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

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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. When you’re doing stand-up, which has been the bulk of my career, you have a degree of control over what you’re putting out – and obviously, you’re slightly massaging your own character to make it more likeable or whimsical or whatever. I enjoyed his dynamic with Greg in the studio. But he’s a snitch and a brown-noser. So quite often when I was at the lowest place he’d eagerly go to point directly at me when the points are being read out

Taskmaster’s second series has two of the most memorable moments of all time: Richard Osman outsmarting the Taskmaster with the ‘ Place these three exercise balls on the yoga mat at the top of thathill’ task (especially juxtaposed with Jon Richardson and Doc Brown’s hilariously exhausting attempts) and the legendary Taskmaster moment that is the Joe Wilkinson potatogate tragedy. The task where the contestants have to make the tallest beermat tower and also ring the doorbell outside once every few seconds. Rizwan brings the doorbell into the house (genius), Richard Herring cuts himself on the doorbell and smears blood all over the door (less genius). 49 Clingfilm a bathBecause it’s so personal, it opens the door to really deep personal conversations with strangers so there are a lot of people telling me about their addictions and their families and their relationships and sexuality and gender. There’s no small talk, people get right to the deep stuff, which I love. I hate small talk, so I’m happy to delve right in. And people really feel like they know me. And annoyingly, they do. The task where the contestants have to move a boulder as far as possible in an hour. Roisin Conaty wastes 28 minutes of her hour trying to arrange for a courier to Camber Sands, because it’s a nice place for a day trip. 54 Lasso me

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. 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?Nah! I also get a lot of, “What does Charlotte Ritchie smell like? What’s Charlotte Ritchie like?” She’s England’s rose. She came to watch the Taskmaster filming too, which was really nice. Kiell and I felt like we had our parents coming in to visit us.

We have a variety of options to suit every budget and can help you craft an unforgettable experience for your staff, customers, friends or family. These range from us providing the assets needed for you to run your own Taskmaster event, right through to a personalised episode of the show with Alex at the helm. 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. 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. The task where the contestants have to lasso Horne with a rope. Baddiel can’t get the hang of it, so decides to do the logical thing – tie multiple wooden spoons to the lasso. That’s something you don’t see in many westerns, mostly because it’s a terrible idea. 53 Hula hoops When he says, “All the information’s on the task,” you want to chop his limbs off. Aside from that, I found him extremely charming. As a North American, I felt like I was in a Roald Dahl book. It’s so quintessentially English that I was just automatically charmed by it.A: I’m just really pleased that people will see her being funny on telly, because she should be on telly more. You’re seeing the true Jenny, I think. The task where contestants have to put something on their face that looks like a moustache from a distance but isn’t. Paul Sinha wins by smearing caviar on his top lip. Disgusting and classy. 99 Sounds like … A: What’s quite nice is it starts in the world of Taskmaster and ends up in another world, which is really fun. It’s meant to be me trying to get out of Greg’s shadow and not quite ever achieving that. It’s almost funny. It’s almost part of the show that that’s exactly what I don’t want to happen. Although Jo Brand spent most of her time in the CBA club, she also had moments of sheer brilliance (scream-singing Jerusalem down the phone to Alex as an egg timer) and other series highlights were Ed Gamble’s meltdowns and Rose Matafeo’s outstanding rootin’ tootin’ Taskmaster theme. ED 6. Series Fourteen 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.

There was a lot of stuff that involved physically moving around and sometimes I think I look like a puppet on a string, I can’t believe how I move. The event is hosted by a professional comedic compare, who alone will bring the room to life. They also play the role of the master of the tasks, so it’s you vs them! They will also judge each round and allocate those vital points. G: I always say he adds value in some way to every task. There’s always a shimmy or flourish. He’s showbiz. I spoke to Guz Khan about it. Guz doesn’t really get excited by anything. He’s equally happy being the main person in the biggest show of all time as he would chilling at home watching TV. But he was like, “Bruh, you’re gonna smash it. You’ve got to do it.” I told Katy because we were filming when I found out I was going to do it, and all she said was, “Of course.” Charlotte came to watch me in the studio record. She’s like me: as an actor, you sometimes don’t really want to see yourself in that scenario, especially with a bunch of comedians. It can be daunting, and you worry whether you haven’t said enough, or you’ve said too much. All you need to do it nominate your Taskmaster who will set and judge the challenges, choose your virtual platform and gather the troops for a guaranteed fun-filled event.The contestants have to make a bridge for a model village, strong enough to hold a potato, out of straws, rubbers and chewing gum. Only afterwards do they discover that all of the best building material was strapped under the table. Cruel. 55 Bouder-ly go Yep. Because their job is being funny by themselves and the only time I’ve ever been funny is if someone else has written something good for me to put in my mouth. Without that I’m an empty vessel that needs to be filled with genius. The proof will be in the tweets following the show so I’m looking forward to learning who I am on the internet.