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[0:00] Jayke Workman: It's a bonus episode.

[0:03] Jayke Workman: It's a bonus episode.

[0:06] Jayke Workman: It's a bonus epiz.

[0:12] Jayke Workman: Oh my god.

[0:13] Jayke Workman: I even annoy myself.

[0:20] Jayke Workman: Oh my god, did you hear?

[0:22] Jayke Workman: Did you hear?

[0:23] Jayke Workman: Did you hear my god, guys?

[0:26] Jayke Workman: I am.

[0:35] Jayke Workman: What's up, everybody? My name is Jayke Workman, and this is a very special bonus episode of Oh My Pod, you guys, a musical theater and pop culture podcast.

[0:46] Jayke Workman: You guys, we will, of course, be diving into all of the Tony Award winners at a later date.

[0:54] Jayke Workman: But this is a very special episode because I get to talk to Ben Welch, star and creator of a new show called House of Life.

[1:03] Jayke Workman: And you guys, without further ado, please meet Sir Ben.

[1:09] Jayke Workman: Oh my pod, you guys. I am so excited to welcome a very special guest, someone who I've never met before, but I'm so excited to hopefully meet in the coming weeks because he is coming to the States to bring his new show.

[1:24] Jayke Workman: It is called House of Life, and it is being brought to New York for a very special pop-up situation, and I'm so excited to talk all about it. Please welcome creator and star, Ben Welch.

[1:39] Ben Welch: Yes.

[1:40] Ben Welch: Hey Jake, how are you doing?

[1:43] Ben Welch: Welcome to the pod.

[1:44] Ben Welch: I am so excited. I always ask my guests where you are calling in from, and you have a very special answer to this question.

[1:55] Ben Welch: Yes, I am living some like wild alternate universe dream where I am on an island called Agena in Greece on my family holiday. I haven't been on holiday in like three years, and so like calling in from Greece, I feel like an absolute Hollywood star right now. But also like compounding too many things that I should have definitely kept separate, but the dates are the dates, and we fly to New York in three days after we've flown back to England.

[2:24] Jayke Workman: What is going on, Jake?

[2:26] Jayke Workman: That is crazy. I can't believe you're literally in Greece.

[2:32] Ben Welch: Yeah, I've got Satziki just like falling out of my pocket. I'm having a great time.

[2:35] Jayke Workman: Amazing. Well, thank you so much for making time to even do this and be here with me while you're on holiday, because I am so excited to hear about your new show. Well, I guess new to me, but not new to the world, because you have done it across the UK and at Edinburgh, and I'm so excited to talk about it. Will you give us the like crash course in what this show is?

[3:01] Ben Welch: Yeah, what is it? We're so excited, we can't believe we like yeah, this this arm of it, this leg, this world tour, this like New York is just like the dream come true. So we made the show, The House of Life is like a theatre cabaret crossover show event happening thing. There's an eight-step guide to pure happiness hosted by the Raven, which is me with a glitter beard and some high heeled gold boots.

[3:26] Ben Welch: The Raven is in the building. And you know, it's a theatre show that takes the audience on a journey to happiness, step by step with some banging tunes. It's about kind of trying to connect while the world falls apart and genuinely within this kind of traveling musical cult collective come together while the world feels kind of disconnected and yeah we made the show in twenty twenty three and it kind of kicked off at Edinburgh fringe we didn't know what it was gonna be how it was going to go and it went amazingly and it kind of since snowballed from there and now we're coming to New York next week like what? This week in three days crazy.

[4:08] Jayke Workman: Yes amazing so did you did you fully create this show and and these characters by yourself? Like where did where did the imp what was the impetus for this project?

[4:20] Ben Welch: Yeah no absolutely not all by myself. It's like this is my baby that this is my one. It was at like a time when you know I'd had like big life events happening. My dad had just passed. I was like waiting for the birth of my first child. It was like a mad kind of time in my life and I'd kind of you know I've been making shows with my company Sheep Soup for over ten years, my main collaborator Nick Harvey and but this one was kind of me going like okay I need to lead on this I kind of had this idea of this kind of church type leaning togetherness kind of cult thing that was about coming together and trying to spread some joy in a time of lots of pain.

