…Or how to enhance your life with the most incredible experience

What is YMBBT one may ask? It’s short for You Me Bum Bum Train; nothing rude about it, but you may smile at the name and wonder what the heck it is.

It is hard to describe in detail or any level of clarity either, because all of us involved are under NDA, and this is to avoid spoiling the surprise and the experience for those lucky – really lucky – enough to get through the ballot to buy a ticket (which is around £100, I am told as I have never been that lucky).

I can attempt to describe it as an immersive, linear experience (rather that a circular, multilayer one like Punchdrunk’s shows) where the ticket holder goes through a whirlwind hour or so of completely different, unrelated, sometimes opposing ‘worlds‘ where they are the sole protagonist. Not a passive audience member position, but a very intense experience which – depending on the individual’s personality – can take different angles and directions.

We, the volunteers (and there’s MANY of us each night) create these worlds and take part in giving the ticket holder (called the passenger) these incredibly fast and furious worlds. Some of these require a bunch of volunteers, some a lot less, some are loud, and some are fun and light while some are the complete opposite.

In the worlds of some who have experienced it:

• “Life changing”
• “It’s the best therapy” (Ruby Wax after the 2015 run)
• “The adrenaline shows absolutely no sign of leaving my body” (Metro, 2025)
• “That was the best night of my life”(famous passenger, Feb 2025)

And some of the recent media coverage:

• Leonardo Di Caprio caused press frenzy
• Rylan Clark said it changed his life
• Even a Royal princess joins in

The show, let’s call it show, was founded in 2004 by Kate Bond and Morgan Loyd who met at Uni and eventually devised the format, the concept and the name. It had its first incarnation in 2008, in 2012 and again in 2015-2016, then finally in 2024 and running up to beg of April 2025. This 2012 article is quite interesting and details the background and beginnings of the cult hit.

How did I get involved?

I first heard of YMBBT, if I remember correctly, because I saw an ad or an article in TimeOut (this was way before socials) looking for a classic Mini. I emailed them, never heard back but I must have been on a mailing list perhaps because when the show returned – in central London for the first time in the former Foyles’ building on Tottenham Court road, a friend of mine was one of set builders and convinced me to sign up to be involved.

And I was hooked. Didn’t take long; I did a couple of evenings and then more and more. One ‘world’ required volunteers with dogs, so many nights I used to take our then young pup Amber and we joined in. Did she enjoy as much as I did? I’d like to think so, because there were other dogs, and friendly people and friendly passengers (including some famous faces and one in particular which is one of my idol, what a major night that was up close and personal with them!)

“An army of unpaid volunteers, a near cult-like troupe of giddy enthusiasts”

Alex Ritman, Variety 2025

Time went by. I had a kid; a global pandemic happened. I had forgotten about the fun days of YMBBT. When I saw the news (socials are a thing in 2024) that the show was returning and they were seeking volunteers (to build the set, to lead, to perform, to back office and cooking etc) I signed up despite thinking “Naaah, I am older, have a kid, the dog is old, I am tired, I work hard… won’t do it, really”.

But when they held ‘casting meetings’ I said to myself I should at least go and check out, just to see, just in honour of the olden days of me volunteering. I went along. And the buzz was real.

I was immediately swept into the YMBBT rush of excitement, community, and signed up for a couple of nights.

My experience volunteering for YMBBT this year

The show is now about 6 weeks away from ending this run, after being extended in January. I have signed up for as many evenings as I possibly can (it runs tuesday and then thursday to saturday). I am cancelling previous engagements (Tom Hiddleston in Much Ado About Nothing? no thanks can’t do sorry) and risking divorce paper, but I am LOVING being part of it, allow me caps. I am obsessed; my close friends have had enough of me talking about it (withough really saying much!).

So I thought I’d write a post to try and explain why I I am so obsessed (explain to myself more than anything) and to entice anyone who is thinking about volunteering – even just for one night – to do so without hesitation.

It is one of the best thing I have going on in my life at the moment.

Pros of joining in

It’s like a job which you love (despite being unpaid!): it requires team work, commitment, it gives you tasks to perform and objectives to achieve, and at the end of the night, you have a massive sense of accomplishment, whatever your task (spoken part, non speaking, background, assistance). Kate and Morgan (unlike many of the senior leaders in the corporate environment) are always present, they thank volunteers and acknowledge the efforts every single show, they provide feedback and they are in it as much as everyone else. One of the shows I joined, Morgan had a tool bag on him and was fixing the set 10m before the show started.

It’s an escape from reality: however crap your day might have been, however worrying your life is at the moment, when you are at YMBBT you’re in a world of its own, literally. A parallel universe that exists only during those few hours. You contribute to creating it, you’re immersed in it even as a volunteer and you truly do forget about what is going on in the real world.

It’s a massive adrenaline rush and ego boost: it is exhausting (especially some of the more active ‘worlds’) and it’s a long, late night (you turn up at 6pm and finish after 11pm) but it’s a major rush and I can promise you, at least the first few times, you won’t sleep much because you’ll still be buzzing for hours. Plus you can feel elated by having played a small part of something immense, and you can then brag (within the NDA limits obvs) for days to all your friends and family.

You know you are doing something good: despite criticism of using unpaid labour back in 2016 (only a handful of full time staff members receive some form of salary it seems), the show runs as a not for profit and Kate and Morgan donate the profits to Warchild UK as well as many other charities (according to wikipedia the 2016 run generated 120,000£ donations to charity!) so you know you’re also eventually contributing to help some really good causes. Besides, to those critics – nobody is forcing me to do this! I love it and I get loads back, it’s basically a free night out.

You belong to a like-minded community: the sense of community is huge here. I have met so many lovely people (I am still in touch with friends I made in the 2016 run!). Despite the fast pace you do chat to people during the quick breaks; it’s a very sociable environment, and you can always stay for a drink at the end of the night and swap stories and impressions. I met my colleague Richard by chance my second night volunteering and now the two of us hang out at work, discussing all things YMBBT of course (none of our corporate world!)

You get to see some famous faces up close and personal: the show has a cult following and there’s been rumours in the media that the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Ed Norton, Madonna, Dita Von Teese are amongst those who went through. I obviously can neither confirm nor deny such rumours.

So, what are you eating for? sign up and give it ago! you won’t regret it, I promise