Laguna Beach siblings building bond on LEGO Masters
Most adults have probably wished at one point or another that they could turn back the clock.
Growing up is not easy, but Laguna Beach siblings Bryan and Lauren Firks have found a lifelong hobby that has kept them young in building with LEGO.
That passion has now taken the brother-sister duo on an adventure, as they were selected to compete on the second season of the show LEGO Masters.
For Bryan, 26, the obsession with the miniature bricks began when their father brought a set home for him when he was 3 years old.
Before long, he was disassembling the sets and building from scratch, and not long after that, he invited his sister to get in on the act, too.
It was evident that their hobby had caught up to them when a targeted advertisement provided the path toward getting on the show.
When Bryan saw it on Facebook, he sent a message to his sister to see if she was interested, and she was all in.
Getting on the show has allowed the siblings to share a part of themselves that might not otherwise be the first thing that people learn about them.
For those that know them well, like their significant others, it is a different story.
“I’ve been building LEGO for [my girlfriend] as gifts that resonate with her,” Bryan said of how his hobby spills over into his relationship. “Her favorite animal is a bunny, so I built her a bunny.”
Lauren, 22, said that her boyfriend also likes LEGO. They each own a key chain with part of a LEGO plate, and when they are put together, they form a heart.
She said her boyfriend gave it to her as a gift just before she went on the show.
“Kids growing up, they probably played with LEGO together and were inspired to keep doing it into an older age where they can be kind of experts at it and bring their own artistry to it,” LEGO Masters executive producer Michael Heyerman said. “For Lauren and Bryan, when we saw their casting tape, they came across and proved to be just very genuine, talented and well-intentioned people.
“We thought these are two really nice people who are obsessed with LEGO and seem to really get along as brother and sister, and that was an energy that we wanted to put on the show.”
At the midway point of the show, Bryan and Lauren are still alive with the seven remaining pairs of builders vying to impress the Brickmasters, or judges. The last team left standing wins a grand prize of $100,000. The show airs on FOX on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
The contestants have been challenged in unforeseeable ways. On one occasion, they were asked to build a creation that would result in a spectacular explosion.
Bryan and Lauren’s build included a ladybug, which survived the scene after a predatory frog is blown up.
They also partook in a fashion show. They put together a mythical hat, with a phoenix rising from the ashes out of the top of it. The heavy headwear remained intact as Lauren wore it down the runway.
In addition, one challenge tasked the competitors with building a tower to take on an earthquake simulator called the Brickter Scale.
Bryan and Lauren were not satisfied with simply building something that could withstand the seismic shakes.
“We built a giant cake,” Bryan said. “It was supposed to be a cake made for a giant, Georgina the Giant, and on it, we put all these mini-figure sprinkles. They were like human sprinkles screaming for their lives on the cake.”
Lauren added that incorporating LEGO people with scared faces was an integral part of the style of the build.
Those who grow up in Laguna Beach are accustomed to being around artistic people and finding their own creative outlets.
The Firks family regularly attends the living picture show at the Pageant of the Masters, but there were other venues that triggered their imaginations not far from the seaside community.
“I think another thing is being from an area where we’re also very close to theme parks,” Lauren said.
“It’s something that we talk about. We’re kind of in the middle of LEGOLAND and Disneyland, so we grew up in these creative worlds, being able to visit these imaginative worlds that we then wanted to be able to re-create at home.”
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