Taskmaster: 200 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People: 220 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People

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Over her attention? Sure. Alex asked her in front of us which of us was her favourite, and time froze. We all went silent. She said, “I can’t answer that.” She was very diplomatic. This is up to you and your needs. The events can be run on simple video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Webex or MS Teams. This glorious, pseudo-Shakespearean carb-based tragedy is the peak of what this show can do. It doesn’t just humiliate or frustrate comedians – it can make them believe that they are a sporting legend, a Muhammed Ali, a Lewis Hamilton, a Russell Howard … and then it can take it all away. 1 A song for Rosalind The task where the contestants have to make a “hilarious blooper”. Tim Key and Frank Skinner invent a home movie where a man falls off a ladder so hard his entire torso gets embedded in the ground. Chilling. 83 Vanishing act Firstly, I think Charlotte Ritchie should get a Bafta. Her performance is incredible in this show, and what she’s doing is brilliant. She’s a horrible person [laughs], but her performance is fantastic and I think she needs to get something for that. It’s a people’s favourite, but in terms of accolades and stuff, it hasn’t really done as much as it deserves because it’s a good show, it’s funny, it makes you laugh, makes you cry, it makes you think. It’s relatable – there’s at least one character that you can be like, “Oh, that reminds me of…” And it’s very rare to make a show like that, that can be enjoyed by all ages and that can move you. I think it’s been a bit underappreciated by the industry. Not by the fans, because the fans love it.

Join us for a social, active and immersive team event designed to provide an adrenaline-fuelled evening of games, tasks and challenges. The task where the contestants have to bag the heaviest thing in a Christmas tree bagging machine, carried from the furthest distance. Katherine Parkinson is wheeled in a wheelbarrow and throws herself into the machine, writhing around in the net like a trapped dolphin. Strange, but effective. 67 Toddle on Also, not having an audience does feel sometimes like we’re just having a chat whilst we’re waiting for the cameras to start. Yes, I was really nervous all the way through all of the tasks. I find being creative or entertaining on demand impossible. We all wanted to win, because then you get to do Champion of Champions. But I’ve got a fairly well-established reputation amongst my family and friends for being chaotic and easily flustered, and possessing not a lot of practical or lateral thinking skills. So I went in there wanting to show them that wasn’t entirely the case, and to do it in a broadly dignified manner. Taskmaster is so popular and so good that even if you’re being humiliated on it, it’s like top-tier humiliation. I did a dance in lingerie on ITV2 once, and I didn’t feel nearly as grateful for that as I was for this. But having worked out that I wasn’t going to pull any unexpected logic or practical decision making out of the bag, I was then very happy with whatever happened.Ed Gamble is someone I know quite well, he’s very deep intoTaskmasterand I listen to his podcast about it a lot, which is a good way to get under the skin of how things might be received, or how things might be done well. In fact, I was late for a gig in Bristol a few weeks ago and they had to stretch out the interval before I came on. After the gig, I was looking at my tweets and someone had posted just before the show started: ‘Waiting in a long interval for the latest man in comedy.’ That’s not a title that I’ve ever put out into the world, but that’s something that has been now baked in beyond my control.

G: It’s remarkable. He’s so naturally funny. He does a thing where he throws away a point wilfully in one of the live tasks. It’s one of the most surprising and funniest things I’ve seen on the show. That really wrong-footed me, that. I did find a lot of the tasks, and my failure to adapt to them, very stressful [but] I returned home every day, delighted with how fun and creative it had all been, and how I’d been taken care of. But with a lot of micro regrets about things I knew I could have done better.The task where the contestants have to fit a stuffed camel through the smallest gap. While others pulverise their camels to fit it through tiny crevasses, Giedroyc drives to the nearest high street and runs through the entrance of a Baby Gap. Inspired. 34 Impress the mayor I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I come across. The big running theme is – and this is no disservice to them because it’s a really honourable industry and profession – but Greg has called me a children’s TV presenter a lot. And actually I’m going to own it because those people access the purest of us, i.e. children, and if they can be on a level with children, before they’re corrupted by the world and trauma, I’m really happy to be counted amongst those people. The task where the contestants have to make the best snowman on a non-snowy day. Gorman uses instant potato mash (upsettingly beige), Pascoe ice-cream (cute), Chowdhry takes a stuffed rabbit and pours a slushy over its head (serial killer vibes). 47 Tea break A: He was desperate to win it because he knows the show inside out. Most of his mates have done it and that desperation meant going charging into the tasks and then realising it was too late. He got all giddy and excited and never stopped to think. But he’s a really thoughtful person generally, so that was surprising.

G: I’m always surprised when that can be levelled as a criticism, because that’s why I came into comedy. He also thought you were going to be a bit more serious. And you’ve both found each other to be quite joyous.A: If you say to her, “What do you think of the Nissan Micra?” she’ll have a story about it, in the same way Greg often has a story for most occasions. She’s got an amazing memory for details. I envied Frankie. I envied all of them, to be honest: they were clearly in a better headspace than I was throughout the tasks. Really? Do you think Mae Martin went home with those kinds of feelings? The stone-faced killer? No, of course not. A: Yes. There aren’t that many sitcoms out there that are just nonsense. Actually, Man Down was quite a good influence on me. You were mainly trying to be really funny on that show. Is that fair enough? We were going to take mushrooms together during the last episode. I wanted to go to Amsterdam with them and go on a psychedelic journey.

We’ll send you a personalised Taskmaster hamper which is enough to run your own event, or for something a little more special, have Alex on hand to host the contest. Choose your event below: But if there’s one thing the UK loves more than queuing, it’s an underdog. Or sometimes just someone who isn’t afraid to admit they simply can’t be arsed. And in many ways it’s the contestants’ biggest, most epic failures that make some of the show’s best moments. A: She is. She had the time of her life, both in and out of the studio. The whole show is meant to be doing stuff you did as a kid that you don’t do any more. You know, you can make a big mess and you can make a little film. She’s really throwing herself into it. Well, basically it’s a show about humility. So the framework is of the British Empire. That’s the artwork, right? So it’s Edwardian, late Victorian, music hall-type art. And this is the British condition, hubris. And also, the condition of comedians generally is narcissism and hubris. So this is a game that is designed to create humility within those players. But then if you have a Taskmaster, then they’re not going to have humility, so Alex has Greg to humiliate him. And then Greg is the Taskmaster because Greg is a self-humiliating machine – all his jokes about himself, because he’s simply too large to have ever lived a normal life. So it’s this agnostic reminder of humility all the way through the show. Not for me, really. No matter how much my mum wants me to go on Strictly. I’m sorry, Mum, but I don’t think I will be doing the jive any time soon.The option of a special recorded task from Alex set in advance. Capture your efforts before the event ready to be judged on the day.