Three and a half days in, the Desert Bus 2008 charity marathon has blown away both participants and viewers with its success. With donations at $51,646 as of noon on 3rd December 2008, Desert Bus 2008 has already more than doubled the success of its previous marathon, held in November 2007.
Where It’s All Happening
The crew of LoadingReadyRun – a Canadian online sketch comedy group – has been playing Desert Bus 24/7 since Friday, November 28, to make money for the charity Child’s Play. The small office in which they are playing has acquired that locker room odour of sweat and old socks. Gifts of food from fans and friends of LoadingReadyRun fill sustain those trapped inside playing the monotonous game.
How to Join In
Anyone interested can join the charitable torture by going to desertbus.org. Here one will find links to live chat with other viewers and live feeds of the bus and driver. Donations can also be made on the site, and each additional donation adds to the time that the game must be played. The team is currently looking at a stop time of 7p.m. on Wednesday, December 3, but that is sure to be pushed further and further back as donations continue to mount.
LRR Keeps Desert Bus Viewers Entertained
The crew, ever devoted to comedy, are doing what they can to increase donations and entertain themselves and viewers as the hours tick by. If specified, donations can purchase all kinds of silliness. So far, this has included performances of songs and puppet shows, embarrassing childhood stories about other crew members, driving the bus upside down and driving while wearing silly hats and a variety of women’s clothing. Crew member Matt Wiggins has made $500 dollars in donations by being forced to watch the new teen vampire film Twilight five times in theatres.
During lulls, the crew and their friends and fans inside the room answer questions from the live chat. These vary from “your favourite __” questions to inquiries about crew member Jeremy Petter’s love of ducks, crew member Morgan vanHumbeck’s new Desert Bus tattoo and the exact level of crew member Matt Wiggin’s grumpiness after his third viewing of Twilight.
Crew member Paul Saunders, proud owner of a bushy red goatee, promised to shave his whiskers if this year’s donations surpassed the previous year’s total of $22,800. On Monday afternoon Saunders shaved his chin bare in front of the camera, revealing his chin for the first time in seven years.
LoadingReadyRun has also received a number of phone calls while driving. Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Tyco from Penny Arcade and Jeff and Jeremy from Pure Pwnage have all called in to chat, along with other celebrities of the gaming world. Recordings of these calls are available at ustream.tv/loadingreadyrun for those who missed them or wish to listen again.
Natalia Heilke - Natalia Heilke is in her final term of a creative writing degree at the University of Victoria. Her focus is on short fiction, but she ...
