Original subtitles

[audience applause]

♪ White lips, pale face ♪

♪ Breathin' in the snowflakes, ♪

♪ Burnt lungs, sour taste ♪

♪ Lights gone ♪

-Of all the stupid things I could have done,

this feels like the stupidest...

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “The A Team”]

-The moment I walk out and see how big that arena is,

I’m starting to think,

“I gotta get out of here.”

Nervous energy, heart rate,

sweaty palms, short of breath, all of that.

The reality’s kicking in and I’m feeling really terrified.

-He started learning this instrument two months ago.

[crowd noise]

-And all the fans are gonna be watching me destroy an

Ed Sheeran classic.

[crowd noise]

[Ed] In January, I sat him down at my drum kit and

he sort of had a bit of a play and I was like,

"Uh."

-It’s one take, it’s one shot.

-Will you make some noise for Chris Hemsworth?

[crowd cheering]

-I basically have no musical talent,

so how did I end up playing drums with one of the biggest

pop stars in the world, in front of 70,000 people?

[crowd noise]

-It’s the first challenge on a journey that will take me

all over the world.

[laughs]

I'm diving headfirst into cutting-edge science...

Here we go.

...to uncover three powerful secrets to living

better right now.

Yeah!

[team cheering]

Can we supercharge our brains by learning something new?

-You chose the wrong instrument.

-They’re not very nice, are they?

Can we beat pain...

-Fight for it! -...by reframing it?

[groans]

I think it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

And what benefits are there...

-Right.

...when we face the things that scare us most?

[groans]

-Come on, Hems. Get up there!

-It's a life-changing mission that will push my mind and

my body to the limits...

...and it starts here, in London.

I’ve always worked very hard on my physical fitness,

but now that I’m in my 40s,

I’m realizing that I need to put as much work

in for my brain as I do for my body.

There’s some days when I think my memory’s pretty good,

and then other days I think,

“Oh, something’s not firing properly” and,

but I think I put it down to being overwhelmed by certain

things and just having too much on my plate.

So, I’ve arranged to meet neuroscientist,

Maya Shankar.

And she kicks things off by giving my brain a workout.

-Okay, Chris, your job is to try to ignore what the letters

say and focus exclusive on the colors.

-Okay. -Okay.

-Red. Orange. Purple. Yellow. -Okay.

-So, red with the right hand, blue with the left.

-Blue with the left, exactly.

-So I do these cognitive tests with Maya.

A surprisingly fun experience.

Wee!

-Wow! Great job.

-Yellow. Green.

-You did great.

-Turns out I’m pretty sharp. In that moment, anyway.

Uh, so that was, that was comforting.

But there is some bad news.

-So, as we age, our brains shrink,

and after the age of 40,

we see about a 5% decrease in volume every decade.

-What does that mean for us on a day-to-day basis?

-Right now, you might think,

“Oh, it’s fairly easy for me to remember what I ate

for lunch yesterday,

or the details of the conversation that I was

having with my friend.”

That’s gonna get harder.

[Chris] Our brains are made up of neurons,

cells that all communicate through a complex

network of connections.

As we age, we lose connections,

but we can compensate for this by building up

something known as cognitive reserve.

It’s like if a highway closes down,

we can create and access side roads that get us

where we want.

These alternative neural pathways form when we really

challenge and stretch our brains.

-So, one of the best ways to boost your brain is to

learn a new skill.

-So, what skill would you recommend?

-I would recommend learning a musical instrument.

-Ah, Okay.

-And that's because every part of your brain is being

activated simultaneously when you’re learning

a musical instrument.

-Right.

-So your visual cortex, your auditory cortex,

your motor cortex.

You’re getting a lot of bang for your brain buck,

and there’s also the emotional component of learning music.

-Yeah.

-There's the social element of playing music with others, um...

-Right... depending on how well you play.

-Yeah.

-Otherwise, it must be like, “Stop it!”

-Yeah, exactly, it can have an antisocial effect.

-That’s right.

I, I, but I, I love, I love music as well,

and I’ve always wanted to be more musically,

uh, skilled, uh, so this is, this is a good opportunity.

Sure.

-And so, yeah, your next step is figuring out

what exactly you wanna play.

-Okay.

[Chris] I’ve got a mate who I’d love to get

involved in this.

-This is the room that all the,

uh, live recording goes on in.

-I met Ed a few years ago.

He was playing in Australia,

and a mate of mine who knows him said,

“Oh, he wants to come say ‘hello’,”

and he came over to have a quiet lunch and like,

20 of my friends turned up and I was like,

“What are you doing here?”

And it was like, “Oh, I heard Ed’s coming over.”

