Here’s a fun example of the original programming that YouTube is supposed to be investing in these days — a relay from Santa Monica to San Diego. With lightsabers.
Geek celebrity Chris Hardwick is announcing the event, dubbed Course of the Force, on the YouTube blog. Hardwick hosts the popular Nerdist podcast, and he plans to launch a Nerdist YouTube channel in April,which he says will include “Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Zombie, Awkward Family Videos, The Dudesons and The Kids in the Hall,” plus more programming that covers “gaming, science, tech and cosplay.”
As for Course of the Force, it sounds a creative way to grab eyeballs in the lead up to San Diego Comic-Con. He’s describing it as an “Olympic-torch-style” relay run. Each of the approximately 500 participants will purchase a segment of the run, and over five days, they will take turns carrying a lightsaber from the Santa Monica Pier to Comic-Con. The event is a partnership between Nerdist Industries, Lucasfilm, and Machina, and naturally the whole thing will be livestreamed on YouTube. Costumes are optional but encouraged. Oh, and the proceeds go to the Make a Wish Foundation.
This all sounds entertaining (or at least entertainingly terrible), but if Hardwick repeats the event, I’m hoping he spreads the love among nerd franchises. Specifically, I know that he’s a pretty big Doctor Who fan — so next year, how about a sonic screwdriver?