So here is the deal. Ken, the man, the myth, the legend will also be on the ESPN Chat this Friday (December the 19th) at 4 PM EST. Tune into the chat to submit more questions (there at the chat) and hear his answers live.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=24213
Ken Post Survivor Interview
Normal text = Interviewer Speech
Red/Bolded text = Ken Hoang
So when you found out you were a contestant on the show, where were you when you found out and what was the first thing you did?
I found out when I was actually at my house. They called me and told me and I couldn’t believe it, I was on the show. I was like ‘There’s no way, there’s no way’. Then next thing I know I’m in Africa playing the game.
Alright, which player do you think had the best game, played the best and why?
I thought Ace played differently, a really good game, and you know, his allies betrayed him, and he got far. I thought Randy played a pretty good game and Sugar played a pretty good game but I don’t even know if she was playing a game, because she wasn’t playing from the start. Bob started playing the game later, but I don’t think he was playing a good game throughout the entire game, he played a good game later, and I thought Crystal and I played a good game, but I wouldn’t say we played the best game.
What was the most surprising thing you learned from being on a reality show?
I learned from being on a reality TV show that they can edit the way they want you to be portrayed, they can do whatever they want. They can give you the best edit or the worst edit in the world and people have gotten really good edits and it wasn’t really like that from what I saw on the island.
Okay. A lot of people on the Smashboards community want to know what you would recommend for someone who wants to be a contestant on the show, how to they get to be a contestant, or what would make them stand out?
Just be yourself, and in the video, and if they like you, they’ll call you back.
Was this your first time applying?
Yeah, this was my first time applying.
Could you go into detail about what your audition tape entailed? Was there anything about gaming in there?
I just told them about my life, and what I do, and you know, what I do at school, what I do at home. I was definitely just being myself and telling them why I believed I could be the sole survivor and that I think I can play this game.
Okay. What was the most memorable moment of the show for you?
Definitely going to be the family visit and the family theme and y’know you got to see your family and ask them about what happened at home and y’know you met them all there. It was definitely the family visit.
Describe one day at Gabon, right from when you woke up, what were the things you did on a typical day.
Well I was basically the provider at every camp I was in like Fang, Kota and Nobag. Basically around base camp I would set traps. Sometimes I would go get fruit then I’d boil water. Daily chores, and then if there was a challenge that day, we would do that. It really depends on what you do at camp, and of course strategizing and talking to your allies about what to do next. You get used to it after nine days out there, you don’t even realize there are cameras out there.
Being a gamer, did you ever get the itch to game? To say “Man I wish I just had a Gamecube or a Wii with me right here to relax”.
When I was out there, I didn’t even have like, an itch, to play video games. All I was thinking about was surviving the game y’know. I was hoping for some challenges that had to do with something about video games or something like that, but no…
(Laughs)
If there was an All-Star version of survivor (sometimes they do that), would you do it again?
If they asked me again, I would do it again. I learned from my mistakes and if I played the game again, I’d probably do a lot better. I’d definitely do it again.
I just have a few more gaming related questions, obviously, because it’s for MLG and Smashboards. Smash obviously is a fast game, y’know, you have to act fast, react fast, you have to think fast, you have to strategize pretty quickly. Given that Survivor’s just a much longer, an extended time. Did you think that you maybe over-thought things too much, or maybe spent too much time thinking as opposed to what you’re normally accustomed to when you play other people?
Yes, that was definitely my downfall. I over-thought the situations so much so that I kind of just sat back at the end and thought what if I took control, someone else took control, etc. I over-thought both situations and that was definitely the downfall of me.
Another forum member wants to know, are you going to throw a tournament or a celebration for your success on the show. If not, do you plan on playing smash competitively, what do you plan on doing afterwards?
I am never ever going to throw a tournament ever again after my last tournament. I’m done with tournament hosting for sure, and right now I’m just worried about school and y’know living life and getting out more, doing other things and maybe after I’m graduated and want to play smash again, then I’ll probably come back, but it doesn’t look like I want to do that right now. I just want to take a huge break from competitive gaming.
Do you still play any bit recreationally? Not just smash, just gaming in general?