But he was so cool about it,

and we became kind of instant buddies.

-I think we should trade professions 'cause I think

I'd make a better...

-You hold that better than me, and look at...

[Ed] You got drums, guitars.

[Chris] Wow.

[Ed] I’ve got a cello here,

just in case you wanna just try that.

And then piano.

Like, this could be easy-ish if you just play the white notes.

♪ White lips, pale face ♪

♪ Breathin' in the snowflakes ♪

♪ Burnt lungs, sour taste ♪

-Mm.

-But you can play... -Something like this?

[♪ upbeat music playing, “The Knuckle Song”]

It could be some that could be...

[laughter]

-So, guitar.

You could sing, uh...

♪ They say, she’s in the class A team, ♪

♪ stuck in her daydream, ♪

♪ Been this way since 18, but lately ♪

You said you could play guitar?

-Not like that. -Okay.

-Ah, I can’t play guitar. I can strum a few chords.

I had, uh, a thing, uh, in high school.

-Cool.

[strumming the guitar]

-If you can play chords like that,

‘cause that actually looks like you can play a guitar,

that, but that’s probably not gonna be a challenge.

-Yeah, I was told it needed to be challenging.

-So maybe we put the guitar down then.

-Unfortunately, yeah. -Cool. Sad.

Or, we go really fun and you try drums.

-Fu, fun for who, exactly?

-It won't be fun for your family,

when you're practicing at home.

So, you would just learn the two, three,

and then you hit on the one.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.

And then one, two, three, four.

One... do you wanna give it a go?

-Uh, yeah. Oh, you're gonna...

-So, just start, just start with the hi-hat first,

just ts-ts-ts.

-I’m starting to sweat.

Like an octopus, this is like,

and then the extra limbs.

One, two...

-And then try and hit on the one and the three

with the kick...

-One, two...

-...three, four.

No, yeah, so you...

one and three and then the two and the four.

-Oh God!

-Do you think you’re up for this one, though?

-Well, Maya has told me to choose the most, uh,

challenging instrument because that’s what’s gonna

give me the most, uh,

benefits as far as brain health goes.

So, this feels like we’re in the zone.

-I think this actually might be the most difficult thing

that you do.

It’s, it’s definitely not gonna be the most dangerous,

but it’s gonna take a long time to master this.

-Learning the drums is a really cognitively demanding task.

You’re having to coordinate across your four limbs and

to learn different rhythmic patterns.

[playing drums]

Research shows that novice drummers who learn the drums

for just eight weeks showed meaningful,

positive improvements in their brain structure.

[Chris] Our brains are actually split into two halves.

Our left half controls our right limbs,

and our right half, our left limbs.

Tasks that require limbs on both sides, like drumming,

can only happen if the halves communicate across a bridge

called the corpus callosum.

Studies have shown that drumming changes

the corpus callosum,

making its fibers thicker so communication flows

across it more efficiently.

This has many benefits, with drummers able to perform

complex tasks with less mental effort,

and these changes may also build cognitive reserve.

-Yeah, so boom-cha-boom-cha.

-So. -So, one, two...

-Oh. -One...

-It’s not just drumming that can strengthen

the corpus callosum.

Any activity that involves communication between the left

and right hemispheres will help get the job done.

Things like juggling, or dancing, or really any sport.

-I was thinking... -Right.

-...To put a fire underneath you,

that I would set you an end goal to actually have

to learn it for.

I'm just about to restart my stadium tour and,

and I was thinking that you should learn the drums

to play a song with me.

-Oh, God, okay. Um...

-And there’s gonna be a time limit for it,

so you are gonna have to practice an hour, two,

three hours, every single day.

The worst-case scenario is tens of thousands of people

will get a good TikTok.

-Yeah. Which is, yeah...

-And the best case scenario is people get a great TikTok.

-Ah, there you go.

The task is set.

I’ve got around two months of prep until I have to go and

play with one of the biggest performing acts on the planet.

So, I need one hell of a teacher.

[♪ heavy rock music playing Parkway Drive, "Vice Grip]

This is Ben Gordon.

He’s a good mate of mine and lives in the same town as me.

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪

[Chris] And he is a drummer.

He's the drummer for Parkway Drive,

one of the biggest metal bands in the world.

He's incredibly talented...

[drumming]

But with quite a sort of Buddhist approach to it all.

You know, he,

there’s a Zen quality to Ben that I love,

which is such a, a contrast to the, the music he plays.

And he’s gonna be my drum teacher.

[drum solo]

Do I have to do that?

[laughter]

[Ben] When Chris told me the challenge,

initially I was pretty shocked because it’s not an easy thing

to learn drums in a short period of time at the age of 40.

