Paul Saunders and Graham Stark are preparing once again to take turns driving a coach bus between Las Vegas, Nev. and Tucson, Ariz. next month.
On Nov. 18 the Victoria filmmakers will take their fifth annual virtual road trip, called the Desert Bus for Hope marathon charity, in front of a live Internet audience.
For as long as their fans donate, the team will continue to drive, or rather, play B次元官网网址渢he most boringB次元官网网址� eight-hour video game, Saunders said.
B次元官网网址淭he real devious part is your bus lists to the right as you drive. You canB次元官网网址檛 just tape your controller down and leave it.B次元官网网址�
Last year, they drove the bus for six days straight and raised $209,000, helping the U.S.-based ChildB次元官网网址檚 Play charity generate more than $2 million in toys, games and cash for childrenB次元官网网址檚 hospitals around the world. About $35,000 of that went to the B.C. ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Hospital in Vancouver, and more than $15,000 in cash and toys went to Victoria General Hospital, said Kristin Lindsay, U.S.-based ChildB次元官网网址檚 Play foundation co-ordinator.
As the creators of Bionic Trousers Media, a successful Victoria-based Internet sketch-comedy troupe that produces four popular online shows, Stark and Saunders are used to being behind and in front of the cameras.
Since creating their flagship online show Loading Ready Run in 2003, their sketch-comedy work has been featured at film and comic conventions, as well as on NBC and CNN.
Saunders estimates Loading Ready Run enjoys 10,000 to 20,000 views a week, while their Unskippable series, which offers a tongue-and-cheek look at video games, receives up to 400,000 views a month.
B次元官网网址淚f you sort of imagine 300,000 or 400,000 people actually sitting in a theatre watching your show, thatB次元官网网址檚 kind of cool,B次元官网网址� said Saunders, 28. B次元官网网址淭he wonderful thing about the Internet is thereB次元官网网址檚 no borders and no boundaries, and often, while we do have a pretty solid fan base here in Victoria, we hear from people all over the world (especially Sweden).B次元官网网址�
Much of heir work has a B次元官网网址渧ideo-game bent,B次元官网网址� though their comedy doesnB次元官网网址檛 stop there. Their latest creations are CheckPoint, a humorous video-game news show, and Feed Dump provides edgy commentaries on different topics. They film their weekly shows in their Victoria studio, as well as out in the community.
B次元官网网址淎s big geeks ourselves, we tended to do a lot video-game type content because thatB次元官网网址檚 what we were thinking about a lot,B次元官网网址� said Saunders. B次元官网网址淚t turns out a lot of the stuff I do now to make money, in some ways, video games classify as research.B次元官网网址�
To watch their shows, please visit loadingreadyrun.com or visit desertbus.org during their charity drive, beginning Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.
emccracken@vicnews.com
