Taskmaster

[Orang Utan]

So what did everyone think of the last series? It left me feeling a bit disappointed to be honest. The last episode was probably the one which made me laugh the most.
I'm a bit worried I've got Taskmaster fatigue.
Also, Alex seemed so different this series.

New contestants released for the next series.
View attachment 427171
Andy Zaltzman, Babatunde, Aléshé, Emma Sidi and Rosie Jones.

I've already seen people being absolutely vile online about Rosie being in the show. Really horrible.
Weirdly, I feel like I remember Jack Dee being on it before.

Hang on, there’s 5 guests listed there but no Jack Dee????

 

[kabbes]

Joe Wilkinson buying the mayor of Chesham 40 Callipos and 8 cans of strong lager remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Joe Wilkinson said the idea of doing that seemed hilarious until he went into the local supermarket and they only sold Calippos individually, meaning he had to make eye contact with the supermarket checkout person that had to scan them all one by one.

 

[Saffy]

Hang on, there’s 5 guests listed there but no Jack Dee????

Whoops! I missed him

 

[DaveCinzano]

Hang on, there’s 5 guests listed there but no Jack Dee????

Babatunde Aléshé, not Babatunde and Aléshé

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

I also loved Mike Wozniak.

Is he a Tory? I assumed he was a parody of one.

 

[Chz]

I also loved Mike Wozniak.

Mike was in the Fringe production that led to Taskmaster, so it's inevitable both that he would both be in it eventually and also very, very funny in it.

 

[Saffy]

Is he a Tory? I assumed he was a parody of one.

Haven't got a clue!

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Haven't got a clue!

Oh, ok - it's just from the way you answered my comment about not wanting to watch Tories.

 

[Saffy]

Oh, ok - it's just from the way you answered my comment about not wanting to watch Tories.

Ahh sorry I was just sharing my love of contestants.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Mike Wozniak is a nice guy. Don't think he has any political angle TBH.

He's also the nearest we get to star spotting around here. My daughter pointed him and his daughter towards a classroom at her school open evening a few years ago.

True story.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Mike Wozniak is a nice guy. Don't think he has any political angle TBH.

No - I didn't think so though i do see him as a walking parody of my Dad's generation - he bears quite a strong resemblance to my Dad too.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Decent season, but I have no idea why Joanne turned up.

Steve and Sophie were fantastic.

 

[scifisam]

Sophie, the ginger woman, is younger than Rob and Nick and only a couple of years older than Joanne.

She looks a hell of a lot younger in real life - I think she was convincingly staying in character as Alma, her alter ego.

 

[Orang Utan]

Sophie, the ginger woman, is younger than Rob and Nick and only a couple of years older than Joanne.

She looks a hell of a lot younger in real life - I think she was convincingly staying in character as Alma, her alter ego.

Assuming you mean John Robins not Rob?
They’re a strange lot. I thought Nick looks younger than he is. And i thought Joanne was about my age (51)

 

[scifisam]

Assuming you mean John Robins not Rob?
They’re a strange lot. I thought Nick looks younger than he is. And i thought Joanne was about my age (51)

Yep, thought I'd corrected it but obvs I didn't.

Joanne could be 25 or even 45 but with great genes and maybe some Botox and a ton of time spent in the gym. It's something about the style rather than her appearance. She doesn't look the same age as you though!

Sophie is the one I was talking about, though, and she presents as about 56, not 36. She's intentionally crazy auntie - style over actual looks again.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Not quite sure why we're fussing over ages suddenly but...

Sophie, the ginger woman, is younger than Rob and Nick and only a couple of years older than Joanne.

She looks a hell of a lot younger in real life - I think she was convincingly staying in character as Alma, her alter ego.

Joanne is 41. Sophie is the baby of the series at 36.

 

[scifisam]

Not quite sure why we're fussing over ages suddenly but...



Joanne is 41. Sophie is the baby of the series at 36.

I looked Joanne up and it had her age other than that, but maybe it was wrong.

I'm not fussing over ages. I think Sophie's been playing a character extremely convincingly and it's genuinely impressive to keep it up like that over a whole series.

 

[Orang Utan]

Yep, thought I'd corrected it but obvs I didn't.

Joanne could be 25 or even 45 but with great genes and maybe some Botox and a ton of time spent in the gym. It's something about the style rather than her appearance. She doesn't look the same age as you though!

Sophie is the one I was talking about, though, and she presents as about 56, not 36. She's intentionally crazy auntie - style over actual looks again.

Re: Joanne McNally. I was just going by the people I see on dating apps think it’s probs just the make up and the clothes! She speaks like a millennial.
Agree about Sophie Willan. Haven’t seen her sitcom, but she’s so much fun. She was the one out of the five who made me laugh the most and I kinda wished she was my friend.
I was just worried about John Robins. He didn’t look like he was enjoying himself and looked like he needed looking after. I guess he got what he wanted, but people who just want to win aren’t very entertaining, unless it all goes awry for them.


Joanne was perhaps the funniest alongside Sophie. Nick Mohammed and Steve Pemberton were also funny and endearing.
I think it must have been the tasks that let this series down then, cos the guests were all great. It definitely feels like it’s gone off the boil, but they’ve done well to get to 16 series

 

[danny la rouge]

I always struggle when they have an out and out Tory cunt on there, so not going to enjoy Jack Dee tbh.

