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OSW: Why Live?

For special event occasions, we all get togther for a live show. This entails either myself or Mike Lane setting up a Twitch stream with fancy graphics, awesome introduction videos and then reading the show to you live.

The Saturday night we do this on is usually a game night, meaning a bunch of us get together to have a laugh and play games before heading over to the stream for even more fun.

But why do you personally love OSW Live? Tell those new or interested in OSW why you come to Twitch and watch an OSW show be read live to you. What about the experience do you love?

I love the Live shows.

For one that has a wildly different timezone to most, the Live shows are not usually at a good time for me, but I try to make space for them in my week when they're on. I don't usually join in the gaming stuff, but only because of the time differences - that part always falls in the middle of the busiest part of my weekend. But the shows themselves are second to none.

There's nothing quite like being in that moment, not skim reading over things because I am rushing myself but actually taking the time to properly ingest the show. There's also nothing quite like the atmosphere of being in that room live, watching it all unfold. Seeing everyone's reactions to moments in live time.

It's that atmosphere which drew us to wrestling in the first place, and Live shows recreate that in such an awesome kind of way.

For folks that are new, there's the added benefit that important moments will get a little bit of explaining as they happen from wither Dean or Laner. It might help to make sense of what is going on in terms of storylines and character development.

There is NOTHING like a Live show. It's a ton of work for Dean and Laner to put on, but oh man it's so damned worth it. The banter, the reactions, the videos that we get to see on some live shows. So freaking awesome. This is a fed with some actual decent production values, so you must check it out, or you're not quite getting the whole experience.

While obviously it isn't the same as a full, real life wrestling show, for me the live shows have the same effect as watching one compared to skimming through the results of a real show the next day. I read pretty quick and my brain processes things pretty slow, so often something important just... Won't register. Live shows with things being read out give it time to breathe, everything feels more important/impactful and my dumb ass is more likely to know what's going on.

Furthermore, there's always a real friendly atmosphere, whether it be Laner or Dean reading. Lil jokes thrown in by both chat and the reader, no harping on about mispronunciations, chat marking out for big moments (both the twitch chat and the voice chat that is usually running in discord)... Plus it's just a nice community event to give us all an excuse to talk, bond and bring us all together.

As for the game nights beforehand... ABD

Why do I come for the live shows? For the excitement of it all, really.

I love the moments where Dean and Laner get really into what they read and start speak shouting what's happening in the match/segment. While they do that, I end up getting hyped up along with them. Hell, I also like the little live reactions that happen in the Twitch chat and the Discord call too. Knowing that people are getting excited for what we put out is an amazing feeling.

Knowing that people get excited for watching the intro videos and listening to what's going on makes me smile. It's nice to know that the community has something to look forward to after a month of epic build ups and cliff hangers. The payoff and genuine live reaction to the goings on is something that we all look forward to when showtime rolls around.

Game nights are also fun before a live show. We get to theorize what's going to happen, talk shit to each other, and generally act like bros. I love those nights too, especially when we end up playing golf and Mario Party like games. Those are always a blast.

Why OSW Live? Even though we’re a community and we have our Discord Server these events bring us closer together. We have our normal preshow game night, sometimes a chat running in the background, not to mention we have the live chat on Twitch. Plus both Dean and Laner are wonderful presenters who bring the shows to life.
Couples with the specialty images that get made for the shows and the special intros that get made for the big events like Red Snow. These whole shows are fun to sit with everyone watch and getting their reactions in real time. It helps tie us to OSW and the community. I just can’t find a better way to put it.

The benefits of a live show stack up rather nicely. You can spend less time focusing on reading the show and just listen. This gives ample amount of room to be able to react. Along with the live shows come live reactions, not just from the chat but from Dean or Laner themselves. I think seeing how everyone reacts differently to the ongoings of the show is nice. Sure, we have feedback.. but sometimes alot of the actual reactions are either cut out or diluted by the time someone gets around to filling out their feedback. A live show allows for, you guessed it, LIVE reactions!

Live shows also give a little lead-way to the creativity process for those who put the show together. Instead of us reading that the lights went out, we've been known to have shows where the lights ACTUALLY go out!

In conclusion, I think the live shows do a great job in taking a show to the next level and adds a bit of realism to each show.

OSW Live Shows are a huge feature of this place.

I think I saw at least one person say it, but this is the closest you'll ever get to being in the crowd of one of these shows. The reactions are bigger, the moments get felt. There's something about experiencing something as a crowd that gets the adrenaline pumping. So if there's 10-15 of us popping off for what's happening, that gets real contagious real fast.

From the moment we started these things, I wanted to find ways to add excitement. The first live shows were just essentially skimming and reacting to the shows live and talking about them. Then we found the formula. Reading the shows made them that much more exciting. Every near fall, every big move. Captured with energy for people to feed into.

I think it's telling that (in my opinion), no where else that's tried something like this has come to the level we provide. It's yet another thing that separates OSW from the field.

It's just more fun, isn't it? Like, I like to read. I'm a reader. But for the big twists it's that sense of knowing someone else is experiencing it at exactly the same time as you. A bit like catching a TV show live when you know it's a big episode. I'd love to expand on that but I think that's essentially what it boils down to. It's just more fun. I think if you turn up to one you'll get what I mean instantly.

Why Live Shows? To absolutely piggyback off Laner's answer, it's the culmination of effeding for me. Yes, the shows by themselves are amazing, the promos are amazing, everything is top level here in OSW far as I'm concerned but it's the live shows that are the cherry on top.

It might just be words written on a screen being read but that's all it's ever needed to feel special. The big matches that would have been great to read but feel absolutely epic as we all react in real time and hear Laner read and sometimes clench those buttocks tight. It's the amazing segments that while amazing, feel genre defining going through them with a whole bunch of people. The moments from the ending of Red Snow II with the death of Brent Kersh and the introduction of the Chief, to the birth of Noah to the destruction of the Tap Room when Death says fuck everyone, to a thousand and one more.

It's the culmination of what a wrestling fantasy show on the internet should be, and at this high level we've attained over the years, it wouldn't feel right without either Laner or Dean doing these events live.