REGINA -- Two brothers from Weyburn have created a weekly online trivia gameshow to keep people of all ages entertained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richy and Preston Roy run a company called Big Time Gameshows. Usually, they take their show on the road and perform in front of large groups of people. Because of current restrictions, they’ve had to improvise since all their scheduled shows were cancelled.

“If we have all this extra time and people are bored at home and they’re frustrated they can’t go out, why don’t we bring a gameshow to them that they can actually participate in?” said Richy, the host of the program.

Every Wednesday evening, the trivia show called Big Time Live is hosted on their Facebook page. All it takes to play is an account. Once questions are asked through the live video, participants give their answer in the comment section.

“People can be an actual gameshow contestant right from their living room,” Richy said. “Everyone’s separated right now because of this whole COVID-19 thing. We wanted people to feel connected, so we decided this is a great way to bring everyone together.”

Jessica Lunde, a weekly participant in the gameshow, said it was nice to see an option for entertainment that wasn’t a TV show or movie.

“I think everyone’s looking for something to do that’s different. And something to look forward to, because doing the same thing day in and day out can get really, really boring,” Lunde said.

The brothers film Big Time Live out of a Weyburn home, but it has spread far beyond that city.

“Not only is it spreading all the way through Saskatchewan, but we’ve notice it spread across Canada which is very cool,” Richy said. “There’s even a chunk of people down in the states, and worldwide.”

The show is growing in popularity each week. The first Wednesday, they saw about 250 people playing. The last time they hosted it, there were more than 1,300 participants.

Local businesses have now jumped on board to help sponsor the show, and are donating prizes for winners to receive.

The Roy brothers spend six days a week preparing for the show, and they write all their own questions.

Anyone who is interested in playing can join in on Facebook on Wednesday evenings, or for special edition games on Saturday afternoons.