Kick drum with the pedal.

-See.

-Toms, primarily used for drum fills and drum rolls.

-Yeah. -Snare.

-Yep.

-It creates the backbeat, and then China...

-What’s that called? -The China cymbal.

-The China cymbal.

-Yeah, it's kind of popular in metal and rock. Um...

-And in China? -Yeah!

[laughs]

First lessons are laid out for the very, very basics of,

of drums.

-One and two and... -Just playing a simple beat.

-...And four and one...

and ooh yeah, and one...

-But it was extremely difficult for him.

-...And one and two and, three...

-So, we'll start slow.

Three and four and one and two...

Yeah, and I’m slowly realizing Chris doesn’t have much

innate drumming rhythm.

-One and...

[Ben] Just, let's slow it down. So, one...

It’s pretty hard to find what Chris is bad at but

I think we’ve found it.

I think we found one thing that he doesn’t

excel at immediately.

-Yeah, one and two and three and four, one...

[Ben] How’s your brain feeling?

-It makes you kind of get a weird headache.

[laughter]

I’m finding it all of it challenging.

The left hand, right hand,

right foot all doing a different thing,

while being in time.

So, this one is on the what?

-One and two, and three and...

-I feel like I’m twisted up and tied in knots.

Aargh!

It’s little comfort knowing this is supposed to be good

for my brain.

I’m thinking Ed Sheeran’s really nervous if he saw this,

this footage.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ So baby now ♪

-To top it all off, the song I’m going to play has been

streamed more than six billion times.

[Ben] “Thinking Out Loud” is one of his biggest songs,

so there’s a chance it could be severely butchered by Chris.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ Place your head on my beating heart ♪

♪ Thinking out loud ♪

-As far as the drums in the song, on the surface,

it might look like a simple song.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ ...right where we are ♪

-What a lot of people don’t know is most drummers,

myself included, find it much harder to play slow.

One and... okay.

There’s more time in between the notes,

there’s more space,

which means it’s easier to speed up.

So, if the drummer gets out of time,

it's worst-case scenario live.

There's a common saying that the band's only

as good as their drummer, so...

-Oh! -Yeah!

-I really kinda move to the beat of my own drum,

not the drum, or his drum.

Or anyone’s drum, really.

[playing drums]

[Ben] You’re going good, though.

-Aargh!

[playing drums]

-Yeah, it’s alright. This stuff takes a long time,

so just be patient with yourself.

-We don’t have a long time.

-Yeah, we don’t have a long time.

[Chris] With time in short supply,

I get in touch with Maya again.

-I know Chris is feeling huge amounts of pressure.

To get to the point where he’s performing live on stage

with Ed Sheeran is going to take a lot of effort.

I want him to put down his drumsticks and shift his focus

from learning how to drum,

to learning how to learn from people who are

masters at learning.

-Ooh!

Wow!

How does this cross over with my drumming experience?

-Yeah, that’s a, it’s a fair question.

There is a method to madness.

-Hey, how are you?

-Hi, I’m the head coach of Cirque du Soleil’s Crystal,

and I have two questions for you.

-Yeah. -How is your acrobatics?

-Um, compared to this? Rubbish.

-And how is your dancing?

-No, you're not asking me to dance, are you?

-No, no problem, because we are gonna teach you one

of these roles today.

[Maya] We’re actually gonna throw you into the deep end,

and the idea is for you to learn the

underlying learning techniques,

‘cause these techniques are gonna be things that you use

when you’re learning how to play the drums.

-Okay, alright. -Alright, let’s go.

-Okay, good luck, Chris. You got this.

-Thank you. Are you not joining us?

-Thankfully not.

-We’re gonna break it into sections.

-Okay.

I’m worried about somebody being injured.

-We’ll be walking on the porters.

-Uh, and also just concerned about memorizing

the entire sequence.

What are the porters? Are we the porters?

-You are one of the porters.

[Chris] This is a five-minute routine,

broken into multiple sections,

and I have just a couple of hours to learn it.

Do you want me to watch you do it?

-Yeah.

-So these Cirque du Soleil performers,

one of the methods they use is called “chunking.”

-I need you to lean back and you take his weight,

and push it back up.

-Okay. -That’s the first chunk.

Chunk two.

[Maya] We use chunking because our brain’s capacity

to store information long enough to actually use

it is limited.

-You remember it? You wanna run it?

-Sure.

-When we break something into smaller,

more manageable chunks,

it makes the whole process so much easier.

-Um, so this is the start of chunk number three.

-Nice.

-This section is one of the big acrobatic moments for you.

If you don’t support him, everything goes down.

No pressure.

And lift up.

-Straight up. -Face forward.

