On Friday, August 19, I had the amazing pleasure to attend “Let’s Play Live” at the Chicago Theatre. “Let’s Play Live” was a blast, but I didn’t get very many pictures/video of the performance because I was actually enjoying it too much to be bothered with taking a video of it. What “Let’s Play Live” is, is a live performance of the Let’s Play network coming together to play video games in their signature comedic ways in front of their fans, as well as doing things that are simply not manageable to do in an online video. I understand that even with that description, not everybody knows what is so special about “Let’s Play Live”, so I won’t spend too long talking about the event itself. I will, instead, do my best to describe my night in a way that will make sense to everyone that reads this.
My day started at 6:30 AM so I could shower, make sure I had all of my travel items and the travel. In about 2 hours of singing to my CDs and radio stations, I could start to see Chicago through the smog. I had to quickly take in the sight because just as I discovered the city, I was caught up in its traffic. In case you didn't know: Chicago traffic, pretty scary. I found the Chicago Theatre around 9:30 am, but then spent about 15 minutes looking for an all-day parking garage while avoiding people and cars; a difficult task that I aced masterfully. Since I had time to kill, I walked around for a few hours. I accidentally found the reflective bean that EVERY tourist takes a picture next to, and I stopped to talk to everyone who offered me a service in the street. When I felt it was time to rest my feet, I headed back toward the theatre and was immediately thankful that I did.
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By the time I got back, people were starting to gather by the front doors, so I stood and spoke to them. As the Fates would have it, I had the honor of meeting that night's talent. I got to shake the hands of Ryan Haywood and Michael Jones, members of Achievement Hunter, I got to hug and have a brief conversation with Lindsay Jones (also Achievement Hunter), and I told Elyse Willems that she is the best member of Funhaus. The small group of us got to meet the other talents that were preforming that night and they spent the next couple of hours calming our heart rates and sharing over and over again with each other what just happened and how exciting it all was. After the doors had opened and we bought our merch and took our seats, the excitement really began to set in. It only grew with all of the intense energy coming from the talent, which included Achievement Hunter, Funhaus, Kinda Funny, and the Creatures, and the crowd itself. The cheering and chanting from the 1000 plus people from the Let’s Play community, a number that is just a mere fraction of the community as a whole, is comparable only to the energy found in a church on Sunday.
Just like the expression says, “All good things must come to an end” LPL ended with all of the performers bowing in a line and making the announcement for the next “Let’s Play Live” so the attendees would know about it about a week before the others in the community. Leaving Chicago was another adventure entirely. Trying to navigate without a properly working GPS isn't fun when I have a horrible sense of direction. Eventually, my phone held onto a signal long enough to find my way, and once I was finally on a solid interstate, I began to weep. Not crying. No, no, no -- This was the type of weeping that instantly clogs your sinuses and contorts your face into one of the most disgusting images mankind has ever seen. I have never been star struck. I had been to a signing before and I have been within 10 feet of other celebrities and thought nothing of it. When I met Ryan, Michael, and Lindsay, I talked to them like normal human beings, so I was a bit annoyed with myself that I was sobbing like this. I wanted to know just what was wrong with me. I thought back to the 45-second conversation Lindsay and I had. She had noticed my RWBY tattoo, and when she asked about it, I told her I got it in loving memory of Monty Oum, the creator of RWBY and also an employee of Rooster Teeth (the main branch of Achievement Hunter), until his untimely death in 2015. Monty was and still is my idea of Rooster Teeth and all of the Let’s Play branches: hard working, creative teams who humble themselves before the thousands upon thousands of people who give them any kind of fame status. I thought then that maybe it wasn't being star struck. Maybe, like the emotions I felt after the announcement of Monty’s passing, it was knowing they were real.
Obviously I know that they are real people, but to finally see them and shake their hands... Through their content, I have learned so much about them that I would consider myself their friend solely based on my knowledge of them. I know more details about them and their families than I know details about me or my family. After five years of being a fan and getting the opportunity to meet and see that they are more than just vibrations of sound coming from a laptop, more than just a large cluster of pixels on a screen; it's a bit overwhelming. These people, who have probably forgotten my face the moment they looked away from it, have helped me and so many people in so many ways. The night of “Let’s Play Live” will be a night that I will never forget until my mind betrays me and forces the memory out. I know that from that night onward, I will preach to whoever will listen that I met Gods. So to these deities, heroes, comedians, idiots, whichever title they choose to own: Thank you. I don't know if you will ever fully grasp how much you mean to us and how big you are in our lives, but even so, thank you.
