23/5/2026

Well, we did it 

 WhamBam 6 The Truth is... 

 Another brave group of story tellers delivered an on-topic set of heartwarming tales. The feedback has been great. I will do my best to give the run down 

Rohul managed to take us on a journey back to his childhood, growing up in Santa Cruz INDIA. Where Elvis Presley played a pivotal role in his youth, from permanent marker sideburns, to eating fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, while hating that his school life was not at all like the film Dead Poets Society, and finally realising the truth was Elvis represented an aliveness he was truly seeking. 

Slivan told us about career burn out and the turning points that happened after covid and a string of people he knew dying too young. That he was very influenced by the character who Robin Williams plays in Dead Poets Society, teaching the meaning of carpe diem. How this all tipped him into the need to take a six-month trip around the world, and Carpe the hell Diem out of life 

Josh then lifted the energy to another level with his tale about a family trip to India and that one of their main objectives was to have a family film night to watch Slum Dog Millionaire.  While they made their way around the country it became evident that the film was not known at all and not available on DVD in any marketplace stalls, pirate DVD shops, or hotel DVD library's. That it was becoming clear that his three-year-old daughters' perspective that God did not exist was slowly being proven until, their last night, when the family had resigned to watch the classic Clint Eastwood film Gran Torion and opened the DVD case to the screaming joy of Josh's sisters discovery that the disk inside was in fact the film Slum Dog Millionaire.  

Then I took the floor with a rather emotion tale of traveling while being desperately heart broken. That led to a 5am chance conversation with a fellow camper in the mount Kosciuszko National Park, realising fifteen years later that her story of loss was a lesson to hold onto the people you love. 

When we came back from the break, the MCing reans were handed over to Dave, who took the job very seriously. His multiple characters introducing each speaker was very high-level comedy.  

Rosie let the truth be known about how bad hotel COVID quarantine was. That the governmental systems in place where impossible to navigate, that the hotel rooms where horribly dirty and the discovery of bed bugs was not enough to give her family any time to even go outside and have fresh air, Rosie had to finally NOT tell the truth and lie that she was considering self-harm, so she could  get a 30 min security ringed outdoor fresh air, where her kids ran and played with joy. 

Ben took the mic and us all on a Schnapps' fuelled journey into the deep farmlands of Germany and the late-night chance to help birth a piglet with the encouragement of non-English speaking Veterinary Theriogenologists. Who loudly revealed the only two English words he knows as Ben plunges his hand and arm into the WRONG HOLE. 

Matt told us about his mother's enduring journey to never give up on finding love and how it has been an inspiration to him have a great loving relationship in his life. 

Dani closed the night with her choice to dive in and author a book about the joys of Turkish food in Turkey, and although she felt inadequate, that the truth was she just had to give it a go. Whalah, she did it and had the Book in hand to show us all.  

El and I are so happy that we can continue to bring WhamBams to you all and hope to see more people join our ever-growing audience. 

But as you know. It is not a show unless we have stories to tell, and everyone has a story. So please reach out and throw your hat in the ring. 

Much love 

El and Ford