Hold her. Face forward.

-And then turn so you can face the other way.

-The other way. -Sorry...

-The other way.

-And that’s where you need to change your hand.

-Yeah. -Up.

-Oops, sorry. -Alright.

-And then you’ll just stay in here.

Don’t go too fast.

If you’re not ready,

or if you’re, I would just say it.

-Yeah.

-It’s super important to communicate.

-Okay.

-So now you’re gonna mirror the boys and get in there.

-Yeah.

-When we mirror someone,

we’re imitating their actions and behaviors.

-Down, over, and then out.

-This leverages a key feature of the mind,

which is that when we watch someone do something,

we tend to activate the same brain areas.

[Chris] When we watch someone perform a skill,

specialized cells in the brain called mirror neurons activate,

as if we were performing the skills ourselves.

This activation allows our brain to internally

rehearse the skill,

building a mental blueprint for how it should be done.

-So this one, you’re mirroring Nathan.

Yep, and then up. You come through.

Here.

-Mm-hmm. -And then now...

...perfect.

That's what you wanna do.

Yes, nice. Nice!

-Nice, easy, well done. -Well done!

[Chris] So, I’ve been learning the routine all morning

with these world-class acrobats,

and then I’m about to be shoved right in the middle of it all.

-Uh, any words of wisdom, any tips, techniques,

for what I’m about to embark on in this next performance?

-So I know we’re in the world of Cirque du Soleil right now,

and you’re also in the world of drumming.

-Yeah.

-But I really do wanna emphasize that everything

you’re learning today,

they’re gonna be lifelong techniques that you

carry with you, no matter what it is that you’re learning.

Before you go back,

I wanna cover one of my favorite learning techniques,

and this one is visualization.

I just want you to see if you can get through just

one bit of the choreo.

-Yes. -Okay.

-You’ll never know for sure if I’m telling the truth.

-I know.

You could have just been speaking about going to

a pub last night.

So, visualization is using our imagination to try and

rehearse the skill or the sequence in our brains.

-Right.

-One of the best things is that you can do it anywhere.

-Sitting at the airport, driving, whatever,

kind of imagining, rehearsing those steps, right?

-Yes, and I think that’s gonna help accelerate your learning.

I believe in you.

-Just catch her. -Oops, fist bump, uncover...

-Don’t drop her.

Oh yeah, see, I was visualizing the experience,

but let’s do that.

[Chris] We have one last dress rehearsal...

[background group chatter]

...And of course there's anxiety I'll mess it up,

but then I think, phew!

Okay, we've rehearsed this,

so I spend time visualizing the moves.

Trust that I've learnt the routine a chunk at a time,

and hope that the mirroring has ingrained the trickiest moves.

[director] Turn over, turn over please.

[Chris] And then, it’s showtime.

It all comes together, and it all falls into place.

I’m trying to appreciate and absorb the moment,

but also not get too distracted.

[♪ intense music playing]

[cheering, applause]

-Yeah! Yeah! Yes!

[Chris] Armed with learning techniques I can

use in drumming, I get back to my practicing.

-I think at this point,

Chris’s biggest challenge is the structure of the song.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ When your legs don't... ♪

-Yeah, we’ve been using all sorts of

different learning techniques,

and the chunking, that one’s really helpful.

You wanna cut the song up into chunks,

learn each chunk,

and then play the song in a cohesive whole.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ And I can't wait sweep you off of your feet... ♪

-Okay, flawless round.

With “Thinking Out Loud,” Chris’s first challenge is

going to be starting at the right part of the song.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ Will your eyes still smile from your cheek? ♪

♪ Darling, I will be loving you ♪

[Ben] When Chris first comes in,

you have to be in time,

and on the night of a concert, you only get one shot.

[playing drums]

-Yeah?

-Slower.

[Chris] That first hit is always a really tricky one

for me to hit.

It’s got to be right on when the piano, the bass,

the guitar, and Ed’s,

his singing, all hit together, boom!

[Ben] So, on the first hit.

-Of this?

[Ben] Yeah, like that...

Mirroring has been a big one.

I’ve got two drum kits in my little studio,

so Chris can see me, and that seemed to help a lot because

the other big challenge for Chris is the pre-chorus.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ I just wanna tell you I am. ♪

♪ So, honey, now ♪

-Chris doesn’t really have his head around that yet.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ I just wanna tell you I am ♪

[Ben] So, are you aware we're doing that in...

-Three, or...?

[Ben] Yeah, but then there’s a four, five.

-Yeah, I've got to do,

yeah, like I said, three of them, and then...

Rehearsing with Ben makes me think of the film, Whiplash.

