Meet Amanda Benjamin | Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Youtuber, and Podcaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Benjamin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I used to be very risk averse and a major perfectionist. I would never perform a song that I couldn’t perform flawlessly 1000 times; I was a trained opera singer and the opera world is all about perfection. Perfect pitch, perfect diction, perfectly spoken and sung foreign languages, and (a more recent development in opera) a perfect look. Thankfully, before the pandemic I had found a few companies that defied that last convention and have spoken out about it. I had also ventured into film (even more perfection required with close up cameras!) and despite all the pressure I loved it.

However, reflecting on the pressures of the performing arts business, I realized that I never posted pictures that I found imperfect too silly. It was exhausting. During the pandemic I made a promise to myself (and all my social media followers) that I would figure out how to navigate this new world of online performing. So, I entered an online musical theater contest at a local theater company and the competition was stiff! Everyone was amazing but I made it to the final round along with a really good friend and a woman I had never heard of before. I was surprised and a little intimidated by her since most of the entries were locals who had performed in shows at this theater, but I persisted. I tried my hardest! I sent in the most perfect take I could manage in the very short amount of time I had to finish the video. And you know what? I lost! To the unknown woman. Now, this woman was (and is) amazing. She has the most angelic voice and an online following that I could only dream of. So while I was disappointed Iabsolutely knew that she deserved the win. And runner up is not a bad title! After all, it’s amazing that I even made it into the final round with all those beautiful voices that were in the competition.

A few hours later I saw a notification pop up on my phone. “Paulie Car wants to send you a message.” I thought I recognized that name from the comments in the competition, but I wasn’t positive. “Should I open it?” I remembered that the woman in the competition was “Jamie Carganilla” – was that a coincidence? So I decided to open it. “Why not,” I thought to myself. I don’t HAVE to respond.

So I read the message:

“Hi Amanda! Thanks for taking a chance and accepting my friend request. 🙂 My name is Paul Carganilla, and I saw your videos in the High Street talent competition (congrats, BTW, you’re fantastic!). Every Saturday night, I produce a live variety show through Zoom that streams on YouTube, and I wanted to invite you to come perform with us sometime, if it’s something you think you might like to do. The show is called Paulie’s Online Variety Show and our YouTube channel is called Vaudacity. I’ll drop a link to a recent show at the bottom of this message… the shows are rather longish… we do music, improv comedy, magic, etc… but scrub around get a feel for it – see if it’s something you might be up for, let me know, we’d love to have you on – you’re super-talented!”

Usually I would read a message like this and never respond. But I remembered the post I had just made and my vow to figure out this pandemic performance landscape. I said that I would find and accept new opportunities and one just fell into my lap. And honestly, there was just something about this message that I felt connected to. I still cannot say what it was. Maybe I could feel fate pushing me forward. So I did the unusual, the scary, and took the risk of talking to a total stranger online (for the record I do not usually recommend this) and I decided to say yes to a new and unexpected opportunity.

From there I became a regular on the variety show! I would go on and sing my perfectly rehearsed song for the week, and the Vaudacity community welcomed me with open arms. I can’t even tell you how much their support helped me keep singing in such a difficult time. I still tell people today that they absolutely saved my sanity during the pandemic.

One day, during the livestream, Paulie asked me to come on and play an improv comedy game during the show. “You mean me? THIS me? No, I’m not very good at improv.” And I didn’t think I was because you can’t rehearse and perfect improv comedy. But rehearsing and perfecting was the only way I knew how to perform. Give me lines, give me notes and lyrics, that’s the only way I would do it. “Come on,” Paulie said, “even if you are just on camera that’s good enough.” I would quickly learn that Paulie could make you believe you could do just about anything in the world. So I did it. And I even cracked a few jokes. And people laughed. Maybe this would be ok after all.

Fast forward almost a year and I had been on every online Variety show that had aired since my first one and even made guest appearances on other people’s shows. I was still trying to be the picture of perfection, but I was improvising more and more each time. I played various games, including “99,” “What’s in the Box,” “First Date,” “Dating Olympic,” “Headlines,” “Weird News,” and tons more that I can’t even think of right now. I didn’t recognize myself anymore!

Paulie soon sent out a message to several people who were regulars on the Vaudacity Network saying that for the one year anniversary of the network he was encouraging us to start our own weekly shows. I was very flattered and really excited about this new opportunity. So I sent him my idea: I want to do a weekly request show where people send me songs they want me to sing and I sing them live on the air. I would spin a wheel during the show to see which song gets picked (because I hate making decisions) and I’d have a different theme each week.

“I love it,” Paul says to me. But I couldn’t think of a name. I told him I had one idea but I didn’t think that it was the one. “Amanda on Demanda,” I said. He responded, “That is perfect!”

