The anxious bodies bobbing in and out of single file line created a new border for the well-known University of Arizona student union. The eager faces, mostly of females, in an endless sea of people were more than eager to be herded through the double doors on Thursday November 10, 2011. It looked like a scene outside of a Justin Bieber concert. I won’t go on to tell you that Biebs graced our campus but rather four other Canadian heartthrobs: cast of the Buried Life.
I squeezed my way in using the HerCampus name to my advantage. As the doors opened, shrieks of excitement pierced the cool breeze as we transitioned inside. Shouting voices reiterated the importance of a single file line, for a moment I questioned, am I in elementary school again? No, this is not possible because if that were the case I’d be line leader (my last name begins with the letter A). The group moved forward in a swaying unison as we entered into the grand ballroom. Black chairs lined the room and we were urged to quickly take a seat. Luckily, I was on the aisle; only a few short rows from the stage. The air was a buzz with chatter and giggles as the anticipation built. A slideshow of UA students and their “things to do before I die” signs seemed to calm the mayhem and refocus the attention of the eyes searching the crowd for the men of the hour.
After a 10-minute delay of people finding their seats and getting situated; the ballroom was packed and it was finally time for the awaited presentation. The door to a secret side room off of the stage popped open and out ran Jonnie, Ben, Duncan, and Dave. The crowd erupted. The groups presentation opened with break dancing, transitioned with jokes and hilarious stories, and even wrapped up with a makeout session. I promise I’m not getting my party school nights confused, this was real life.
All joking aside, the story of these ordinary guys is actually one of the more inspiring of our generation. They were acquaintances brought together by one goal; crossing off things they wanted to do before they died and helping others do the same. They are most known for their show on MTV but the buried life project started long before the show aired.
“We had all of these list items but didn’t know what to do with it next,” said Duncan.
They had an idea to cross off these items all the while filming it. However, moving forward with the idea was going to be a monetary challenge for four college kids on summer vacation.
“I would just open the phonebook and call companies asking them for help with our movie. One company agreed to pay our gas and that was all we needed,” said Ben.
The adventurers continued on to cross things off of their list that most deemed impossible. The first was getting on the front page of their town newspaper. From there it escalated to kissing the Stanley Cup, opening the nightly news for a station, and running Ebay for a day. Duncan was asked to resign his position at Ebay after trying to sell Ebay on Ebay. Buried Life went on to help others with their own pursuits and ultimately signed with MTV.
Most may not realize that despite having their own show, they did not receive the help of MTV in their endeavors; getting the tasks accomplished was left up to them.
“MTV doesn’t help us, we have to pull this off on our own as four regular guys,” said Ben.
The concept is simple. Go out and do what you want to do. Sometimes life cannot be fulfilled in ordinary fashion and it’s important to go after what you want despite the challenges.
“You only need to do what you do. We think if you pay attention to the voice in your head, you will find your way,” said Jonnie.
HerCampus had the pleasure of sitting down the guys, well more so sitting down with Ben Nemtin as the rest of the guys ran around the then deserted ballroom. We got down to business and asked the hard pressing questions that might not be googleable.
HC: What has been the most rewarding thing you’ve helped someone do?
B: We helped reunite this group of guys who were old childhood friends. They hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years and bringing them back together was really amazing.
HC: What has been the biggest challenge with the show thus far?
B: Raising my cat. No, just keeping it real, true to how we wanted it to be. We’ve put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this and we all want to be proud of it.
HC: When you’ve completed your list, will you be done?
B: No, I imaging we’ll just keep adding to it. Rather than crash the playboy mansion, we’ll move on to get a house, get married, etc.
HC: Tell us what the most awkward task has been so far?
B: Hands down, stealing a lock of Rob Pattinson’s hair. This girl wanted to cross it off of her list so we approached him and asked him for it. It was very awkward, he was a little reluctant but we got it.
HC: What is one thing our readers don’t know about you?
B: I am a creative dancer and I have a pet rhino. I am also the most handsome man in the world.
The guys of buried life were just as we expected, down to earth, hilarious, and fun may be an understatement. Interviewing and meeting them was a pleasure but I’d have to say the highlight was taking Duncan and Dave out to the Wildcat stomping grounds that night. Dave even played along as I convinced my peers that he was in fact my older brother, sorry about that UA. Regardless, they were great sports and definitely left their mark on Tucson, more specifically 2nd street. The adventure that is the Buried Life continues to develop in intriguing fashion and I genuinely look forward to what these four rambunctious Canadians stumble into next. One thing is for sure; HerCampus Arizona can cross “shenanigans with the Buried Life” off of our list.