You know, “You’re rushing,”

“You’re dragging,” “You’re rushing,”

“You’re dragging,” but far more nurturing and,

and kind.

[Ben] Now, the last chunk I want to do is the end of the song.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ Maybe we found love, right way we are ♪

-The end is extremely important for the feel of the song,

and the audience is gonna feel it too.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”]

♪ We found love, right way we are ♪

-Ah! It feels so...

The other thing I’m always messing up is that final

bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam.

That, yeah. Yeah, it's... I’m struggling.

[drumming]

-I’m starting to realize that Chris has a lot of work to do.

He needs to really put the time in to learn the parts now.

Practicing is really, really important for him.

-And that’s gonna be really challenging because

I’m really busy.

I've got a million other things that are taking priority.

I have a press tour...

We started in Sydney, uh,

we did LA and now we’re here in London.

Filming numerous projects.

Family commitments...

What’s your favorite smell?

-Two stroke, baby!

[Chris] Raising three wild kids...

That kid’s insane.

Keeping sharp and healthy, and then learning the drums.

It’s somewhere in there, or not.

-Many times I’ve suggested that we do a lesson,

and he’s said he’s too busy.

I don’t think Chris realizes he can’t just muscle his way

through this one.

It takes time.

-How are you, bro?

[Ed] I’m alright, I’m alright.

-Well, uh, it’s, I’m in the thick of it.

Trying to learn the drums.

[Ed] How are you finding it? Are you, you doing it?

Is it in time?

-Uh, yeah, it’s, it’s, I definitely underestimated

the whole thing, yeah.

[Ed] How much have you,

do you practice, like, hours every day?

-I, look, I, I haven’t, no.

Yeah, sort of. I’m getting there.

[Ed] So, the tour’s coming to an end.

We’ve got the perfect show for you.

It’s gonna be in Bucharest in Romania,

and it’s to 70,000 people.

-It’s a good round number.

What’s your, what’s your refund policy like?

[Ed] No, no, we’ll have fun.

-Yeah.

[Ed] Plus, mate, it’s in two weeks,

so you know, you’ve got loads of time.

-Yeah.

[Ed] You’re gonna be in the center of everything.

You’re gonna have a big spotlight on you,

so you’re gonna like the buzz.

-Well, I, it's...

[Ed] Good, love you, man.

-Thanks mate, love ya.

I feel really guilty at this point,

and I feel the pressure now from, you know,

the world’s biggest pop star, but also a mate of mine,

that I’m gonna let down.

-Chris has a really high standard for himself.

He doesn’t like failure,

he doesn’t like being embarrassed.

What I’m trying to reiterate is he’s gonna be

in the limelight very soon,

so he needs to be taking this more seriously now.

So, I think we need to motivate Chris,

largely with fear.

Parkway Drive, we’ve got our production rehearsals

for our upcoming tour.

I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to play

with a live band and see what it’s like in a

live band dynamic.

Kind of throwing you in the deep end today.

-Never played with a band before,

and I’m like,

we’re gonna play an Ed Sheeran song?

“Thinking Out Loud,” and he said,

“No, no, we’re gonna play one of ours.”

Um, do you think I’m ready for that?

-We’ll find out very soon.

He’s gonna be out of his depths, that’s for sure.

-Good to see you, mate. See ya!

[Winston] Come for try-outs?

-Welcome to the zone.

-I’ve come for, uh, the audition for the new drummer.

Had some issues with the old one.

-Thanks.

-You've already won some beauty points...

-Thank you, thank you. -...On the old one.

-That’s what I heard you were after.

Looks but no talent. That’s me.

[Jia] Did you play any instrument ever,

like flute in school or something?

-Flute? The recorder.

[whistles]

♪ Two little sausages ♪

-“Three Blind Mice?”

♪ One went sizzle and the other went bang ♪

Remember that?

Oh, this is the double kick.

[Ben] So, as a drummer,

you’re gonna keep your cool and play in time,

while also remembering the song,

while also knowing what’s going on with the band,

because the, the rest of the band,

the instruments, follow your lead.

What, what you should play in this is just a

basic rock beat,

which is simpler than the Ed song.

Hi hat’s open,

and then the kick drum’s on one and three.

[playing drums]

-Alright, you ready for action?

-Let’s go, test one. Here we go.

[♪ heavy metal music playing]

[Winston] Stop. Stop.

[band] No! No, no.

Ah! Alright.

[Chris] What’s now becoming clear in playing with an

actual band is that I really can’t keep time.

-Alright, let’s go again. Take two.

[Ben] One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

One, two--

- Hang on!

[Winston] Take three.

Let’s go.

