Provo is not exactly known for its party culture, and sometimes it can be difficult for Brigham Young University students to find exciting things to do with their time.
“Me and my roommates were like, all right, if we get invited to one more game night, we're going to lose it,” BYU student Ryan Bullough said.
This is why Bullough had the idea to host the Provo Beast Games, inspired by popular YouTuber Mr. Beast’s game show.
But of course, you can’t have beast games without a Mr. Beast.
“I'm obviously not as good-looking or as rich as Mr. Beast, but I was like, I would love to participate and do something for the community,” said Provo Beast Games host Tautai Fano.
Fano has been a content creator for 7 years now, making him a natural choice for the role, and he isn’t the only person Bullough recruited.
He found judges, sponsors and participants all through social media and cold calling.
The event gathered about 120 participants who each paid a $5 entry fee in hopes of winning the $1000 prize.
“I'm just super proud of what we were able to put together in the time span that we had,” Fano said. “I truly think we could make this something successful for the community.”
The events included things like Red Light Green Light, wall sitting, a Segway relay race, a math test and so much more.
Once the competition narrowed down to the final two contestants, each randomly selected a contact from their opponent’s phone and the phone’s owner had to make the cold call. The first contestant to get someone to answer their call secured the $1,000 prize, which was ultimately won by BYU sophomore Porter Gurney.
Gurney went in with a plan for how he would spend the money.
“First, we're going to a Texas Roadhouse with the boys,” he said. “Then pay off some stuff I gotta pay to BYU, and that'll probably cover all of it.”
Considering how low the entry fee was, $1000 adds up to a lot of money on top of the cost of putting on the event at all.
“We absolutely went into the negative,” Bullough said. “Which is totally fine. Definitely worth the fact that we threw a great event, like, it was just a ton of fun.”
Bullough and Fano hope to put on similar events in the future as they continue to grow a reputation for fun and cheap activities in the Provo area.
Follow @provobeastgames on Instagram to stay updated on any future events.