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Depression the Comedy: A Tale of Perseverance
"An uplifting memoir we can all relate to, and the funniest book about depression you're ever going to read." --Kathryn Greenwood, Whose Line Is It Anyway?
"Jessica Holmes has delivered a powerful 'antidepressant' with this hilarious, informative, and heartwarming book." --Dr. Shimi Kang, psychiatrist, bestselling author of The Dolphin Parent
"Jessica's ability to open up about painful things in a way that make them hilarious and beautiful is astounding! This book will make you laugh, make you feel brave and make you feel like you are normal and wonderful just the way you are!"
--Aisha Alfa, comedian, Just For Laughs
Comedians live by the mantra tragedy ] time = comedy--hence Jessica Holmes's refreshing and hilarious new memoir about depression, "the cold sore of the mind." She takes us on her journey-- sometimes laugh-out-loud, sometimes cringe-worthy--from successful performer to someone who was basically living the life of a house cat. She muses about
the chicken and the egg of depression and comedy marriage counselling (a.k.a. tattling on your spouse) where jokes come from living on the sofa, which now looks like a tornado hit a 7-Eleven her kids' take on the perks of having a depressed mom: "We don't have to clean up anything. Yesterday the cat barfed and Mom just put a cushion on it and went back to playing on the iPad!" the obnoxiousness of anti-depressant commercials: "I never noticed the ocean before!" Holmes shares her two cents on how to play it cool when your medication makes you hear Kate Hudson's voice, and why you don't sneak elk pepperettes into the movies. It's a validating read for anyone who has suffered from depression a little ("I get sad every January") or a lot ("My psychiatrist doesn't have a name for what I've got") or who just thinks real life calls for levity and understanding.
"Jessica Holmes has delivered a powerful 'antidepressant' with this hilarious, informative, and heartwarming book." --Dr. Shimi Kang, psychiatrist, bestselling author of The Dolphin Parent
"Jessica's ability to open up about painful things in a way that make them hilarious and beautiful is astounding! This book will make you laugh, make you feel brave and make you feel like you are normal and wonderful just the way you are!"
--Aisha Alfa, comedian, Just For Laughs
Comedians live by the mantra tragedy ] time = comedy--hence Jessica Holmes's refreshing and hilarious new memoir about depression, "the cold sore of the mind." She takes us on her journey-- sometimes laugh-out-loud, sometimes cringe-worthy--from successful performer to someone who was basically living the life of a house cat. She muses about
the chicken and the egg of depression and comedy marriage counselling (a.k.a. tattling on your spouse) where jokes come from living on the sofa, which now looks like a tornado hit a 7-Eleven her kids' take on the perks of having a depressed mom: "We don't have to clean up anything. Yesterday the cat barfed and Mom just put a cushion on it and went back to playing on the iPad!" the obnoxiousness of anti-depressant commercials: "I never noticed the ocean before!" Holmes shares her two cents on how to play it cool when your medication makes you hear Kate Hudson's voice, and why you don't sneak elk pepperettes into the movies. It's a validating read for anyone who has suffered from depression a little ("I get sad every January") or a lot ("My psychiatrist doesn't have a name for what I've got") or who just thinks real life calls for levity and understanding.
200 pages, Paperback
Published April 24, 2018
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April 24, 2018
Jessica Holmes--comedian, mother, wife, and Canadian--is the author of Depression: The Comedy, a memoir about her experiences with depression. Some of you might know Holmes from her work on the Royal Canadian Air Farce and she starred in her own TV program, The Holmes Show, back in 2003.
Depression: The Comedy is the perfect remedy for those who feel alone in their mental illness. Holmes maintains a lighthearted tone as she discusses the darkest times in her life, making it clear that those who suffer or have suffered from similar symptoms have company. In the acknowledgements, Holmes states that editors had wanted her to “dig deeper”, but she had said that “when the going gets tough, some of us need a frolic in the shallows”. Aptly put. Despite this acknowledgement, I do think that the book, while short, does delve into some of the underlying issues surrounding depression, and there is a list of resources at the end of the book for those who are coming to grips with their mental illness.
