The Runaway Guys Colosseum Direct (Day 3797 - 4/17/20)

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The vlog begins with Stephen and Mallory watching the first segment of The Runaway Guys Colosseum Direct stream – colloquially called “Colosseum 3” - from their living room TV. Even with “a few hiccups”, both on-stream and behind-the-scenes, Stephen and Mal were impressed with the success of the event so far, let alone the fact it was happening at all. The first segment alone had already raised over $10 000.

Stephen then goes on to say that both he and Mal were not going to be on-cast during the first day of Colosseum Direct, but will participate in segments for the following days (Saturday and Sunday). Stephen is glad for the former, since he needed to recover from “all the sleep that he had not been getting”, and was already feeling better in that regard. Having finished a late lunch, Stephen plans to use the rest of the day to get work done, while keeping track of how the rest of the event progressed.

Fast-forward to past 3AM, at the conclusion of Colosseum Direct's first day, and Stephen is now in the upstairs office. He elaborates on the very hard week he and Mal had in terms of their work “for other people...a good bit of that included Runaway Guys Colosseum”, and the resulting lack of sleep. Regardless of not being on at all [so far] during Colosseum Direct, Stephen and Mal have had the stream up all-day. Stephen himself was incredulous to the fact that, given “the state of affairs in the world”, Colosseum Direct's first-day donation totals were over $50 000, exceeding the first-day totals of last year's Colosseum.

Stephen thanks all the viewers of Colosseum Direct, “for watching, spreading the word, or donating.”, as well as shouting out the 'Runaway Guys Colosseum' cast, guests and tech crew. He takes time to NOT thank himself, since neither he nor Mal had participated yet, paralleling when he wasn't available on the first day of 2019's TRG Colosseum either, mainly due to his exhaustion from producing, compiling and editing that year's mid-segment bumpers the previous two nights. Stephen reiterates that both he and Mal will take part during Day Two of Colosseum Direct.

Stephen acknowledges that, along with raising money for Direct Relief (and how timely the funds were needed), the event itself gives the audience a needed distraction from current world events. He further states his feelings on behalf of himself and his “extremely-talented colleagues” about the current importance of entertainment for people during this time, noting how clearly the audience – whether they donated or not – appreciated Colosseum Direct happening at all, raising funds towards a good cause while doing so. All the while, Stephen was still astonished about the success of Colosseum Direct Day One compared to last year.

Stepehn concludes by outlining his and Mal's forthcoming assistance with Josh's Colosseum Direct segment, consisting of an art project that would be “illegal” to not have Mal involved in. Stephen and Mal's roles would be to “watch Josh make art, offer tips and tricks, probably prod him a little bit...and also read donations”. The crux of the segment has been collaborated on between Mal and Josh, so Stephen is there mainly to fulfill his vocation to “show up and say the funny words.”, this segment being only one of many happening during the rest of Day Two. Stephen finally declares the need the go to bed, ending the vlog to prepare for Day Two of The Runaway Guys Colosseum Direct.