There’s a new sheriff in the well-maintained upper-middle class suburb of Jeopardy!, and he’s perhaps the best showman the series has seen since the “DANKEY KANG” contestant.

Matt Jackson, a 23-year-old paralegal from Washington, D.C., has been absolutely obliterating his competition over the last eight episodes, racking up a total of $230,000.

But the best part about Jackson is the impeccable comedic timing he exhibits every single time host Alex Trebek introduces him. As Vulture pointed out, Jackson has truly perfected the most simultaneously uncomfortable and appealing slow smile of all time. Every episode, he performs the act without fail, straight-faced as a corpse.

Like creeping ivy, the smile slowly spreads across the blank canvas of his face.

Matt is also brilliant, intensely focused on the questions, and simply does not have patience for Trebek’s chitter chatter. After he gets a right answer, he wastes no time in getting to the next question, often steamrolling Trebek in the process.

Another thing that’s really likable about Jackson is his characteristic “Boom!” fist-slap maneuver after a particularly tricky question. It’s every bit as jarring as it is triumphant.


Image via Jeopardy!