I play party games from time to time, but just for fun. Other than that, I haven’t been playing a lot of games lately. I’ve just been doing other things.
Here’s another question. If you could describe the other final four finalists for the show, Matty, Sugar, Bob and Suzie as smash characters, and yourself, who would you be able to compare them to?
Uhhhhhhhh
If you had to? (lol >.>)
I don’t even know, that’s a tough one.
What about for yourself then?
(Ken stutters and stammers)
I’d like to see myself as Marth, maybe Marth. I don’t think that survivor could relate to smash characters, I don’t think there’s no way in hell.
(Laughs)
Do you still keep in touch with anyone from the show?
Yeah of course. Crystal and I are like really good friends after the show. I call her home maybe every week and we talk about things. I’m really good friends with Matty, I’m really good friends with Dan, Randy, who else? Michelle, Kelly. I get along with the majority of the cast, but you know, its just like some of them are not really good friends but you know these people I mentioned stand out.
Do you think you influenced the gaming community at all being on Survivor?
Yeah definitely, the thing is like no one really knew, when I first got on the show it was like ‘Oh, he’s definitely going to be the first or second voted off’ a week, we’ll give him that. When they saw me doing so well, (and saw me making it through every week), they were actually jumping on the bandwagon then, rooting for me to win. At first I got a lot of comments on my (Facebook and Myspace). A lot of people underestimated me, everybody else on the show underestimated me, but I proved to a lot of people that I’m actually a good player and that I was behind the majority of people going home. So I guess as a game you base perspective on what you can do when you’re a personal threat in the game.
Did any of the other survivor contestants remind you of any of your other, former competitors in smash, any other pros? Did you see any similarities with them?
Ummmm…
Did anyone remind you of Isai, Chu dat, PC Chris, KillaOR?
I don’t really know. It’s kinda hard to relate the survivor contestants to smash pros. I guess Crystal was my Isai out there. She stuck with me, and she was very loyal. We were a team, we had each other’s back.
Okay, just one last question. Is there anything you want to say to the gaming community, MLG community, Smashboards community?
I’d like to say thank you for your support for me the whole way.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=24213
Ken Post Survivor Interview
Normal text = Interviewer Speech
Red/Bolded text = Ken Hoang
So when you found out you were a contestant on the show, where were you when you found out and what was the first thing you did?
I found out when I was actually at my house. They called me and told me and I couldn’t believe it, I was on the show. I was like ‘There’s no way, there’s no way’. Then next thing I know I’m in Africa playing the game.
Alright, which player do you think had the best game, played the best and why?
I thought Ace played differently, a really good game, and you know, his allies betrayed him, and he got far. I thought Randy played a pretty good game and Sugar played a pretty good game but I don’t even know if she was playing a game, because she wasn’t playing from the start. Bob started playing the game later, but I don’t think he was playing a good game throughout the entire game, he played a good game later, and I thought Crystal and I played a good game, but I wouldn’t say we played the best game.
What was the most surprising thing you learned from being on a reality show?
I learned from being on a reality TV show that they can edit the way they want you to be portrayed, they can do whatever they want. They can give you the best edit or the worst edit in the world and people have gotten really good edits and it wasn’t really like that from what I saw on the island.
Okay. A lot of people on the Smashboards community want to know what you would recommend for someone who wants to be a contestant on the show, how to they get to be a contestant, or what would make them stand out?
Just be yourself, and in the video, and if they like you, they’ll call you back.
Was this your first time applying?
Yeah, this was my first time applying.
Could you go into detail about what your audition tape entailed? Was there anything about gaming in there?
I just told them about my life, and what I do, and you know, what I do at school, what I do at home. I was definitely just being myself and telling them why I believed I could be the sole survivor and that I think I can play this game.
Okay. What was the most memorable moment of the show for you?
Definitely going to be the family visit and the family theme and y’know you got to see your family and ask them about what happened at home and y’know you met them all there. It was definitely the family visit.
Describe one day at Gabon, right from when you woke up, what were the things you did on a typical day.