[♪ rock music playing, Parkway Drive “Vice Grip”]

♪ A system of complete control ♪

♪ The pressure builds ♪

♪ It wraps its hands around your throat ♪

♪ A constant battle ♪

♪ Keep the flame alive ♪

[Winston] That’s swaying.

[Jeff] That was pretty sad.

-That's...

[Jeff] That’s pretty sad.

-100%.

-You came in pretty well, and then you actually slowed down.

Can you notice when you speed up and slow down?

-Oh, there’s a lot going on.

-How long before the Ed gig? -14 days.

[Jeff] You chose the wrong instrument.

-You chose the wrong instrument.

That was so bad we couldn’t keep going.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. -Yeah, that was train wreck.

I mean, like it’s a hard reality check because you pull,

you pull the drummer out, the whole thing falls to pieces.

-I, I’m sort of having a chuckle and having a laugh and,

and then it starts to hurt.

-Yeah, I mean, it’s all well and good to do that,

that’s the thing.

You can do that but if you’re sounding like you are now,

if we screw up on stage,

it’s kind of endearing and people are like,

“Ah, my favorite band screwed up.”

You’re an outsider going onto Ed’s stage and

if you screw up in front of their fans,

his fans aren’t gonna be like, “Yay!”

They’re gonna be like,

“You’re screwing up my favorite song.

Why are you even here?”

-They’re not very nice, are they?

[Ben] It's good, though. Like, failing is how you learn.

Don't let the failure, um...

-I should be learning plenty, then.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Failure’s frustrating, but it’s a critical part of

unlocking improvements in the brain.

Every time we fail, we’re signaling to the brain

that something isn’t quite working for us,

and so it needs to be reshaped,

it needs to change.

-Yeah!

-That feeling of your brain just hurting and

you just wanna give up,

that is when it’s doing its work.

You have to get to that point of failure over and

over and over again.

That’s how your brain learns.

-When we make a mistake,

it signals to the brain,

“Hey, the current setup isn’t good enough.

We need to actually change something.”

[Chris] Failure is an essential part of mastering a new skill.

It can force our brains to adapt,

helping us learn from our mistakes.

Over time, strengthened connections and new pathways

between neurons form,

which are reinforced through repetition.

After continuous practice,

our brains have built up a bank of new pathways,

not only boosting our current skills but also

creating cognitive reserve,

making our brains more resilient as we age.

The more we push ourselves, the better.

Definitely scared the hell out of me enough to make sure

I have to have,

you know, six hours a day now, on the drums.

So, you might be called upon a little more frequently.

You might have sleep overs. We'll just...

...In bunk beds. “Ben, you awake?”

I just wanna get out of that place so I can start

practicing the song.

So I cancel everything ‘cause I’ve got a lot of work to do.

-Yeah.

-I know I need to master the pre-chorus and the big finish,

but most of all,

I need to crack how I come into the song.

-So we’ve been using visualization.

I’ve been getting him to go home and

visualize himself playing.

-I’ve started carrying drumsticks around with me and

just kinda banging on the dashboard in the car.

Just anywhere I am, just trying to hear that song.

[humming]

-Then repeating the mirroring...

...the chunking.

-There’s a lot of, um, team talks with myself, you know?

-Come on in, you ready?

How are ya? You ready?

-Good, man.

I’m 24 hours away from the event, and I’m thinking,

“You’ve got this,

you’ve got this, it’s gonna be good.”

[Maya] Even though Chris has really internalized the song,

there’s a real chance that his brain might trip him up

in the performance itself.

He might also be overwhelmed by the novelty of the location.

It’s different from where he actually learned the

song in the first place.

-No matter how many times you practice,

when he gets on that stage,

he’s not gonna realize how,

how nervous he’s gonna feel.

If he gets caught up in the pressure of it,

he’ll seize up,

and if the drums stop, the show stops.

-See you, guys. See you in Romania.

-I feel it’s 50/50.

[♪ intense music playing]

-Good, it’s a small theatre. It’s a small space.

-That is a massive stadium.

You’re literally going to the top of the music world,

like you’re playing in a sold-out stadium with one of

the biggest acts in the world.

That’s pretty incredible.

-Yeah, we skipped a few steps, didn’t we?

-You skipped about 20 years of struggling...

-Yeah. -You just got to the top.

-I’m really nervous because I’ve never played this song

properly with a band before, and then Ed comes out.

-How’s it gone? Are you ready?

-"How's it gone?" We need a singer...

-Yeah. -We need a singer.

It’s going alright.

-How you going, man? -How are you?

-Ben, nice to meet you.

-No, it’s going good, it’s going good.

I’m, it, it, I’m excited.

-How’s it going? -Uh, no, it’s good.

He’s good.

