Interview: A Chat With Smosh Presents: We're All Gonna Die

Posted in: Interview, Role Playing Games, TV, YouTube | Tagged: dread, George Primavera, SMOSH, Smosh Presents: We’re All Gonna Die, TTRPG

We got a chance to chat with several members of the show Smosh Presents: We’re All Gonna Die before their next episode happens this Friday

Last month, a new liveplay experience started at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles, as Smosh started a new series called We’re All Gonna Die. The show features game master George Primavera, playing a version of the TTRPG system Dread, where you use a Jenga tower instead of dice to help tell the story and navigate rewards and consequences. The show has been performed twice in front of a live crowd so far, while also being livestreamed on Smosh Live for people to watch for the same cost as a ticket. The show has two episodes in the can so far, with the next one set to take place on September 20, as part of a multi-episode arc starring several members of Smosh and guest performers. We got a chance to chat with Primavera, as well as cast members Angela Giarratana and Jon Matteson, about the show and more.

BC: Hey everyone! First off, how are things going for each of you lately?

George: Certainly can’t complain! Working on We’re All Gonna Die has been a highlight of this year, but I’m also celebrating my first anniversary with my wife in October, so it’s a happy time!

Jon: Things are going great! The development and launch of this show has been thrilling. I just closed The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Reprised! with Team Starkid, and I’m preparing for a new play (also with Angela) by Patrick McDonald called Big Bear! And praying for a cool vacation next year.

Angela: I’m so stoked to be here! Dread and WAGD has been one of the most fulfilling creative projects I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of this year. I’m so excited the world is getting to experience it and all of George’s brilliance! 

Prior to all of the comedy troupes and platforms and other shenanigans you’ve all been involved with over the past several years, how did you all meet each other and become friends?

George: I met Jon playing Dungeons & Dragons with him for one of my other projects, Hero Club. He guested for a small arc on one of our long-form campaigns and was so brilliant we quickly put him in as much as we could, and have been finding ways to collaborate ever since. I was lucky enough to work on the “Smosh Vs.” series a while after that, and met Angela around the table playing Dread. I was similarly blown away by her unbelievable comedic abilities, and have been super fortunate to work with her even more on this show.

Jon: I met George over the pandemic when I first saw Hero Club on Twitch. I was immediately struck by his storytelling and improv abilities and I knew I wanted to work with him in any capacity. I’m very happy that my wish came true, and now I’ve worked with him on several projects! I first worked with Angela back in 2019 with Team Starkid in a musical called Black Friday. I remember seeing her audition, and thinking, “Wow, she can play the piano and has a beautiful and heartbreaking voice, and she’s a fantastic actor. She’s going to be terrific.” It was only when I got to know her more that I realized what really made her unlike anyone I know was how open-hearted and generous she is. And also super fucking funny.

George, how did you first come across the Dread RPG game, and what drew you toward wanting to do that as a game for liveplay events and shows?

George: I took a massive cross-country road trip when I finally moved out to Los Angeles eight years ago. The night I arrived, my good friend Dylan McCollum hosted a game of Dread for a big group of friends, and the system has stuck with me ever since. After six years of working and creating with the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Smosh gave me the opportunity to try something new with a less character-sheet-driven system, and Dread immediately came to mind. The way the tower acts as a visual and kinetic manifestation of tension is almost unreplicable, and it is so quick and easy to get talented improvisers and comedians into the game with minimal prep time. I don’t think I could have predicted how gripping the tower’s gradual transformation would be to a live audience, but the energy in the room is like nothing I’ve ever experienced playing TTRPGs.

You’ve done several of these on multiple channels, the most prominent being Smosh. What’s it been like for you to run these with original stories, and what have you learned that makes for the best time at the table in a game of Dread?

George: My favorite thing to do as a Game Master is to tailor each game to the players that sit at the table with me. Coming up with original stories gives me the maximum flexibility to do just that, and enables me to be as agile as possible when the story needs to change on the fly. If I had to give advice to folks looking to run a game of Dread, it would be this: don’t be precious about your plans, and honor your players. They are the driving force of your story, and your horrifying inventions are there to make their wildest ideas and craziest ploys come to life.

How did the concept for We’re All Gonna Die come about, and how did you end up choosing this particular cast?

George: Jon and I concocted We’re All Gonna Die and the setting of Maw Meadows (where all of these shows take place) over coffee one day. I was looking to innovate with the Dread system and potentially get into a live-audience space, and Jon knew that this would be most successful with a setting that an audience could connect with and discover secrets as they watched. With some helpful input from Dynasty Typewriter, the show got up on its feet, and Smosh’s involvement has really allowed us to soar. Not to mention that Smosh’s talent pool is really special, and we are so lucky to be able to work with each and every one of them. The other folks you’ll see on stage are people we love and trust; we want an audience to appreciate how amazing they are, like we do!

Is there any different approach you took with this game for this particular show?

