If this is your secret dream, it may be about to come true. You’re on stage being interviewed. You’re talking about your passions, what matters to you. The audience is rapt and appreciative, hanging onto every word. The host is genuinely interested. He’s a veteran interviewer and TV star – eight Emmys, no less. When the interview ends, you are met with enthusiastic applause. You are loved. You are famous – at least, for this moment.
This dream will become reality for several lucky audience members on January 19 when the legendary Ben Hollis, host of "Wild Chicago," "Ben About Town" and "Ben Loves Chicago," brings "What’s It Like To Be You?" to the Wilmette Theatre. This production, says Hollis, is a “direct evolutionary step from 'Wild Chicago' and all the TV work in between” and is a result of his “growing desire to know more deeply what people are about and what’s it like to be you, in other words.”
The meaning of “wild” has similarly evolved. To Hollis, it now also stands for “What I Love Doing” and reflects both his love for his new gig and his hope that guests will reveal what ignites their own joy.
Whether you are in the audience or on stage, "What’s It Like To Be You?" may be the most riveting theater in Chicagoland. But unlike other theater, no one rehearsed, no lines were memorized and the actors aren’t acting. Unlike TV, there will be no editing. This is real life at its most inspiring.
Q: Ben Hollis, what’s it like to be you?
A: It’s never boring, for sure. I am spiritually and mentally restless and endlessly fascinated with myself. I would also say, I have a nearly desperate desire to let people know what my experience is of living in this body and with this mind in this place at this time. At the same time, I’m guarded for fear of what my family and loved ones might think if I really let it all hang out.
On a bad day, when I don’t feel so hot, if you ask me “how are you doing?” or “what is it like to be you?,” I’m likely to say, “I’m doing great. I just don’t know it.” Because you take out the wide angle lens, and if we’re walking around or breathing, we’re doing okay.
I also think, and this is why I do this show, that if I feel this way, certainly other people must feel that way, too, with that desire to tell people what it’s like to live, to be here now. And at the same time, to have that tension of being afraid to tell it.
But I just know we can’t afford to live our lives silently. We know deep down that we have gifts. We have beauty to give to the world and to our fellow men and women and if we don’t do it, we’re going to get sicker. Everybody needs to raise their hand and say, “I’m here. Can anybody see me? I’d like to tell you a little bit about what’s going on.” People want to be seen, people want to be heard and that’s as simple as that.
Q: I’ve noticed people in the audience talking to each other during intermission and after "What’s It Like to Be You?". People suddenly seem to feel connections.
A: Cool. I notice that, too.
Q: What’s it like to be you asking “what’s it like to be you?”
A: The thing I love best is when I see my guests light up. They delight in talking about themselves and in the amazing power of having a room full of people listening and hanging on every word.
We’re all asked, “Hey, how are you doing?” But after “how are you doing?”, a number of things happen. You have a choice of whether to answer honestly or not. There’s also a dynamic in the question. Did the person really want to know? Was the person even conscious when they asked it? I say, “How are you doing?” all the time and I’m not even conscious. It’s one of those automatic things.
“What’s it like to be you?” is “how are you doing?” on steroids. It demands that we step out of ourselves and observe ourselves. It honors the fact that we are conscious beings, hopefully conscious of our own lives and how we’re ticking. And if we’re not, it asks us to raise our level of consciousness.
Q: What do your projects say about you?
A: They’re a direct extension of my love and interest in people. The first "Wild Chicago" segments were very short. Over a time, with "Wild Chicago" and then with "Ben Loves Chicago" and "Ben Around Town," segments got longer. People revealed more. Then doing this show gave me a place to go deeper with people.
What was so fun, was to look back at "Wild Chicago" and go, boy, the things that the audience most responded to and that I was most charged by were when I was talking to people who were doing what they loved doing. No matter how eccentric or wacky it all seemed ,we loved watching them make leather underwear, or collect skulls, or act like a vampire, or start a dating service for people who lived with snakes because she lived with snakes and couldn’t get a date with anybody.
"What’s It Like To Be You?" is a tremendous vehicle to get to what I love doing for people. In the course of conversation, we come away from these interviews knowing about what that person loves. And they find out, too, perhaps on a deeper level or maybe for the first time, something new and exciting about what they love doing, what gives them passion in life. That’s the new wild.
Q: What do you look for when deciding which audience members to interview?
A: I like choosing people who appear to be eager to share about themselves. Sometimes I ask "Do you consider yourself introspective? How well do you know yourself?" Their answer helps me pick up a vibe as to whether or not they'll want to go there with me.
I also like enthusiasm, effervescence, funniness. And sometimes I like it when I pick up that a person is shy, a little unsure, but they say they are willing to give it a shot. I love offering them a chance to step out of their comfort zone and feel how much fun it is to be asked about yourself and to be listened to — not just by me, but by an entire audience!
Q: How did your television career start?
A: I was working for a corporate video operation and we got shut down. I’d always had a dream to have my own TV show, but I’d put it on the shelf. I’d just got married and my in-laws were pretty conservative, so I wasn’t resentful, really, but I was happy to get a job in corporate TV and advertising.