I tend to prefer situational humour over outright jokes. This book includes humour for all types. I particularly loved one chapter where Holmes asked other comedians for a short description of their most humiliating experience. It does not disappoint. However, I would have preferred if she had included more short and snappy anecdotes in the rest of the book. (My favourite story involves a gymnasium--you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens!) There are some laugh out loud moments, but some parts are depressingly relatable, and don’t necessarily add humour to the story. But what can you expect from a book about depression? She can’t make all of it lollipops and puppy dogs. Some dark spots just can’t be made lighter.
The stories can be a little heavy, but Holmes attempts to lighten the load with plenty of jokes and perspective. The book is peppered with cutesy images and illustrations, some which are more relatable than others.
While the book isn’t meant to be "digging deep" into these issues, there were a few recurring themes that I would have liked Holmes to explore more. For example, it became clear to me at one point that she may have been suffering from Imposter Syndrome –a psychosomatic phenomenon where an individual (usually a woman or a visible minority) feels like a fraud in their profession. As someone who’s struggled with this at particular (okay, many) points in my life, I would have appreciated a little more coverage of how she overcame this (if she ever did!). For those of you who want to read the book on Imposter Syndrome – check out The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women
While assuming readers already know the basics seems to be the nature of celebrity memoirs, I would have preferred a little more biographical information at the beginning of the book. The chapters are set up according to theme, so by the end I’d pieced together the story of Jessica Holmes’s life, but as I read I had a lot of questions that took time to be answered. This is in no way a criticism of this book—since a lot of celebrities tend to favour the themes approach over chronologically cataloguing their life. Although, I suppose in this particular case, it’s probably a good thing that she talks about her recovery in tandem with her mental illness. I wouldn’t have wanted a major twist in the book to have been her diagnosis or her recovery! That could have made for a very different kind of read…
Depression: The Comedy has something for everyone. Like the back of the book suggests, it’s definitely for fans of Jenny Lawson. (Although there isn’t an F-bomb in sight!)
3 stars.
*I received a copy of this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Depression: The Comedy is the perfect remedy for those who feel alone in their mental illness. Holmes maintains a lighthearted tone as she discusses the darkest times in her life, making it clear that those who suffer or have suffered from similar symptoms have company. In the acknowledgements, Holmes states that editors had wanted her to “dig deeper”, but she had said that “when the going gets tough, some of us need a frolic in the shallows”. Aptly put. Despite this acknowledgement, I do think that the book, while short, does delve into some of the underlying issues surrounding depression, and there is a list of resources at the end of the book for those who are coming to grips with their mental illness.
I tend to prefer situational humour over outright jokes. This book includes humour for all types. I particularly loved one chapter where Holmes asked other comedians for a short description of their most humiliating experience. It does not disappoint. However, I would have preferred if she had included more short and snappy anecdotes in the rest of the book. (My favourite story involves a gymnasium--you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens!) There are some laugh out loud moments, but some parts are depressingly relatable, and don’t necessarily add humour to the story. But what can you expect from a book about depression? She can’t make all of it lollipops and puppy dogs. Some dark spots just can’t be made lighter.
The stories can be a little heavy, but Holmes attempts to lighten the load with plenty of jokes and perspective. The book is peppered with cutesy images and illustrations, some which are more relatable than others.
While the book isn’t meant to be "digging deep" into these issues, there were a few recurring themes that I would have liked Holmes to explore more. For example, it became clear to me at one point that she may have been suffering from Imposter Syndrome –a psychosomatic phenomenon where an individual (usually a woman or a visible minority) feels like a fraud in their profession. As someone who’s struggled with this at particular (okay, many) points in my life, I would have appreciated a little more coverage of how she overcame this (if she ever did!). For those of you who want to read the book on Imposter Syndrome – check out The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women
While assuming readers already know the basics seems to be the nature of celebrity memoirs, I would have preferred a little more biographical information at the beginning of the book. The chapters are set up according to theme, so by the end I’d pieced together the story of Jessica Holmes’s life, but as I read I had a lot of questions that took time to be answered. This is in no way a criticism of this book—since a lot of celebrities tend to favour the themes approach over chronologically cataloguing their life. Although, I suppose in this particular case, it’s probably a good thing that she talks about her recovery in tandem with her mental illness. I wouldn’t have wanted a major twist in the book to have been her diagnosis or her recovery! That could have made for a very different kind of read…
Depression: The Comedy has something for everyone. Like the back of the book suggests, it’s definitely for fans of Jenny Lawson. (Although there isn’t an F-bomb in sight!)