George: Our approach is usually consistent, but within that approach is the principle that we should always be trying to experiment with new things to see what works best. This show really feeds on a fast pace and a constant energetic build, whereas other games of Dread might have more of an ebb and flow. Both ways to play are fun and interesting, but that faster pace lends itself so well to riling up a live audience.

Jon: I’ll also add that we like to find ways to surprise our cast and the audience at each show. There are things we tell the cast and things we don’t tell them – and that element of shock and surprise really helps take the show to a new level.

Angela and Jon, how did you first hear about it, and what has it been like preparing for a show that is also very unpredictable?

Jon:  When I first learned about Dread from George, I knew this was going to be an exciting live format. As a performer, I try to prepare for each show by knowing the reasons that my character wants to stay alive and what they are fighting for in life, which makes it all the more exciting if I’m facing death!

Angela: I’ve gotten to be a part of two Dread campaigns, GMed by George and produced by Spencer Agnew, at Smosh Games, and from the jump, I was addicted. It feels more ensemble-based compared to anything we’ve done at Smosh, and I’m a sucker for that stuff. Though I love D&D, Dread has given me more freedom to follow a character in a way that isn’t based on combat and more rooted in relationships, which I think lends great to the Smosh cast.

What’s it been like for you two being at the table, having performed together and knowing each other’s strengths, going into what is essentially an improv game with some boundaries?

Jon: What I love most about performing with Angela in this show, is she always knows to go for the death that is best for the story, and excels at keeping the intensity high and helping it build higher until it ultimately topples over. She says HELL YES to every idea and leans hard into the genre of show.

Angela: Being able to work with Jon in this capacity has been one of the biggest highlights for me. Coming from working together on spooky, lore-filled musicals in front of such big audiences with Team Starkid has gotten him and I to such a strong place of trust on stage that so beautifully translates to improv, especially improv that is as narrative as Dread. Now, behind the scenes as we support George, Jon and I get to keep cooking and pitching off ways to make this viewing experience, live and in people’s homes, super theatrical and one of a kind. It’s a dream!

At what point did you guys decide to do this as a broadcast show, and what made you decide to go through Smosh for the livestream?

George: Dynasty Typewriter really enabled the broadcast of it all, so they deserve all the credit in the world for introducing that element to the show. We knew Smosh would be an incredible organization to partner with because of all the success they’ve had with the “Smosh Vs” Dread series on YouTube. Because they understand the format, their contributions have been insightful and invaluable.

Jon: Dynasty has helped us create a live cinematic experience with this show, which is exactly what we hoped. And we always knew that Smosh would add jet fuel to this concept because their cast has played Dread on “Smosh Vs.” and because Smosh is excited about collaborating and enhancing all of the production elements of the show. They’re organized and ingenious in their execution.

As we’ve mentioned already, the show has been happening at Dynasty Typewriter, which seems to have become the go-to theater for special comedy events in LA. How is it for you guys performing in that space for that crowd?

George: To say the folks at Dynasty Typewriter are brilliant collaborators is an understatement. The way they elevate the show with professional quality lighting and sound, innovative camera work, and general support at every turn is unparalleled in Los Angeles, and very likely beyond.

Jon: Dynasty Typewriter has always been one of my favorite places to perform as an actor and improviser, but this show is a perfect fit for them. They act as cinematographers and scrappy brilliant collaborators who are always responding with an enthusiastic yes. We’re so grateful to be working with them.

What’s the reaction been like so far to the shows that have run, and how do you guys feel about the rest of them going forward?

George: Unreal. I’ve worked in TTRPG media and theatre for years, and I have genuinely never experienced anything like the enthusiasm the audience has for the game as it progresses. Before and during every show I am filled with the best kind of adrenaline. As soon as one ends, I can’t stop thinking about the next!

Jon: Sincerely, this is one of the most exciting live shows I’ve been a part of. Each show, the audience is on the edge of their seats, and that is all because of the glorious chemical combination between Dynasty’s production, the hilarious and incredible Smosh cast, their passionate team, and George’s phenomenal storytelling abilities.

What’s the one thing you would tell people about We’re All Gonna Die to get them to check it out, either live or online?

George: Even in the position of Game Master, every show has several moments that take me completely by surprise, and always pleasantly so. I’m just as enthralled watching the tower as the audience is, so when you watch this show, you are very much along for the ride with all of us. That, I think, is what makes this live-play TTRPG show unique, the fact that even though I as the GM can guide the story, ultimately, the tower’s integrity is the real arbiter of what happens in the story, and that is SO exciting.

Jon: This is the first live show that people are screaming like they would at a sports game. Each one is different, and since it’s an anthology series you can dive in at any point. Each show has been better than the last and we’re just getting started.

Angela: It’s sports — with musical theatre sound and lighting design– performed by silly, dumb comedians — all with a set of blocks for children. It’s a hoot you don’t want to miss. 

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