So I went for it. And I quickly found out that, unlike on the weekly variety shows where I could rehearse and perfectly perform one song, I could not for 30 requested songs a week, especially since I usually only had time to perform 7-10 of them during the show. It’s just not possible. Usually I would do pretty well, but sometimes I would sing a wrong lyric or a wrong note and I would beat myself up all week. I still had that perfectionist ingrained in me. But I kept persisting. I really wanted this. And you know what I discovered? I am human. And other humans who understand what being a human is are watching me. And they appreciate my skills, my voice, and what I bring to the table. They aren’t looking for a studio recording every week, they were connecting with me on this journey and they appreciated seeing me in both “perfection” and flaws. I eventually was even able to listen to myself perform after the fact! Musicians, you know how hard that is!

From there I performed in an improv comedy mockumentary, Deep Cuts (where several performers take turns singing songs on a different theme), The Cove (Paul’s first solo show), and continued my solo show. Along the way I even learned how to play guitar, and now regularly perform songs and play the guitar! And then I had another idea. But I was nervous to put it out there. I love ghost stories, true crime, and everything of the sort and I wanted to start a podcast all about it. So I decided to approach Paulie once again and see if he would consider co-hosting the show with me. “Absolutely, yes. You had me at ghost stories.” And with that “The Magical Mystery Hour Podcast” was born. We tell tales of the paranormal and unsolved, and play live music along the way. I even wrote an original song in 24 hours for one of the shows, and I really didn’t write music before that! I realized what a change I had seen in myself.

Sometimes you don’t see your own growth because you’re too busy doing the growing, but I looked back and I saw the girl who wouldn’t let anyone see the imperfect or vulnerable side of her, and now I see this woman who is saying yes, and taking risks. She is putting herself out there and writing music. She’s even putting it out online! She has her own podcast about all the mysterious things she loves but used to keep only to herself. She even started tap dancing! And all because I took a risk and said yes to someone I met through Facebook, and it completely changed my life forever.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I wanted to stay local and see a quality musical, I would see what’s playing at the local Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center or High Street Arts Center. If we wanted to do something bigger, we could go, see what’s going on at the Pantages. Another day we could head to the beach in Ventura and then have drinks and dinner at Ventiki for Hawaiian fare. To get some culture and art, the Getty Center is always a favorite. I prefer the art in the main Getty Museum, but I adore the architecture at the Getty Villa. Another day we could go on a hike near Griffith Park and then go to the Observatory. It’s best to go when there is a star party! People bring their high-end telescopes, and you can observe the rings of Saturn or the craters on the moon. We could also head north and go to the Santa Barbara Zoo, I love their new Australian Outback installation where you can stand about 5 feet from some Kangaroos. How cool is that? And on the way back we can stop by Chocolat du Calibressan for the best chocolates around made by a genuine French chocolatier. And finally, we would head even further north, and go wine tasting in Santa Maria or Solvang. I love Rancho Sisquok in Santa Maria for it’s intimate tasting area, the beautiful landscaping, gorgeous hillsides, and it’s vineyard cat who demands your attention. In Solvang I love Buttonwood Winery, it has a bigger property and is absolutely beautiful. And Sunstone Winery in Solvang has the most wonderful wine cave.

And, I would spend a day and get together with some of my friends from the Vaudacity Network and play music for my visiting friends. Hunter Ackerman and I would sing “Country Roads” or “Fade Into You” as a duet. And Mike and Nicole Pierce would play with my husband David and I (we call ourselves DAMN) would perform some of our hit covers (Teach Your Children, Foolish Games, Helplessly Hoping, or maybe Two of Those Two). And we would have to have Paul Carganilla play some tunes. We do duets monthly on our podcast, so we have plenty in our back pocket. And we would end the night making smores around a fire and chatting about all things from TV shows, to past lives, to astronomy until about 2 am.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have a few people who deserve a lot of credit:

1) My husband David. I couldn’t get through this life without him. He supports me in every step of my life. He makes me lunches or gets gas from my car when I’ve run out of time. He encourages me to take dance and guitar lessons. He lifts me up when I don’t think I can go any further. He is my rock.

2) Paul Carganilla, the person who taught me to say yes to new things, to take risks, and to put myself out there even when it’s scary

3) The whole Vaudacity Network Vamily (that’s what we call ourselves) for all of their support in my musical and podcast endeavors. I even had a group of about 25 people come and see me when I was in a production of Beauty and the Beast

4) My parents and family for giving me support and music lessons growing up

Website: www.AmandaOnDemanda.com

Instagram: @AmandaOnDemanda

Facebook: Amanda Benjamin Singer/Actress, Vaudacity Network, The Magical Mystery Hour

Youtube: Youtube.com/AmandaBenjamin Youtube.com/Vaudacity Network