3 stars.
*I received a copy of this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
February 7, 2021
Lovely little easy read, funny and important outlook on mental health! Highly recommend!
December 9, 2019
A super-relatable collection of stories illustrating depression from a first-hand perspective.
I saw Jess as a speaker at a recent conference and she had such a straightforward, realistic way of communicating the ways that her depression manifested and the effects on her life. I bought her book so that I could find out more about her story.
This is not a life story, nor a self-help book, but I think it does a great job of showing what depression looked like for her. There were a few memorable quotes for me:
This was a fun (yes, fun) read about depression and I think it was very eye-opening. It's not meant to solve everyone's problems but I think it personalizes mental health in a way that is important.
I saw Jess as a speaker at a recent conference and she had such a straightforward, realistic way of communicating the ways that her depression manifested and the effects on her life. I bought her book so that I could find out more about her story.
This is not a life story, nor a self-help book, but I think it does a great job of showing what depression looked like for her. There were a few memorable quotes for me:
A little part of me wishes I could have warned him back on that first date that those were mentally healthy years for me, and that eventually it would all start going downhill.Jess was the first person to be able to show me examples of CBT and mindfulness/grounding being put to use in a real situation - before, I never understood how CBT could help me because nobody ever explained how to really use it; I am very familiar with the science behind it and the general concepts, but I clearly missed the step on translation to real life. Another idea that stuck with me is that mental health takes daily "work" to maintain. I can relate that to physical fitness, playing an instrument, or practicing a sport, but for some reason I never connected those as similar concepts.
Please let this be the place that allows me to stop ending every day with an apology.
This was a fun (yes, fun) read about depression and I think it was very eye-opening. It's not meant to solve everyone's problems but I think it personalizes mental health in a way that is important.
February 24, 2019
One of the funniest books about depression I've ever read.
January 29, 2019
Canadian comedian Jessica Holmes shares her experiences with depression in Depression the Comedy: A Tale of Perseverance.
I think Holmes is an excellent comedian, and I love the idea of bringing a comedic approach to a book about depression, but some of the comedy aspect was a bit lost on me. However, I don’t know that I was in the best place to judge, as I was in a pretty dark headspace while I was reading it. Still, I think that there’s great value in a comedian writing about depression, as it helps to promote the idea that depression truly can happen to anyone.
Holmes uses a self-deprecating style throughout the book, taking ownership of words often used to stigmatize, like “loopy” or “nut”. She uses some interesting analogies, like describing depression as “the cold sore of the mind.” Advice from others was likened to adding “pressure to our hamster wheel of discouragement”.
Depression made her become firmly rooted to her sofa, in what she described as her “sofa-tastic lifestyle”. She describes other symptoms that will sound all too familiar to those of us with mental illness. She avoided her kids’ schoolyard because there were too many people, and also avoided her friends because she felt like a fraud around them. When asked by a produce to emcee a talk given by Oprah, her response was a half-hearted “neat”. Even though Oprah was on her vision board, there was not a “single trace of epic” and she decided to ignore the news and didn’t even think to tell her agent.
As a result of depression the author got into an anger-guilt-repeat cycle in her relationship, with a “nut/enabler dynamic”. For a period of time she was blaming all the problems on her husband, and while she thought she was being stealthy, her kids still picked up on it. She talks openly about how her sex life with her husband became non-existent, and how it felt too vulnerable to be intimate. She also freely admits that depression kept her from connecting to her kids. This made her feel guilty, and she “tried to make up for it by making every day like a trip to Disneyland”.