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

 

[Orang Utan]

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

I think he’s more of a grumpy middle-aged centrist who finds political comedy too predictable as its mostly homogenous in its views and targets.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

Paul O'Grady was besties with Ah Cilla for years - it happens

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

No, he isn't. He has criticised partisanly left-wing political comedy, but that's not the same thing.

This is the Torygraph's take on it. They have, of course, adopted the most right-wing-friendly take on what he said with their headline and article, and will have cherry-picked the bits from the interview that suited that agenda best. But even with that handling, he doesn't really come across so badly.

Jack Dee: why Left-wing comics should keep their politics to themselves

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Paul O'Grady was besties with Ah Cilla for years - it happens

She was a tory, though, as in you will find pro-tory things she did and said if you look for them. Loads of them. You won't find any with Jack Dee. The worst you'll find is him criticising comedians for going on about brexit because it's boring. (And he himself voted Remain.)

So unless the poster knows Dee personally, they have got that wrong.

 

[scifisam]

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

He's not a Tory. Being a centrist can be an issue, TBF, but he's not a Tory.

I'm not totally delighted about Rosie Jones being in the next season, because I've never found her funny - I groaned when I saw it. But Taskmaster does sometimes make people funnier than they were in other mediums - I never found Jenny Eclair funny before and she made me laugh loads on Taskmaster.

Plus Taskmaster has always had an issue with not really being very considerate of physical disabilities, which is sorta OK because it's just for comedy rather than actually winning, but sometimes it's limited the contestants in ways that don't add to the show. Little Alex Horne, who designs the tasks, is actually also quite tall, and an awful lot of the tasks are based on the viewpoint of a tall man, so shorter contestants spend time just jumping up to try and reach stuff, which is lazy humour. And there have been loads of things where the contestant finding it physically difficult didn't add to the comedy, certainly more than when it did.

Rosie Jones being there might mean coming up with new tasks in ways that could be interesting. And I'll watch it anyway, obvs.

 

[Looby]

I was just worried about John Robins. He didn’t look like he was enjoying himself and looked like he needed looking after. I guess he got what he wanted, but people who just want to win aren’t very entertaining, unless it all goes awry for them.

John Robins always seems so intense to me and like he’s about to explode. I’ve listened to his podcast and watched a couple of his standup shows and I don’t find him very funny.

He has some mental health difficulties and has given up drinking I believe and has done some good stuff around this which is great but I can’t warm to him. I imagine he’s a nice guy but I sense an edge that makes me a bit uncomfortable which is probably unfair.

Him and Sara Pascoe both did a show based around their breakup and his was quite angry and brooding I remember.

 

[kabbes]

I find Rosie Jones absolutely hilarious. I think she’ll be brilliant. You can never tell, though — some of my favourite comedians have been bland on taskmaster and some of those I’m less fond of have been great.

What I loved about Steve Pemberton was that he brought a creative film-maker’s eye to tasks. So he gave anything that involved imagining some kind of “scene” an amazing shine.

 

[Lord Camomile]

He's not a Tory. Being a centrist can be an issue, TBF, but he's not a Tory.

I'm not totally delighted about Rosie Jones being in the next season, because I've never found her funny - I groaned when I saw it. But Taskmaster does sometimes make people funnier than they were in other mediums - I never found Jenny Eclair funny before and she made me laugh loads on Taskmaster.

Plus Taskmaster has always had an issue with not really being very considerate of physical disabilities, which is sorta OK because it's just for comedy rather than actually winning, but sometimes it's limited the contestants in ways that don't add to the show. Little Alex Horne, who designs the tasks, is actually also quite tall, and an awful lot of the tasks are based on the viewpoint of a tall man, so shorter contestants spend time just jumping up to try and reach stuff, which is lazy humour. And there have been loads of things where the contestant finding it physically difficult didn't add to the comedy, certainly more than when it did.

Rosie Jones being there might mean coming up with new tasks in ways that could be interesting. And I'll watch it anyway, obvs.

Aye, pretty much sums up my feelings on all counts and contestants.

What I loved about Steve Pemberton was that he brought a creative film-maker’s eye to tasks. So he gave anything that involved imagining some kind of “scene” an amazing shine.

I was very surprised by Steve, which I definitely think was down to incorrect preconceptions on my part.

For some reason I thought he was going to be a bit aloof, but he was actually very silly a lot of the time and, as you say, brought something quite different to most other contestants, and really committed his ideas.

He wasn't just 'playing along', he was clearly genuinely enjoying himself.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Is Jack Dee a Tory? That surprises me. I know he has a grumpy persona and his comedy is apolitical, but he was a friend of Jeremy Hardy, so I’d be surprised if he was an actual Tory.

sorry this is behind a paywall, but i remember reading some of this a while ago and being very surprised. Not in a good way. Jack Dee: why Left-wing comics should keep their politics to themselves

 

[PR1Berske]

It's a very strange format for a successful programme: persuade a panel of comedians to perform party tricks and parlour games for a laugh for six weeks. It has the ability to fail twice: the selection of contestants (Season 8) or the tasks (over reliance on 'count/fill/collect/collate').

For modern television, it's remarkable that it is still going. I think Alex, like Richard Osman, is a knowledgeable enough producer to know when to stop.

 

[Chz]

Rosie Jones is pure manic energy, so will be interesting to see how that gets on with some of the more sedate tasks. I used to think she was off her tits on coke 24/7, but it does seem that it's actually her default state. I guess you would kinda have to be to get ahead in such a notoriously unfriendly game (comedy, not TM) with a disability.