Who is Samwise Holmes?
I am a Sydney based writer and creative – right now my existence is almost exclusively operating as the creator & director for Marvelous, and the owner of entertainment businesses, Action Reaction Entertainment and Action Education.
I’m passionate about anti-bullying, so we tour a show called Backflips Against Bullying to schools around the country. And I’m passionate about theatre, ridiculousness, and Marvel – which is where Marvelous The Show was born!
What would you do differently from what you do now?
I’d probably be a racing driver, oddly enough – not a normal combination of passions, theatre and racing, but it’s something I used to compete in and still have a passion for! Marvelous has taken up all of my time the last 12 months, so now that the show is finally live it might be time to pick that hobby back up!
Who inspires you and why?
It’s my Mum, Rachel Holmes. She decided that she wanted to turn her life around, and did so in spectacular fashion. She’s the epitome of seizing opportunities – she could easily have stayed working at a low level job out in the country for the rest of her life, but one day she decided to pack it all up and join the circus to tour the country working behind the scenes!
She then moved to Sydney, where people recognised the actual worth of the 30 years experience in her field, and after working bloody hard, she’s now climbed up to being the Managing Director of a huge international company, launching their UK division. Her journey proves that sometimes you need to find where your worth is recognised, and with hard work and belief in your abilities, you can achieve anything, no matter where you started.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I would create an anti-bullying program that tours the country to educate students on how to be nice to each other… which is what we’ve done!
Favourite holiday destination and why?
My favourite holiday is any cruise – I don’t even care about the destination, I just like getting away from the craziness of normal life, and relaxing. I barely even get off the boat when we reach interesting destinations, I just enjoy the wind down and space to be creative. Relaxation for me is creating something, so I’ll spend the cruise writing new crazy ideas for a show – which is where a lot of Marvelous was written!
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
The theatre – any show in Sydney. Especially if they’re international – I think people don’t realise just how high the quality of theatre in Australia is. We put on shows that rival (and in my opinion, exceed) Broadway in their quality, so even though we don’t have as MANY shows here, we put on damn good ones.
What are you currently reading?
I haven’t had a lot of time for reading the past few months – I started listening to Audio Books, but it would only be as I lay down to sleep and I’d only get 3 minutes into it each night. Took me about 12 months to listen to the Lord of the Rings series last year! Currently I’ve been listening to Man Enough by Justin Baldoni.
What are you currently listening to?
I’ve been listening to the band Lawrence – the big-band-pop energy is a great motivator!
Happiness is?
Puppies. And puppy cuddles. And puppy kisses. We have two puppies (they’re dogs not puppies, but they’re all puppies, you know). More puppies = more happiness. So we currently have 2 x happiness.
What does the future hold for you?
Hopefully a great response to Marvelous The Show when we’re in Melbourne for a week in November, and building momentum from there!
Samwise is the creator & director of and who can also be seen as Deadpool in MARVELous The Show – which plays the National Theatre, St Kilda from 6 – 10 November 2024. For more information, visit: www.marveloustheshow.com.au for details.
Image: Samwise Holmes (supplied)