A local cell phone technician was featured as a contestant on the upcoming LEGO-Masters show on Fox hosted by comedian Will Arnett.
Jermaine Gardner, 37, of Parkchester, staked his quest for fame after competing with partner Mel Brown, in a chance to win $100,000 against nine teams in ten challenges.
According to Gardner, the judges called the ‘Bookmasters’ analyse three different factors during every round. The first and foremost being the race against the clock followed by a team’s ability to tell a story with their creation and the project’s WOW factor.
Gardner said his LEGO building days started like most children and ended when he entered high school.
“I remember my father would come home with Legos once in awhile as a reward for good grades or behavior,” Gardner said.
Gardner said Legos took a back seat as a teen while the pursuit of the opposite sex occupied most of his free time .
In 2014 he began making Youtube LEGO tutorial videos and digital files of LEGO instructors to make a little extra cash.
“I was looking for some extra income and I started seeing people making these digital files,” Gardner said.
After acquiring a small following from his LEGO Youtube channel and attending several Comic-Con conventions, Gardner’s future competition partner, Brown, gave him a call and told him to sign up for the show.
“I was actually on my way home from work when Mel called me and told me apply online for the show,” Gardner said. “It was a fairly quick process.”
He said the entire casting process happened from late July to early October.
“I was super excited to hear that I was going to be on the show because I’d been following the show in other countries for awhile,” Gardner said.
Gardner noted that Brown knew he wanted him as a partner from the get-go.
After a few video interviews with casting agents, Gardner and Brown secured their positions as a team, dubbed the ‘The East Coast Bricksters.’
The duo then set their strategy by watching previous airings of the show.
According to Gardner, he didn’t want to focus on any particular facet of the competition, but did pay attention to certain patterns.
Gardner said they had some advantages like knowledge of the system and their engineering skills.
According to a press release, the ‘East Coast Bricksters’ strengths are being great storytellers and having expertise in building tall skyscrapers.
Gardner and Brown are both African American, which Gardner felt separated them from the rest of the competition in a good way.
“There’s not many people of color involved in the LEGO community,” Gardner said.
Who won the competition? Tune into the show which is airing Wednesday, February 5, at 9 p.m. on FOX.
