"What that does for me, what that does for so many people, that's how you overcome stigma."
And Alice says Stephen Fry's own approach to his mental health is one she thinks sums it up well, where he refers to it being like the weather.
"It's real," he wrote to one young woman who reached out to him over her own mental health struggles.
"You can't change it by wishing it away.
"If it's dark and rainy, it really is dark and rainy, and you can't alter it.
"It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row, but will be sunny one day.
"It isn't under one's control when the sun comes out, but come out it will.
"One day."
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