BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Anthony Martin and his friends are probably pretty sleepy, having spent the last 20 hours playing games like Super Mario, charades, and some interesting food challenges. You might be asking why a group of young adults would live stream all this? Well, to raise money for a good cause of course.
“Having them here is really fun, these games would not be entertaining without them," Martin said.
It’s all fun and games among this group of friends, led by Martin who, during the pandemic, decided he wanted to try and do something to give back to others.
“So my first time actually, I did it within a month. I decided I'm going to do a 24-hour live stream. I don't know anything about it but I'm going to do it in a month. That was a mistake," he said.
His plan: a 24-hour live stream gameathon, during which he’d play games and do challenges while viewers donate. Among the various games and challenges on the rundown this year are a hot wing challenge, horror virtual reality games, giant jenga, Among Us, and Taboo.
Viewers can even interact with the stream, donating certain amounts for challenges like the disgusting food challenge, where a viewer bid for Martin to eat, that’s right, a tarantula.
“Don’t know how well it’ll stay down, but we’ll eat it," he said.
He’s not alone though.
“It’s really hard to get people to pull up for a full 24-hours, but the people that show up are some of the best people I know," he said.
Throughout the 24-hours Martin is joined by his best friends helping him power through without stopping.
“I could not ever do this alone. I’d just be one guy trying to juggle who doesn't know how to juggle or dance who can't dance," he said. "It’d be funny for a second but these guys are what make these games really fun.”
While it’s not uncommon to find a group of friends staying up all night horsing around, this time it’s all in the name of charity, raising funds to the Ronald McDonald House of Bakersfield.
You can watch the live stream going on until 10 a.m. Sunday. For a special treat, tune in around 9:30 a.m. to watch Martin and his friends eat the oh-so spicy ghost pepper, all thanks to a viewer who donated $1,000.