When I got laid off from this corporate job, I immediately thought of TV again. But I thought, I’m going to get a job in advertising first. So I was showing a piece of tape of another creative thing I’d done called "Rent-A-Friend" which was a video of me for forty minutes talking to you and listening to you and being your buddy on tape. I showed this to people and they got excited and one guy said, you should go to Channel 11 and talk to John Davies and he might be able to help you market this thing. This was serendipity at its best because I went to Channel 11 thinking I was going to get marketing help and instead, I walked out with an agreement that we would try to make a pilot and see if we could sell it to Channel 11. And that’s what happened. And I wound up getting my own TV show.
So you can turn your back on your dreams and put them on the shelf, but they’ll never turn their back on you. They’re always there, waiting. You just need a little bit of willingness, a little open door and all of a sudden, if you’re open to it and co-creating with it, things can still happen.
Q: Especially in these times when people are being forced to reassess. It could be, best case scenario, a great opportunity. Easier said than done, I know.
A: But you’re right. That’s what I think, too. With times being rough, if you’re going to expend a lot of energy, why not expend it in the area you know you’re passionate about? Chances are probably better that way that something good will come. What if you were to get a job and then you wound up hating it? Or worse, or maybe not worse, then got laid off from that job, how discouraging would that be?
Q: You are also a singer and songwriter. When did you become involved in music?
A: I’ve been singing my whole life and always wanted to be a rock star, even since I was a little kid. I started writing songs around the end of college and was in a comedic rock and roll band called Saint Bernard and the Dogmatics. Then that band broke up. I started thinking about doing that act myself and that I better learn to sing and play at the same time. That led to playing in comedy clubs, but I still had the not-necessarily comedic songs in me. So I just slowly nurtured both. Truth be told, it’s probably the most direct path to my soul of anything that I do. I’m very unbridled and just let it rip.
Q: What was your craziest or most memorable "What’s It Like To Be You?" moment?
A: That's a tough one. Here's a moment on the topic of what's it like to be ME! I began a show with a very spirited interpretative dance/air guitar/air keyboard performance — just like the ones I use to do in my little single dorm room with ten people crammed in. Billy Cobham's "Quadrant IV". I gave it my all, over four minutes worth. And I was absolutely physically exhausted and winded at the end. I knew this would be the case. I knew I would need time to recover my breath — maybe a solid minute or so. So I wrote an introduction in advance, on paper, and following the performance, I asked for a volunteer to come up on stage and read it. She came up (she was a plant!) and she read it verbatim while I heaved and wheezed behind her. I loved that moment and I think I'll do it again at the next show.
Q: Have you used "What’s It Like To Be You?" interviewing techniques with your kids? And any advice for parents?
A: I can't say I consciously tried to use any techniques with my kids. And I did make an effort to listen. Both girls have rewarded me with some very sweet times where they wanted to just talk, let things out, bounce things off me, and I got to listen. I would suggest to moms and dads that they find ways to hang around with the kids, maybe find a board game or activity to engage in, and let the child just start to talk. I KNOW that asking a lot of questions did not work for me. This reminds me of improv training — I always encourage my students to find an activity and get involved. Then let the dialogue unfold from the action. Lots of questions frequently kill an improv scene. Activity, physical activity, makes it come alive.
Q: You also bring "What’s It Like To Be You?" to corporations and colleges. Are people worried about showing vulnerability in those settings or is it usually pretty warm and receptive?
A: It’s warm and receptive. I don’t think you’ll hear a story of a child’s fatal illness or a divorce story. But just to hear where somebody grew up, or a little about their family, or what they’re passionate about outside the office goes a long way to helping their compatriots see them a different way.
Afterwards, it gives people a reason to talk to each other with their own stories, like, “well, I thought that, too.” People benefit from getting to know each other beyond just the face they see. This works for getting to know the boss or the management better, too, to put a human face on those people.
In college, it’s a good way for students to connect at the beginning of the year. It’s a great way to model something other than social media for connecting with people.
Q: Anyone you would like to interview whom you haven't already?
A: Without a doubt, Spalding Gray, the man from whom I received the inspiration to do this ["What’s It Like To Be You?"]. And, alas, another dearly departed, Walt Whitman, great American poet.
Q: Anything unexpected about you to share?
A: In a previous life I was shot dead by a Japanese sniper on Guadalcanal.
Q: Anything else you would like the audience to know?
A: "What’s It Like To Be You?" is fun – it’s funny, it’s dynamic and full of life and surprises. People are so happy at this show. They have a great time, so it’s hard to believe that it can be that much fun and still be good for you at the same time.
"What’s It Like To Be You?" returns to the Wilmette Theatre on WEDNESDAY, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. with Special Guest Star Interviewee: YouTube Comedy Star CRAIG BENZINE, creator of "Wheezy Waiter" (26 million upload views!). Tickets are $15. The Wilmette Theatre is located at 1122 Central Ave. For tickets or more information, call 847-251-7424 or visit http://www.wilmettetheatre.com/events/.