[4:56] Ben Welch: And so kind of got people on board to help with it and me and Nick kind of started coming up with stuff and and then got the amazing Trev on board who's the other guy other performer it's just me and one of the performer is a guy called Trev Lawrence Trev Cole and he's been in the sh the we've worked with him over many years. He's an amazing clown collaborator, musician, and we were like, hey, do you want to come and we had no money, no time? And we were like, do you want to come and jump on for the ride? And he did, and he's amazing. The show wouldn't be what it is now if it wasn't me and him. And then we've had some amazing collaborators who offered their time for free, like Dora Lynn as a dramaturg, and Nora Alexander to help with concept development.

[5:33] Ben Welch: So there's been like a whole and each time we've done it and gathered more support, and now we've got, you know, now we we it kind of kicked off that first year. We've got infrastructure this year, we've got producers, we've got support. So each time we're kind of upgrading ourselves and kind of yeah, kind of glowing up, I suppose, and having kind of people getting on board with this mission of this show that so many people have responded so amazingly to. So it's absolutely been a team effort each step of the way. It's kind of my driving force, and it's like my baby, but it wouldn't have happened without the amazing collaborations along the way.

[6:07] Jayke Workman: Fantastic. I'm so I'm so thrilled that your work and art like yours gets to be produced because it's some of my favorite things to experience as an artist, as an actor. I love getting to not only you know work on, but just take in these sort of like fringe avant-garde cabaret style pieces, because often they can have an impact that is a little deeper sometimes than you know, bigger, more traditional things.

[6:45] Ben Welch: Yeah, yeah.

[6:46] Jayke Workman: And so I'd love to know, like in tandem with that, how has being a creator of Sheep Soup, your company, sort of like lent itself to leaning away from maybe the typical commercial thing and really sticking true to your artistry in doing something that's a little off kilter, perhaps?

[7:13] Ben Welch: Yeah, yeah. It's hard, isn't it? It's like that's what that's a like grit. It's like the underground, it's the cabaret scene that we've been involved in for a long time. I'd say like this is the first show that's kind of linked a it's kind of me pulling together all of the things from my life. So like theater stuff, kind of hosting a room, a lot of like audience work and interaction and kind of cabaret leaning interaction stuff with some thing and and some tunes.

[7:39] Ben Welch: And I think it's like, you know it if if it's an like if we feel very lucky and very privileged to have like be kind of crossing over from this fringy world I suppose into people coming on board with more of a commercial mind perhaps and seeing this kind of having a bit more of a wider appeal. And that doesn't happen all the time. We've like, you know, we've been in we've been grafting for no money no time for many years and and also loved it. Like, you know, there's a faux thing in the show about it not being a destination, it's the journey and it's kind of a cliché wellness thing which we kind of link into and laugh about. But it's so true.

[8:13] Ben Welch: It's like we've had the absolute best times on the fringes with no money with Edinburgh ten years ago, flying for eight hours a day and kind of making it happen. And so this is like the next version of what that looked like where we get support and we you know and also we've got to accept our privilege within this of like me and Trev as to this male white man like leading a show and being able to kind of be taken on and supported and and and furthered in the world in a show that kind of is about together and community and everybody which has always been something that we've been trying to think about and grapple with is how we make it feel like it is celebrating everybody.

[8:49] Ben Welch: Um and yeah. I went off on a tangent there. But yeah, I think it's like an honor it feels amazing to be yeah to be have the chance to now look at what this kind of this small fringy underground kind of feel looks like on a bit of a wider scale and how that does get in kind of commercial whilst also keeping its kind of heart and keeping the DIY kind of feel which is what kind of the show was built on.

[9:14] Jayke Workman: Totally. Well before we touch on you know coming to New York and what that means for you and your show I would love it if you could touch on what Edinburgh actually is what the Fringe Festival is for people who may not know because people you know it gets tossed around in the ether of like oh yes it was at Edinburgh and then it went here and went here but like can you tell me like from the actual creatives perspective from the artist perspective like what is the Edinburgh experience like for you?

[9:47] Ben Welch: Yeah I mean it's wild. It's like the it's like the best my favorite place on earth but also like the craziest like melting pot of like madness that I've ever been a part of. I did my first one in like twenty eleven. At this heart it's like the oldest the world's oldest and biggest art festival right. So you there are up to three thousand shows that arrive in Edinburgh over the month of August along with like two million audience members from all over the world basically the whole industry that go to kind of use it as a uh I suppose like a sh a a way to connect with loads of artists, producers, other people and also like a shop window to like take shows and take artists to different places.

