The G4 television network made a name for itself during its initial run in the 2000s, thanks to programs like Attack of the Show! and Xplay. Original hosts Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler returned to helm those respective shows leading up to G4’s relaunch on November 16, though others like Olivia Munn did not. A cavalcade of newcomers are part of the revived network in their place, including Kassem Gharaibeh — a host on Attack of the Show! and the brand-new Dungeons and Dragons live play series Invitation to Party.
Gharaibeh is a half-Jordanian, half-Egyptian comedian and interviewer who helped pioneer the idea of being a YouTube creator. His channel Kassem G was started in October 2006, only about a year after YouTube went live, and became his career after getting into stand-up in 2007. Gharaibeh also co-founded Maker Studios; acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2014. As a member of G4, fellow YouTube veteran Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil said Gharaibeh was “like our father” holding group bonding events prior to launch, and former Rooster Teeth showrunner Fiona Nova said he’s like her older brother at the network. Game Rant spoke to Gharaibeh about using Invitation to Party to break out of his comfort zone and encourage others to do the same.
Invitation to Party’s Unique Brand of D&D
Prior to its official relaunch, G4 hosted a series of “Beach House” streams. One of the biggest events in July 2021 was “D&D Live,” a two-day series of live plays featuring tabletop experts and celebrities including Jack Black, Kevin Smith, and Patton Oswalt. D&D Live was a collaboration between G4 and Wizards of the Coast to advertise new sourcebooks like Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. That partnership continues with Invitation to Party, a weekly program that streams every Friday, but is also advertised as the first D&D show airing on television via G4’s mixed-medium format.
The first of four planned campaigns to feature on Invitation to Party is “The Scoundrels of Waterdeep.” It’s led by B. Dave Walters, an actor and official writer for tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons, who has also appeared in prominent live series like CollegeHumor’s Dimension 20. Gharaibeh plays a reborn warlock and noble with a mysterious past and agenda, named Ignius Cassalanter. Also in his party are Nova, playing the harengon sorcerer Ollie; Indiana “Froskurinn” Black, playing the dhampir rogue Octavia Amistacia; and Ify Nwadiwe, playing the human bard Thorbie Gontiki.
A major selling point for Invitation to Party is how heavily it leans on the cast’s improv. Nova told Game Rant that people describe the show as a Dungeons and Dragons version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, developing skills to play a character live for two hours straight. It also includes more physical elements thanks to The Circle, segments in which cast members join one another on stage to perform scenes.
Growing into Dungeons and Dragons on G4
Nova and Gharaibeh met working on early episodes of Xplay for the G4 revival and their chemistry was instantaneous, like two puzzle pieces that found one another according to Gharaibeh. He credits the diversity of G4’s hosts as its “biggest gift,” because the strong relationship they share is something that may have never happened given their age difference and travelling circles. “Fiona’s trouble. She kind of keeps me young and fresh, and if she feels like I’m her older brother then I feel like she’s my younger sister.”
They are also two members of the “Cream Team” alongside Pereira, named so because the TikToks they share are cream, Nova said. Gharaibeh feels their chemistry on Attack of the Show! is palpable because of a “not so secret” secret sauce: How many hours they’ve spent working and playing together since March.
Attack of the Show! feels very “comfortable” for Gharaibeh, who said he’s been doing a version of it for years having grown up a fan of G4. However, he and Nova were newcomers to Dungeons and Dragons before Invitation to Party, which made Gharaibeh apprehensive. He didn’t want to “disrespect the Dungeons and Dragons community by not knowing what it is,” especially for a program airing on cable.
“I think we’re very fortunate to have that, and to have meshed well. It’s not the case with everyone, but I think everyone is on a different trajectory with their chemistry and friendships”
The host said G4 is “cheating” by streaming to YouTube and Twitch before airing on television, letting him perform for his usual audience, given he was in the early generation of “anti-traditional media” YouTubers motivated by a lack of gatekeepers. Still, he appreciates knowing there’s an audience that may not watch media online first but can find G4 on television. He can share his experiences learning Dungeons and Dragons with that audience, which can see him improve every episode.
Gharaibeh said he’s been surprised at how fun the tabletop game is, even encouraged by the scary but refreshing unknown of any dice roll. That’s taken the pressure off of “doing things right,” and he said the less he cares about playing right the more interesting Invitation to Party and Ignius Cassalanter become. The show’s improvisational elements made him comfortable testing the waters, but ultimately he wanted to try something new. “Anything that’s made me uncomfortable in the past has helped me learn or grow in some way.”
“If I can be that surrogate for people who are on the fence about [D&D] or think about it as that dorky ‘play in your mother’s basement’ game, I want to give them an opportunity to try it because they understand it.”
Nova had similar thoughts, saying Attack is like her home but D&D is the fun, exotic activity she gets excited about every week. Between this and the diverse cast he’s “honored” to be part of, full of people he learns something from every day, Gharaibeh said G4 is above and beyond anything he hoped; a dream job he doesn’t take for granted. “My goal is to stick around, and if they fire me I’ll find a way to break in. It’ll take some work for them to get rid of me.”
G4 is streaming now on YouTube and Twitch, with programs also running on various Cable TV networks.