I, I’ve been concerned at the start,

but the last two weeks, he’s put the time in.

-Yeah.

-What, so have you done nothing but drumming for

the last like, two weeks?

-That’s it. That’s it.

-Wow! -Kind of spent.

-So good. -I’m excited.

-Right, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll go up on stage.

-Feeling comfortable?

-Yeah. -Yep.

-I’m sure I can hear, don’t know, how fast is it?

-Trust your... -Huh?

-Trust your instincts, just try not to doubt yourself.

-And I thought we would have,

you know, a few hours together.

♪ Baby now ♪

♪ Take me into your loving arms. ♪

-We have one run through, and my timing is off.

And he goes, “Cool, good. Sounds great.”

-Great. -And so...

...I think it’s so bad that he’s not gonna bother and

he’s now telling the sound tech to turn me

down or something.

But I'd love to have a little,

a little longer to rehearse.

But then...

-Ipswich are playing at five, so come watch it.

-Ed says, “Oh, I’m gonna watch the football.”

I said, “Oh, yeah, sure, sure,

you can go and watch the football.”

-You an Ipswich fan now?

-Oh yeah, course I am.

As of just now.

I should be practicing, I should be rehearsing,

I should be running through the song,

I should be listening to this song,

and there’s surely something else I should be doing.

[cheering]

I’m no longer sort of jokingly terrified and nervous,

I’m actually, um, really concerned.

[background television chatter]

I’m starting to think, I’m gonna get out of here.

So I do.

I don’t watch the rest of the game.

Pick up my drumsticks, started banging away.

And so, sitting here now,

I can be really honest with you because at the time,

I’m saying, I’m excited, I’m good, I’m good,

feeling good.

-How do you feel about going out there, you playing?

-Good, yeah. -Yeah.

-Good, good. Um... yeah, it's, as, no, good.

I wasn’t, I was terrified.

-Do you feel prepared and ready?

-Yeah.

I just kind of imagined myself dropping the stick and smashing

my head on the cymbal,

and then that’s just being on a loop for the world to see.

I could hear the stadium filling up outside,

and it’s all starting to feel very real,

but I keep telling myself this is good for me,

this is good for my brain.

But not for my stress levels.

-Ready? You look ready.

-Hey, listen, just try to have fun out there, right?

Don’t be nervous.

-I won’t be nervous.

-About what I’m about to do to your career.

-I'm not gonna, uh,

I'm not gonna introduce you, so like, afterwards...

-Okay. -...I’m gonna be like,

“Hey guys, guess what?”

-Yeah, sure.

-And then are you gonna come on stage?

-Yeah. -Well, good luck, man.

-Yeah, buddy. -Have a good time.

-You too.

[♪ upbeat music playing, Ed Sheeran “Castle on the Hill”]

♪ Oh, I'm on my way, ♪

♪ Driving at 90 down though country lanes, ♪

♪ Singing to Tiny Dancer and ♪

♪ I miss the way you make me feel, ♪

♪ And it's real... ♪

-There’s really no feeling like it when you

walk out to a crowd of thousands and thousands

of screaming people.

[crowd cheering]

You got this, brother.

You can’t compare it to anything.

It feels like a coliseum,

it feels very nerve-wracking.

If you can harness that, it’s an incredible feeling,

but if you get too excited, you don’t play well.

There’s a fine line that Chris is gonna have to find.

If he’s in his head, that’s not a good place to be.

He has to let his subconscious mind do it automatically

and just feel it.

[Chris] So, I’m walking out into the arena.

It’s way bigger than I’d imagined.

It’s, everything’s just too overwhelming.

And I feel incredibly inadequate.

I feel like, embarrassed,

and, this was as far out of my comfort zone

as I could have been.

I had assumed that no one would know I was there,

but within about 10 seconds,

people start noticing and then the cameras

are coming out and it’s,

and the energy’s starting to shift, sort of onto me,

and I’m like, what the hell am I doing here?

So I step upon to my little stage and Dexter,

the real drummer, steps aside.

There’s an internal battle of,

I can do it, I can’t do it.

I can do it, I can’t do it,

and just trying to let the positive voice win, yeah.

♪ And she don't wanna go outside tonight ♪

♪ And in a pipe, she flies to the Motherland ♪

♪ Or sells love to another man ♪

♪ It's too cold outside ♪

And I start looking around,

and I see the arena and all the lights and

Ed's still playing and...

It’s, um, I’m scared.

-Ah, because with this song,

if you do not know the words to this song,

then you are at the wrong concert.

♪ When your legs don't work like they used to before, ♪

♪ And I can’t sweep you off of your feet ♪

-And I know if I can’t hit that first beat, you know,

when the bass starts, the piano, the guitar,

everything hits at the same time,

and if I’m off, it’s, it’s all off.

