The Search for the Sandvich

Submission 6,236

Part of a series on Team Fortress 2. [View Related Entries]

About

The Search for the Sandvich is an improvised web series ran by the voice cast of the 2007 video game Team Fortress 2 which revolves around them interacting with each other and bystanders in a search for the Sandvich, an iconic in-game consumable. Started at the Team Fortress 2 reunion at PAX West 2022, the series continued to run through September and October 2022, going viral on social media.

History

On September 3rd, 2022, Team Fortress 2 voice actor cast reunion took place at the PAX West 2022 event,^[1] featuring voice actors Robin Atkins Downes (Medic), Gary Schwartz (Demoman, Heavy), John Lowrie (Sniper) and Ellen McCain (The Announcer). At the event, the voice actors started The Search for Sandvich, a series of improvised videos revolving around the search for Sandvich, an iconic equippable and consumable in Team Fortress 2. The Search for Sandwich officially started at the panel on September 3rd, with Medic actor Robin Atkin Downes tweeting the video with the start of the series on September 5th.^[2]^[3] On September 4th, 2022, Robin Atkin Downes tweeted^[4] the first video in the series, which gained over 7,900 retweets, 33,700 likes and 423,000 views in two months (shown below).

Ze search for #Sandvich continues ⁦pax</a>⁩ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Heavy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Heavy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sniper?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sniper</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Administrator?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Administrator</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Medic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Medic</a> ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/johnpatricklowr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">johnpatricklowr⁩ ⁦EllenMcLain</a>⁩ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamFortress2?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamFortress2</a> ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/GarySchwartz14?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">GarySchwartz14⁩ pic.twitter.com/JdZokR0TWr

— Robin Atkin Downes (@Robin_A_Downes) September 4, 2022

- Where is Sandvich?
- Crikey, you call that a Sandvich?
- Victory?
- Excuse me? Do you have any Weiner schnitzel?
- Huh?
- Weiner Schnitzel?
- No, we don't.
- Ah! Let's get out of here.

On September 7th, John Lowrie, the voice actor for Sniper, tweeted^[5] the second video in the series that gained over 98,300 views, 1,600 retweets and 8,800 likes. On September 12th, Robert Atkin Downes tweeted^[6] another video that gained over 180,000 views, 4,100 retweets, and 21,200 likes in one month (shown below).

#TF2WTSFTS #TeamFortress2 #SeptOktoberfest pic.twitter.com/QjK6J8hXro

— Robin Atkin Downes (@Robin_A_Downes) September 12, 2022

On October 15th, John Lowrie tweeted^[7] "Search for Sandvich: Out to Sea!," an episode that gained over 9,300 retweets and 39,700 likes in ten days (shown below).

Search for Sandvich: Out to Sea!#sandvich #TeamFortress2 #Medic improvmaven</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Robin_A_Downes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Robin_A_Downes johnpatricklowr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EllenMcLain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">EllenMcLain @GigglingSecret1 #TF2WTSFTS pic.twitter.com/ayQzPeA7hU

— John Lowrie (@johnpatricklowr) October 15, 2022

Through the series, various nods and references to Twin Peaks were made; for example, actress Liz McCarthy, who portrays the Giggling Secretary in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, has appeared in several of the videos.

Fandom

The series attracted a following online, primarily within the Team Fortress 2 fandom. On September 6th, 2022, Twitter^[8] account @sfm_txt posted a Source Filmmaker animation based on the first video in the series that gained over 470,000 views in two months (shown below).

pic.twitter.com/r4yoMDYGSh

— SourceFilmmaker_txt (@sfm_txt) September 6, 2022

On October 17th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user @Tf2Cursed tweeted a snippet from an article by PC Gamer, praising the headline. The tweet (shown below, left) gained over 15,300 retweets and 123,000 likes.

The series also inspired redraws and fan art. For example, on October 17th, 2022, artist @J0e_Le tweeted^[10] a redraw that gained over 500 retweets and 2,400 likes in one week (shown below, right).