‘King of the Nerds’ season 3 spotlight: Thomas Vollum hopes to not fall out of the running
We are almost at the end of the road for our “King of the Nerds” spotlight series, which makes us rather sad. We have a ton of of fun writing these! Then again, we’re also running out of references to throw in some of these. (Granted, it doesn’t help that this is the second straight contestant we’ve discussed whose primary interest is something completely foreign to us.)
Before we dive too much into the world of Thomas, a quick reminder: Take a look at the podcast we did earlier today with executive producers Anthony Carbone and Charles Wachter. It is a great window into how the show is made, and also how they see and perceive the upcoming season as a whole.
Also, we know that the pun in the title is pretty terrible. You’re welcome.
Name – Thomas Vollum
Age – 21
Location – Huntington Beach, California
Specialty – “Brony.” This is a very specific specialty to have. Are they going to have a competition about Twilight Sparkle? We’ve already said that we are the worst person to talk about “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” since we have seen about two minutes of it … and those were two minutes we used to prepare for this article. Still, we know there’s a super-loyal internet fandom out there who may watch this show because there’s a Brony on it.
Thomas also is a huge “Star Wars” fan, which makes us really wish that he shared his thoughts on the “Force Awakens” trailer in the super-short TBS video.
Nerd cred – Thomas loves “Fallout”! He loves it so much to design his entire costume. We don’t know as much about the game as we probably should, but that’s because we’ve spent so much time playing another Bethesda series in The Elder Scrolls. (Note: We did not buy the horse armor.) The man is hardcore! Also, in theory it feels like the “My Little Pony” love would bond him with Raychelle.
Not to get too sappy and sentimental here, but Thomas’ biggest asset may be that he really feels like the contestant this show should be about: A seemingly-shy guy with specific interests getting a chance to shine. Do you really want to be that person to sent him into a Nerd-Off?
Weak points – Confidence is key to winning many tasks, and we’re not sure how much of it Thomas has. We also wonder about skills, since we don’t get a sense he will excel in performance-heavy tasks. While he does have a ton of valuable knowledge crammed into his brain (they don’t let you become an Eagle Scout unless you earn it), how will it manifest in the competition? It’s tough to be one of the youngest people in a cast, since everyone can be intimidating. We’ve definitely been there.
End assessment – While we don’t necessarily think that Thomas will win “King of the Nerds” (he’s not our personal pick to come away with the crown), we probably want him to win more than anyone else. This is a guy who feels like the biggest underdog, given that he’s one of the youngest, he comes across as pretty socially awkward, but he still owns himself and his skills in a pretty commendable way.
If Thomas wins, can Disney hire him to consult on whether or not that new lightsaber in the trailer is really a good idea?
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