♪ When your eyes still smile from your cheeks.... ♪

♪ Hey, darling, I... ♪

-And then here we go. And...

♪ I will be loving you till we're 70. ♪

[Chris] And I look around,

and Ed’s still relaxed, and I’m like,

just make sure you’re concentrating on

what you’re doing.

♪ And baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23 ♪

♪ And I'm thinking 'bout how... ♪

[Chris] I’m encouraging and welcoming the adrenaline

at this point.

♪ Mysterious ways ♪

♪ Maybe just the touch of a hand ♪

-But now I have the pre-chorus to deal with.

Yeah, I was always on or off that.

It, yeah, I couldn’t consistently hit that right at

the right time.

♪ And I just wanna tell you, I am... ♪

-Then I had a little moment of,

“Oh, you’re this close, don’t drop the ball now!”

♪ So, honey, now, take me into your loving arms ♪

-But then something happened, and something sort of clicked.

♪ Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars, ♪

[Chris] I just soak it up, you know?

♪ Place your head on my beating heart ♪

[Chris] And I’m not worried, I’m not concerned.

♪ I'm thinking out loud ♪

[Chris] Even that final...

♪ We found love right where we are ♪

-Now, ladies and gentlemen,

there has actually been a special guest

here the entire time for this song,

the entire time,

and you just have not noticed them.

He started learning this instrument two months ago,

and he has been on stage playing with us

for the whole time, playing in time.

Will you make some noise for Chris Hemsworth!

[cheering and applause]

Now, how about that?

You’ve been amazing, mate.

-It was all a little, you know, out of body.

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ Sing oh, oh ♪

[Chris] And I haven’t ever had 70,000 people staring

at me like this.

♪ Baby, now ♪

♪ Take me into your loving arms, yeah. ♪

♪ Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars, ♪

♪ Oh my darling, ♪

♪ Place your head on my beating heart ♪

♪ I’m thinking out loud ♪

♪ Baby, we found love right where we are, ♪

♪ Baby, we found love right where we are, ♪

♪ And we found love right where we are ♪

[Ed] Make some noise for Chris!

[audience cheering and applause]

Chris, come up. Come up on stage, mate.

He has worked his socks off, to the point where no one even

noticed there was a different drummer and, uh, yeah,

I’m just really, really proud of him.

[Chris] And then I walk up on stage.

Ed says to me, “Take you, your headphones out and

listen to this.”

-Give him a big round of applause, guys!

[audience cheering and applause]

And I’ll never forget that moment.

[Ed] Make some noise for Chris Hemsworth.

[Chris] To be in the eye of the storm at that point,

to have the approval of 70,000 people was,

I’ll say it was a nice feeling.

I was, I was very thankful.

[Ed] Things you didn’t expect to see.

[audience cheering and applause]

-Woo!

[Ben] I feel like Chris has learned a lot in this challenge.

[cheering]

He’s just opened up a whole new realm for himself.

There’s been so many failures and frustrations along the way,

but he’s pushed through, and that’s how you learn.

That’s how you push yourself, that’s how you evolve.

-That’s where I belong. I’m a drummer!

-Yeah, you are.

♪ One, two, three woo! ♪

[Chris] As I watch the rest of the concert,

I’m happy, I’m content.

♪ Now, I'm in town, break it down, ♪

♪ Thinking of making a new sound, ♪

♪ Playing a different show ♪

-And learning a new skill, I feel,

has ignited a different part of my brain.

I feel different things firing, and I do feel the benefits.

And also in that pursuit of a new skill,

takes you on an entirely new adventure.

It’s really good for cognitive health,

learning an instrument.

All the science is there,

but it’s also about having fun and doing something enjoyable.

♪ Could it be that I don't need you at all? ♪

♪ You need me, man, I don't need you ♪

[audience cheering]

[backstage cheering]

-Did you enjoy it?

-Yeah, brother. That was fun.

-It was, you were so good, man, honestly.

-Right. -Did you get the buzz?

-I got a buzz, yeah. -Yeah?

You really, really did well, really well.

[Chris] Yeah, thanks mate.

It was a huge high in the moment,

and then in the aftermath, as things are slowing down,

I feel a weightlessness.

I could have almost gone off to sleep.

-We’re gonna turn the cameras off and we’re gonna

have a beer.

So, see you later.

-Instead, I went to the pub.

Next time, I travel to South Korea...

[grunts]

...To unlock the secrets to overcoming pain.

[yelling]

I just knew it was gonna suck...

It’s in my [bleep] eyes.

...And it did.

[groans]