[10:32] Ben Welch: Now it's also can be very inaccessible, I'll say that. It's like very expensive. It's very hard to get something on there. Even if you then get an opportunity to do it, the realities of that, like the cost of it for lots of people is just unachievable. And there's some amazing people who are offering bursaries or grants to make it happen. But like, you know, it's very hard for a lot of people and a lot of people just can't access it. So you have to caveat that. Um, but a lot of the companies and the big companies that host shows, all the different kind of underbelly, pleasant assembly, all have their own kind of schemes to help support artists get up there. And you know, we've had some of the most amazing times.

You've got like all sorts of different art forms. So you've got theatre, you've got circus, you've got cabaret, you've got musicals, you've got stand-up, you've got all sorts of comedy, alternative clown. It's like there's at any one time from 9 a.m. to three in the morning you can just go and see a show and some of those shows are free. Some of those shows are reasonably priced compared to like West End or any kind of bigger regional theatre. Um, and we've just had some of the best times of our life there. Like meeting people, I met the partner and the mother of my children there. Like, you know, it's like a mad beautiful melting pot of wonder. Um, but it like it kills you. By the end of the month you're dead.

You're like doing a show every day for 25 shows with like one or two days off and you're then also flyering in the day to try and kind of get people in to do your show that like, you know, there's three thousand shows to choose from. Like you've got to try and sell, you got to then do press bits and Edinburgh's like a beautiful, you know, capital of Scotland, a beautiful place that gets descended on. And um, yeah, I love the fringe, and look, we're here because of the fringe. So long live the fringe, even if they've got to do some work.

[12:25] Jayke Workman: God, I just I can't even imagine. It sounds like a movie or something. Like I just picture like everyone in like the Beauty and the Beast provincial town, like waving out the window with your selling your wares.

[12:40] Ben Welch: The locals are like closing their windows, the locals are like, listen, give us our city back. No, they're very welcoming, but I'm sure it's a lot for them. There's a lot for them to take, but it is, and people like, you know, wearing huge costumes in the street. It's like you're walking down, there's a place called the Royal Mile in the center of Edinburgh where loads of people descend to kind of fly for their shows, and it's just like you've got this huge Japanese company doing this amazing acrobatic circus stuff, and then you've got this giraffe guy who's giving out some pasta donators. It's like it's wild.

[13:09] Jayke Workman: Yeah. I just can't even perhaps I'm completely naive to it, but I'm like, does Edinburgh even have the infrastructure to support two million people coming there? Like what on earth?

[13:20] Ben Welch: Yeah, no. There is a crisis of accommodation and stuff, but you know, it does its best, and there's lots of artists in student halls and lots of rich people in nicer places.

[13:33] Jayke Workman: Wild. Well, it's so amazing to hear about the journey from, you know, essentially a tryout at a place like that at a festival, to then get to London and all across the UK, and then finally to America in New York City, which not to say that New York or American theatre is the pinnacle by any means, but I am certainly in admiration of anyone who can make the jump across the pond and get something produced in the States because it's no easy feat. And there are so many amazing artists in the UK and beyond that, you know, struggle to make it to New York City, and you have your show coming to the city and I'd love to hear about what this means for you and your show and also tell the listeners where they can catch it if they're in New York City.

[14:27] Ben Welch: Yeah, again like dreamy absolute dream boat of a situation. And because of Edinburgh, you know we did the first Edinburgh and we got some producers on board so we've got Rodeo and tilted productions who came on board and saw the kind of longevity of this show and really bought into the show and its kind of mission. And then we did the fringe again last year and then it kind of got even more attention on a kind of wider scale and we had the wonderful people from P3 Productions come and see it who are based in New York and who are lovely and who are part of the producing team that are helping support bring us over for these pop-up performances. And you know, we've had some American audiences in the show that have loved it.

I feel like Americans are so not, and not to generalize, but like generally they like give the show is about kind of asking people to give something, right? It's to give some of their heart, give some of their soul, purge their stuff out but also like celebrate the people they're with, tell us their visualizations, their ambitions for the future and Americans are just like bang up for it straight away. They're like, well in, they're like yes I'm here with this person and they are amazing because this, whereas British audiences can be a bit more reserved and a bit more kind of, you know, they're always kind of looking for the punchline and the joke. Um, and so we've had American audiences that have come and kind of just given so much which is amazing for us as the show because it kind of feeds in so much to what the world is and also where we're trying to go with it and what we're trying to do which is about genuinely connect with audiences and genuinely kind of leave feeling lighter than we came in while the world feels so heavy right now.

