You Me Bum Bum Train’s Last Few Nights in London

January 16, 2012

You Me Bum Bum Train, the surreal and mysterious ‘audience participation’ show that took the Barbican by storm last year has been playing at the old Post Office at the Holborn end of New Oxford St since December. Devised by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, this year’s show was so over-subscribed (by the thousands!) that the run has been extended into January. There are now three final nights – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week – where you can take part in this strange experience.

You Me Bum Bum Train consists of a series of set pieces where small groups of audience members are invited to become part of the story as they are led through different spaces in the building, with each scene devised to evoke a different emotional response. Be warned that some of these experiences can be quite physical and you should be prepared for the fact that, emotionally, you will be absolutely wrung out by the end of your 40 minute journey. I should also add that, to get the most out of You Me Bum Bum Train, you really need to let go and be quite uninhibited – it’s quite liberating!

I don’t want to do any heavy spoiling because being surprised and shocked is part of the experience, and anyone who has followed You Me Bum Bum Train for a while will tell you that it has the same first rule as Fight Club – you don’t talk about You Me Bum Bum Train! What I will say is that you’re going to be squirming if you don’t like drills, and you may be left out in the cold if you don’t appreciate the thwack of leather on willow. You may also be a bit confused if you don’t know what a ‘shammy leather’ is for…

If you’re very lucky you may be able to obtain tickets for these last three nights from the website here, although given its enormous popularity I wonder whether there might be a further extension of the show further into January – let’s hope so!

Having had a mooch around the web it looks like You Me Bum Bum Train might be reappearing very close to home later this year – I won’t say anything more until I’ve managed to confirm it, but I’ll provide an update with more details if I can…