The book has some important messages for people who may not be familiar with depression. Holmes points out that “watching for signs of depression is a lifelong commitment”. She also writes that we need to persist in telling our stories until there is no more stigma around mental illness. I really appreciated her openness, and I’m glad that she’s using her public platform to educate people and challenge stigma.
I think Holmes is an excellent comedian, and I love the idea of bringing a comedic approach to a book about depression, but some of the comedy aspect was a bit lost on me. However, I don’t know that I was in the best place to judge, as I was in a pretty dark headspace while I was reading it. Still, I think that there’s great value in a comedian writing about depression, as it helps to promote the idea that depression truly can happen to anyone.
Holmes uses a self-deprecating style throughout the book, taking ownership of words often used to stigmatize, like “loopy” or “nut”. She uses some interesting analogies, like describing depression as “the cold sore of the mind.” Advice from others was likened to adding “pressure to our hamster wheel of discouragement”.
Depression made her become firmly rooted to her sofa, in what she described as her “sofa-tastic lifestyle”. She describes other symptoms that will sound all too familiar to those of us with mental illness. She avoided her kids’ schoolyard because there were too many people, and also avoided her friends because she felt like a fraud around them. When asked by a produce to emcee a talk given by Oprah, her response was a half-hearted “neat”. Even though Oprah was on her vision board, there was not a “single trace of epic” and she decided to ignore the news and didn’t even think to tell her agent.
As a result of depression the author got into an anger-guilt-repeat cycle in her relationship, with a “nut/enabler dynamic”. For a period of time she was blaming all the problems on her husband, and while she thought she was being stealthy, her kids still picked up on it. She talks openly about how her sex life with her husband became non-existent, and how it felt too vulnerable to be intimate. She also freely admits that depression kept her from connecting to her kids. This made her feel guilty, and she “tried to make up for it by making every day like a trip to Disneyland”.
The book has some important messages for people who may not be familiar with depression. Holmes points out that “watching for signs of depression is a lifelong commitment”. She also writes that we need to persist in telling our stories until there is no more stigma around mental illness. I really appreciated her openness, and I’m glad that she’s using her public platform to educate people and challenge stigma.
June 1, 2025
Depression the Comedy by Jessica Holmes was my first introduction to her, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in. As someone who lives with diagnosed depression, I appreciated her decision to approach such a heavy topic with humor. It’s not easy to make light of dark moments without minimizing them, but Holmes walks that line well for the most part.
What really hit home for me was her honesty about the shame of unemployment. I also enjoyed that the book felt like a conversation with Holmes which added to the easiness of the read. The book is full of quick, punchy chapters and snappy stories, which made it an easy read. It felt like sitting down with someone who’s been through it and is ready to talk—but keep it light.
That said, the structure of the book felt a bit scattered to me. It kind of jumped all over the place and I had a little trouble following along.
Still, it’s a refreshing take on mental health that doesn’t feel too heavy. If you’re looking for something honest but not overly intense, this is worth picking up.
What really hit home for me was her honesty about the shame of unemployment. I also enjoyed that the book felt like a conversation with Holmes which added to the easiness of the read. The book is full of quick, punchy chapters and snappy stories, which made it an easy read. It felt like sitting down with someone who’s been through it and is ready to talk—but keep it light.
That said, the structure of the book felt a bit scattered to me. It kind of jumped all over the place and I had a little trouble following along.
Still, it’s a refreshing take on mental health that doesn’t feel too heavy. If you’re looking for something honest but not overly intense, this is worth picking up.
February 6, 2019
This book was a quick read and a bit silly. Who knew a book about depression could be fun? And involve silly sketches, random thought tangents, and banter back and forth between the author and a fictional reader character? Well I didn't. This book doesn't dive deep into her story, but is very relatable, especially for someone like me who has spent years working from home in isolation and has experienced the shame of unemployment. The last third of the book was the most useful for me and I found myself wanting to highlight sections and repeat them to myself. Too bad it's a library book! It's helpful knowing someone else has felt the way I feel, and I appreciated her attempt at humour to shed light on a sad situation.
