4 hours ago
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It’s been three weeks since I was a passenger on the You Me Bum Bum Train and I’m still completely shaken up by it.
The adrenaline shows absolutely no sign of leaving my body, I’m still questioning what really happened to me and if I’ll ever feel ‘normal’ again – whatever that might mean.
‘What on earth is a You Me Bum Bum Train?’. Well, that’s the thing – and this makes a review pretty complicated, I can’t tell you anything about it – nor would I want to.
Founded in 2004 by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, You Me Bum Bum Train is an extraordinary immersive experience that puts you through challenges you never imagined possible.
Before entering, every one of the 77 participants who take part each night sign a non-disclosure agreement, promising not to share any details of the subsequent next hour, keeping the entire experience a total mystery.
It’s gained an impassioned cult following and is still one of London’s best-kept secrets yet you’d have more luck getting a ticket for Glastonbury.
I first heard about it through a friend managed to get a ticket before they became the gold dust they are today many years ago and I’ve only known of one other person to have been fortunate enough to experience it since. They told me about their journey which in parts sounded like a total nightmare and other memories she had I was sure she must have been mistaken – it just sounded impossible.
When it was announced YMBBT was returning after eight years so many of my friends and I tried to get tickets without any luck. I didn’t even really know what it was but all I’d heard was it’s ‘life-changing’.
Thankfully, for the purpose of this piece, I was lucky enough to bag one.
With only the vaguest idea of what I was letting myself in for, I headed to a secret London location starting to get a little overwhelmed with nerves and excitement. Excitement that I was about to experience something so few others are able to and total fear of the unknown.
Essentially I soon found you are the star of the show, which going into the ride I didn’t quite appreciate until a few moments in and I realised I would need to immediately get rid of every bit of stage-fright or self-doubt if I was going to make it to the end.
As someone who always has an air of panic about them, this wasn’t going to be easy.
How and what you experience comes down to you. You can either let journey take over you, or you can try and take control of it – ie, throw yourself into every experience as if it was the real thing or have a laugh and try to throw a glitch into the system by taking the mick.
I leant into it way more than I would have imagined. I look back on it now and can’t quite believe the things I did or said. I don’t recognise the person I became at all but that’s the point – we’re all performers all the time. It turns out you can be anyone you want to be – you just have to let go of your inhibitions.
Absolutely anything is possible, there isn’t a single scenario beyond the realms of The You Me Bum Bum Train experience and I cannot stress enough how real it all feels. At no point did anything feel like a set or a person didn’t feel real.
At points I was confronted with some of the hardest challenges of my life, and then seconds later I would be having the most fun I’ve had in years. I came out of it feeling like a completely different person and even weeks later that feeling hasn’t gone anywhere.
I’ve been more open in environments when I’d normally struggle to exert myself. In 60 minutes, I learned more about myself than I ever could in months of therapy. I realised I’m capable of so much more than I knew, I recognised the limitations I put on myself are my doing and my doing alone but I can get rid of them too.
This current cycle is completely sold out but YMBBT relies on the support of volunteers, which they get in abundance because anyone who is in on the secret wants to be let into the magic. Around 13,500 volunteers will take part in YMBBT, giving their time and best performance away for free because they know they’re a part of something so special.
Again, I can’t explain what that might entail but I have spoken to volunteers who said they wished they could just do it every day.
If you’d like to sign up as a volunteer for You Me Bum Bum Train, register here.
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