Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash As you well know, streaming is nothing new. It's hard to believe but streaming giant Twitch has been around since 2011. But streaming has become even bigger since coronavirus, with lots of talented people looking for ways to share what they do safely. Recently, we too entered the streaming world, with our own Games & Tech section stream. As we started to get acclimated, we realized the work it takes to start streaming and put out good content, and wanted to shine a light on some local small streamers who are just starting out their channels. So we put out a call to ask for small streamers to submit their stream info so we could share what they do. This list is the kickoff to a weekly series here at Third Coast Review where we'll feature a new streamer every week, beginning with a closer look at the streamers you'll find below. If you'd like to get your stream (or someone else's) in the Third Coast Streamer Spotlight, email us or leave a note in the comments. Check out their streams and if you like them, help them grow and give them a follow!  

Local Streamers You Should Know

Spizzlation

Who: Spark Tabor is a local standup comedian and performer who also loves video games. As it turns out, we've run across him before at the Humboldt Pie comedy show (and we loved his act. ) As it turns out, he's multitalented, hosting a podcast, comedy shows and trivia on his stream as well. What:  As mentioned before, Spark's stream features a variety of great content. His main game streams are for Rocket League, Fortnite and Call of Duty but he also does weekly trivia shows and a weekly show called Joke, Toast Roast where comics tell 1 minute of jokes, do 1 minute of roasts and then 1 minute of compliments When: Spark's next stream is Sunday at 1:00 PM CDT. You can catch Joke, Toast, Roast on Mondays at 7:30pm and check out the rest of his schedule here.  

Panda SnuSnu

Who: Liz O' Brien describes herself as a social streamer who loves to play games with her friends. What: Liz's stream began with Overwatch, but these days she's been playing a lot of Valorant. She also plays Destiny 2, Sea of Thieves and Minecraft. When: She was last live a little under a day ago and streams most days. Check out the schedule here.  

Mangabookguy

Who: Jesus Gallegos is a Chicago native who's currently located in Minnesota, and who loves to play games with their close friends and their partner. What: Jesus streams a variety of games. Currently, this includes Resident Evil 5, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Persona 3 FES and EarthBound. When: Jesus' next stream is set for Friday at 10:00pm CDT. They'll also be streaming Friday and Saturday playing EarthBound and Terraria respectively, but you can check out their schedule here.  

Chicago KICS

Chicago KICS is a great organization that we're excited to feature here. Who: In their own words, courtesy Program Director Carlos Santizo, the Chicago KICS foundation is "an organization that uses soccer as a tool to empower youth and engage the community." Due to the restrictions necessary because of the COVID-19 crisis, they've recently made a shift to the eSports arena, employing FIFA 20 to fulfill their goals of using football to reach out to kids of all ages in all communities. They even updated some of the language on their website to reflect the shift, saying they were "looking at esports as a tool to help us teach our youth many of the valuable life skills they learn in traditional sports, such as teamwork, problem-solving and effort, among many others." Recently they partnered with the gaming gurus at I Play Games to stream their first esports tournament, and there are two more up and coming very soon. What: Chicago KICS remains true to their footballer roots and is livestreaming FIFA 20. Their first stream was a huge success for the foundation, with 24 participants and a 700 person audience. Be a part of the work they're doing by checking out their next tourney. When: The next FIFA 20 tournament with Chicago KICS will be June 19/20, with prelims tomorrow at noon and the finals at 1pm on Saturday. There will be another tournament taking place on June 27/28 following the same format. Find out more about KICS via their website or social media, and check them out streaming via I Play Games on Facebook when these tourneys go live!  

Pseudointellekt

Who: Deven Foiles is a Chicago native currently residing in Springfield who describes himself as a passionate gamer and aspiring streamer. What: Deven streams World of Warcraft Classic and Legion as well as Valorant, Dark Souls III and League of Legends, with Wednesday nights dedicated to WoW raiding. When: Foiles streams Sunday through Wednesday from around 6pm to 10 CDT, with their next upcoming stream being Sunday at 6:00 pm,  but you can keep up with their schedule here.  

UpOnGame

Who: Hiram Collier is a gamer who streams on a variety of systems and began streaming to combat anxiety. He's also got a Youtube channel with tons of content for a variety of games from Dark Souls and Spider-Man to Mass Effect and PUBG. What: Collier joins the masses excited about The Last of Us 2 and has already begun to stream it. He streams a wide variety of games though, including Doom, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Pokemon: Sword, Resident Evil: 3 and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. When: Find out more about when Hiram is live via his schedule on Twitch.  

Super GG Radio

Who: Super GG Radio is a Chicago based collective of avid gamers who are also podcasters and who also stream. To unpack that a little, Super GG Radio is a podcast that's part of the Front Row Network/NPR Illinois and is designed for "friends to chat about video games and adjacent topics" and they've got a full lineup of interesting streaming content to boot. What: The team at Super GG Radio streams five days a week and features a lot of varied content. Currently, there's Wild Redemption, a stream of Red Dead Redemption 2 meant to avoid the main story and just explore the "fauna, flora and humans of RDR2's expansive world." They stream solo, with friends and with spouses, and games range from Magic: The Gathering and Divinity: Original Sin 2 to Remnant: From the Ashes and Metal Gear Solid. When: Super GG Radio has streams Monday through Thursday with another on Sunday. Their next stream will be Sunday at 9:00pm CDT when they'll be live with Sunday Night Magic: The Gathering, but you should check out their full schedule here.  

NintenDomain

Who: Trey Johnson is a Chicago based streamer and part of the team behind the NintenDomain podcast, which features "Nintendo News, interviews, and more" with new episodes every Friday. They also have a YouTube channel. What: Trey streams both retro and current Nintendo games, and retro games are played on original hardware. Currently, he's been streaming Ion Fury but has also streamed ClubHouse Games, Streets of Rage 4 and a myriad of retro games. When: This stream is great for the late night crowd, as streams typically start between 1:00 and 2:00 am CDT and go through til 4 or 6.  Trey's next stream is set for Saturday at 1:00 am where he'll be streaming the Tetris Maximus Cup and Ring Fit Adventure. Check out the full schedule here.  

TeaSpades

Who: TeaSpades is a Chicago streamer, graphic designer and cat mom, who, according to their profile, spent their entire childhood indoors playing video games and creating art, and just started streaming a month ago. What: After a fun run with Luigi's Mansion 3, TeaSpades has gone on to start streaming Super Mario Odyssey. When: TeaSpades streams four nights a week: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with longer streams on Sunday. Her next stream will be tonight at 8:00pm CDT, and you can keep up with her full schedule here.   And, that's a wrap! These are just some of the amazing Chicago natives streaming great content.  We hope you found some great streams to tune into and share, and we hope you'll join us on our own stream for games we're reviewing and staff favorites, too. Look for our first Third Coast Streamer Spotlight very soon, and again, if you are a small streamer in Chicago, drop us a line in the comments below or by emailing us.