April 10, 2021
In Jessica Holmes' book. her description of the causes of depression has to be THE easiest to understand in layperson's terms.
It was so empowering to read how she got herself off the couch and moving and out of her depression once diagnosed properly. Getting a dog is a great non-pharmaceutical prescription and I wish exercise and fresh air were given out as substitutes for anti-depressant pills, which can be a bit of a placebo.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has depression or wants to understand it better. Plus she just makes you laugh and giggle and fall in love with her and her fabulous family.
Also, you get a great appreciation for how hard a life as an actor/writer/comic is. It's like a job interview each day. And my heart broke when a breakdown for a Jessica look-a-like came through and she was NOT asked to audition. SUCKS!
It was so empowering to read how she got herself off the couch and moving and out of her depression once diagnosed properly. Getting a dog is a great non-pharmaceutical prescription and I wish exercise and fresh air were given out as substitutes for anti-depressant pills, which can be a bit of a placebo.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has depression or wants to understand it better. Plus she just makes you laugh and giggle and fall in love with her and her fabulous family.
Also, you get a great appreciation for how hard a life as an actor/writer/comic is. It's like a job interview each day. And my heart broke when a breakdown for a Jessica look-a-like came through and she was NOT asked to audition. SUCKS!
November 1, 2024
An honest and yes, funny, book about the author's experience with depression. She gives a clear description of what it's like to be suffering from it. I was kind of surprised that neither she nor her husband realized what the problem was, but I suppose that's understandable because we all get periods when we're feeling blue. When she finally did get a diagnosis, she was relieved. I was also surprised to learn she is an introvert because I had seen her on TV in Royal Canadian Air Farce and knew that she did stand-up comedy. But she gives a good description of that too. She ends the book with the coping strategies which have helped her.
February 8, 2025
After experiencing depression most of my conscious life, I was attracted to Jessica Holmes' title. Creatives often experience depression and anxiety; I never realized artists in the world of comedy deal with the disorder. Holmes's description of depression, how the people in her life don't always understand, and the guilt she feels as a mother all resonated with me. I raised five children and it wasn't until the youngest was five that I was diagnosed. Holmes' memoir is full of helpful information and encouragement as well as laugh out loud anecdotes. I highly recommend this book for anyone suffering from depression or who has someone in their life who suffers.
February 17, 2024
Bit of humour on a serious subject
Jessica brings a little humour to a serious issue. It can help those that need help understand things a bit and those that see it know better how to react and understand what the person is going through. Fairly easy read on a subject that is hard to talk about.
Jessica brings a little humour to a serious issue. It can help those that need help understand things a bit and those that see it know better how to react and understand what the person is going through. Fairly easy read on a subject that is hard to talk about.
June 2, 2018
Skip to the last 2 parts for the actual nitty-gritty truth. Depression is a beast. This book was all over the map. Having said that, it is a brave thing to talk about depression in a tangible book that someone might relate to.
July 28, 2021
Started out a little "this girl has depression? Yeh sure" and turned into "oh, yeh she totally gets it." Quirky-funny, a nice way to connect with other people who feel this way and be reminded you're not on your own.
November 27, 2025
Have ever felt like the person writing about themselves are so relatable. This one was for me. Depression is no joke but sometimes hard to identify. It was a funny book written by a comedian.
Got to see her as a keynote speaker. Very funny in person!
Got to see her as a keynote speaker. Very funny in person!
April 9, 2019
A great book to really look how to deal with depression in a comedic way
April 24, 2019
Honest, funny, and touching.
August 15, 2019
Saw Jessica live and she was hilarious! She signed this book afterwards and I'm so glad I read it.
October 17, 2019
3.5 stars**
August 16, 2021
3.5
I enjoyed this book but it was a little all over the place at times.
I enjoyed this book but it was a little all over the place at times.
May 13, 2024
A quick read.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews