‘King of the Nerds’ exit interview: Chris Jackson on strategy, team success, and battling Brian

CarterMatt – You were super-strategic throughout most of the show, and what we were wondering is whether or not this was your plan going in. Did being more or less appointed a leader at the start of the game change whatever plans you had pre-production?

Chris Jackson – Yes. My entire plan before the show was to avoid being the obvious leader. I had to completely discard that plan the second I was made Team Captain in the first Nerd War. That role doesn’t last past choosing the first person on a team, but it has huge psychological ramifications throughout the competition. It gives people the chance to default to you being the team leader if they’re not comfortable being a team leader. Had another Titan wished to be ‘team leader,’ I would have gladly stepped to the side (but also whispered in ears a bit more).

Did you fully embrace that leadership role throughout the game, even if it made you more of a target? Is that sort of confidence and skill a part of your everyday life? (i.e. is it hard for you to not be a leader?)

Once the others on my team felt comfortable with me playing team leader, I just accepted the role. My plan changed from not being the obvious leader to winning every Nerd War until teams were dissolved (obviously that didn’t happen). Fortunately my team was really good at winning subjective challenges. It is hard for me to not display leadership qualities (which also sounds good in response to the ‘name 3 weaknesses’ job interview question) especially when time is a limiting factor. Brian, Katie, Xander, and Kayla all demonstrated leadership abilities and donned the leader hat at various times for the smaller projects within the challenges. I was just good at making sure that nothing was missed in integrating everyone’s ideas and projects together.

I want to go back to that first Nerd-Off for a minute. Was the broomstick ride fun or terrifying, or were you so focused on trying to stay in the competition that you really didn’t have much time to think about it?

I really didn’t want to go home at that stage in the competition and I just focused on not going home the entire time. I wish I could have had another ride after I won, but that was out of the question.

Why do you think the Titans of Rigel were so dominant for much of the season? Do you attribute it to the skill of your team, the dysfunction of the Midas Touch Attack, or both?

It was both. Had Josh won his Nerd War, each of the subsequent Nerd Wars would have been much closer. Think about it, most of the subjective challenges were a 2-1 decision, even with Midas Touch Attack being in such disarray. By eliminating Josh, we were able to remove a huge creative talent from the competition. (Seriously, think what a Josh/MK duo could have come up with for the LARPing challenge.)

The Titans of Rigel had a fantastic mixture of creative and analytical skills which enabled us to be focused on every level. Our aim was to blow the judges away on big things and little things. Mary Kate dubbed us Team Flash for a reason.

Did you really get a sense this past week that either Zack or Jack were catching on to some of the mind-games that you were playing with them?

Jack definitely knew what I was doing, perhaps even the entire time. Zack, on the other hand, had no idea.

It’s hard to really analyze yourself in retrospect, but was there anything different in the Nerd War or the Nerd-Off that you wish you would have done that could have saved you from elimination?

In the Nerd War, no. There’s nothing we could have done. No one had thought to jump through the maze. Even the producers were surprised that Jack jumped through the maze. Had we thought to jump through the maze, we wound have done a terrible job at it. Jack has his fencing training to thank for that win.

In the Nerd Off, no. I was beaten by a more knowledgeable opponent. Had I voted for who Brian was voting for, I might have deadlocked the vote. But Jack and Zack would have probably also voted Brian in because they viewed both of us as threats. Kayla would have probably still beaten me in that challenge. And there was no way I could have convinced Brian and Kayla to vote in Xander. Oh well. #TexasJustice

I want to at least touch on what you said before leaving when it comes to Zack. Did you not want him to win the competition because of some of his particular actions and behavior in Nerdvana, and was it also that you wanted to see one of your fellow Titans be victorious instead?

The former rather than the later. While this is a competition show, it’s not any competition show. I accepted the offer to be on King of the Nerds because it was different. The competitors aren’t looking to be the next reality television star, nor do they only care about the fame and glory that comes from winning. It’s more of an ‘I can do that too’ and ‘How hard could it be?’ mentality that the contestants bring. In the first season, you could see several of the contestants grow as individuals and as nerds while on the show. The same occurred in the second season (reference: everyone on the Titans of Rigel) because this show encourages growth, respect, and inclusiveness (despite what Will Wheaton says). While I would be fine with an abrasive personality winning or perhaps someone backstabbing their way to the throne, I do not think it would benefit the nerd community for someone that didn’t encourage growth, respect, and inclusiveness to win. Hopefully that’s diplomatic enough.

We always like to end with something silly, and since you are obviously a Community fan (‘pop pop!’), this is a good one: If you could invite one character from the Greendale study group to be on the Titans of Rigel, who would it be and why?

What? There is no study group any more…haha.

Definitely Troy. He’s amazing at both HVAC and plumbing (which means he’s probably good at all things mechanical) plus he’s has a crazy fantastic creative side. He’s like Xander, Brian, Kayla, and Katie all rolled into one. He’d definitely be my first pick (sorry Katie).

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We have some more “King of the Nerds” exit interviews to come, so be on the lookout for those soon along with our contestant rankings Wednesday, the review of the episode Thursday, and then the new podcast with Matt and Jessa this weekend. We’re going all-out here with nerdiness as we get ready to close the season off on a high note.

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Photo: TBS