Well I was basically the provider at every camp I was in like Fang, Kota and Nobag. Basically around base camp I would set traps. Sometimes I would go get fruit then I’d boil water. Daily chores, and then if there was a challenge that day, we would do that. It really depends on what you do at camp, and of course strategizing and talking to your allies about what to do next. You get used to it after nine days out there, you don’t even realize there are cameras out there.
Being a gamer, did you ever get the itch to game? To say “Man I wish I just had a Gamecube or a Wii with me right here to relax”.
When I was out there, I didn’t even have like, an itch, to play video games. All I was thinking about was surviving the game y’know. I was hoping for some challenges that had to do with something about video games or something like that, but no…
(Laughs)
If there was an All-Star version of survivor (sometimes they do that), would you do it again?
If they asked me again, I would do it again. I learned from my mistakes and if I played the game again, I’d probably do a lot better. I’d definitely do it again.
I just have a few more gaming related questions, obviously, because it’s for MLG and Smashboards. Smash obviously is a fast game, y’know, you have to act fast, react fast, you have to think fast, you have to strategize pretty quickly. Given that Survivor’s just a much longer, an extended time. Did you think that you maybe over-thought things too much, or maybe spent too much time thinking as opposed to what you’re normally accustomed to when you play other people?
Yes, that was definitely my downfall. I over-thought the situations so much so that I kind of just sat back at the end and thought what if I took control, someone else took control, etc. I over-thought both situations and that was definitely the downfall of me.
Another forum member wants to know, are you going to throw a tournament or a celebration for your success on the show. If not, do you plan on playing smash competitively, what do you plan on doing afterwards?
I am never ever going to throw a tournament ever again after my last tournament. I’m done with tournament hosting for sure, and right now I’m just worried about school and y’know living life and getting out more, doing other things and maybe after I’m graduated and want to play smash again, then I’ll probably come back, but it doesn’t look like I want to do that right now. I just want to take a huge break from competitive gaming.
Do you still play any bit recreationally? Not just smash, just gaming in general?
I play party games from time to time, but just for fun. Other than that, I haven’t been playing a lot of games lately. I’ve just been doing other things.
Here’s another question. If you could describe the other final four finalists for the show, Matty, Sugar, Bob and Suzie as smash characters, and yourself, who would you be able to compare them to?
Uhhhhhhhh
If you had to? (lol >.>)
I don’t even know, that’s a tough one.
What about for yourself then?
(Ken stutters and stammers)
I’d like to see myself as Marth, maybe Marth. I don’t think that survivor could relate to smash characters, I don’t think there’s no way in hell.
(Laughs)
Do you still keep in touch with anyone from the show?
Yeah of course. Crystal and I are like really good friends after the show. I call her home maybe every week and we talk about things. I’m really good friends with Matty, I’m really good friends with Dan, Randy, who else? Michelle, Kelly. I get along with the majority of the cast, but you know, its just like some of them are not really good friends but you know these people I mentioned stand out.
Do you think you influenced the gaming community at all being on Survivor?
Yeah definitely, the thing is like no one really knew, when I first got on the show it was like ‘Oh, he’s definitely going to be the first or second voted off’ a week, we’ll give him that. When they saw me doing so well, (and saw me making it through every week), they were actually jumping on the bandwagon then, rooting for me to win. At first I got a lot of comments on my (Facebook and Myspace). A lot of people underestimated me, everybody else on the show underestimated me, but I proved to a lot of people that I’m actually a good player and that I was behind the majority of people going home. So I guess as a game you base perspective on what you can do when you’re a personal threat in the game.
Did any of the other survivor contestants remind you of any of your other, former competitors in smash, any other pros? Did you see any similarities with them?
Ummmm…
Did anyone remind you of Isai, Chu dat, PC Chris, KillaOR?
I don’t really know. It’s kinda hard to relate the survivor contestants to smash pros. I guess Crystal was my Isai out there. She stuck with me, and she was very loyal. We were a team, we had each other’s back.
Okay, just one last question. Is there anything you want to say to the gaming community, MLG community, Smashboards community?
I’d like to say thank you for your support for me the whole way.
(well, maybe that's not a real question, but it IS true)