So we're so excited at the thought of a whole room of American audiences and not just like a few people that have come along to like the fringe. Um, and so we were like yeah let's come and we want to see if there's like appetite for the show there and P3 think there is and you know people that know it think there is and what's beautiful is one of the places we're doing the show is at Waru, which is the home of Batsu, which is like an improv Japanese game show in like a Japanese sushi restaurant and cabaret bar in Eastside. Um, and they came to Edin Refringe to do the show and they were the show after us both years in our venue and so we've kind of made this beautiful relationship with Hertha Shields and the crew from Batsu and we always are like one day we'll come to New York and now it's happening and one of the pop-ups is in their venue and they've been amazing at helping support us do that and so that feels amazing.

And then, you know, this show works, it kind of fits into lots of different places. We were in like an underground cave in Edinburgh but it also has worked in the big Matuan hall 800 theater, um, and festivals outside and standing. And so we were looking then between P3 who have amazing knowledge of the kind of scene and you know we're like a queer cabaret kind of vibe and so we were looking at where else might be a good fit for that and so Three Dollar Bill got thrown into the mix which seems like my dream ever which in Bushwick right? And so they were like let's see what this kind of feels like in a kind of nightclub setting as well and like a bit of an alternative queer cab kind of space.

Um, and so yeah we kind of chose them and we're also doing a show at Arsnova which is for kind of invited people to come along to kind of get on board with the show too. So yeah, I just can't really imagine like what it's gonna be like I suppose. We're then also going to go around New York and take the Raven and Trev out on the streets meeting people and grabbing some content and going to some cool landmarks and um yeah so just to just to feel what it will be like I think is gonna be so special. Um, and they're the two public performances we've got on Friday the 20th of June at Three Dollar Bill and then on Sunday at Waru, which is the home of Batsu.

[18:03] Jayke Workman: Wow, I'm so excited for you. This is, you are in for a wild ride. Miss Three Dollar Bill does not play.

[18:12] Ben Welch: Okay. That is gonna be so fucking fun. I'm so excited.

[18:18] Jayke Workman: And are you coming? You should come. Come please for that one.

[18:20] Ben Welch: I wish I could, you're in Washington.

[18:24] Jayke Workman: Indeed, yes. But I did get the most lovely invitation to come and when it comes again, which I think is inevitable, I will absolutely be there and I want to talk about that. Do you have, um, or are you at liberty to share if you have hopes and aspirations for future iterations in New York City?

[18:45] Ben Welch: Hopes and aspirations are the words, yes we are, you know, always this chats going on and the people are doing the amazing work to kind of try and build the hype and build the buzz and you know we just hope that these shows, this is our time to see what people think and how New York kind of take the show. But yes, absolutely we'd love to be back and this is the chance for people to come and see it and check out and kind of get on board now as it kind of continues and hopefully be back very soon on a kind of longer basis. Uh, but you never know, do you? You never know what's gonna happen, Jake.

[19:16] Jayke Workman: But yeah, watch this space.

[19:20] Ben Welch: No, exactly. I'm like, I can't wait. Like, cut to six months from now when we're both back here on the podcast and you're running in New York City long term.

[19:32] Jayke Workman: Oh, dreamy. Well, Ben, thank you so so much for coming on the pod. Would you tell the listeners where they can find you on socials to keep up with this, uh, with you and your show?

[19:43] Ben Welch: Yeah, nice. I'm at Ben Welch17 on Insta for the personal little dive into my own life. Um, but the show at House of Life Show on Instagram. The website is www.houseoflife.me and that's where you can find ticket links, etc. Um, and yeah, you can find us on TikTok at House of Life. And yeah, stay in touch, please. Thanks so much for having us on. It's so nice. You never know when you put a kind of call out to people who yeah, don't probably have any idea of you or the show. So the fact that you've made time for it to kind of celebrate here is really appreciated, Jake.

[20:19] Jayke Workman: Thank you. Of course. You guys, that's it for a very special bonus episode of Oh My Pod, you guys. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen to the pod. And don't forget to get tickets to House of Life in New York City this weekend. Thank you so so much for listening. Talk soon. Bye.

[20:40] Ben Welch: Bye bye, bye, bye guys.