Taskmaster Series 11

[Absofruitly]

Did anyone watch this last night? I'm so glad it's back. We've been watching the old ones practically every day recently with the kids in anticipation of this new series. It's still odd and flat in the studio with no audience there and the big gaps between everyone, but the tasks themselves are golden.
I think Mike Wozniak is going to emerge as the star of this series. The combo of his 'nature is weird' song, his balalaika playing of the theme tune and the super cautious plates on a hoverboard task absolutely sold him to me.

Who else is in this series? I do like Mike Wozniak so that's a promising start!

sausagedog - Lee Mack, Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix and Sarah Kendall. They're a really entertaining group. Wozniak drinks 37 pints of milk per month, Lee is a vegan and drinks none.

This series is great at making people aware of comedians who aren't very well known - I always look forward to seeing a certain contestant but then end up adoring all of them!
*
When Wozniak lept over the fence I feared he'd injure himself*
I was worried the fence would fall over, it wobbled a bit!

I started out not knowing about any of these people except Lee Mack and it’s been surprisingly good so far , Mike Wosniak is great fun !

I didn't know Sarah Kendall at all, she's funny.

@bonfireheart That pic is pretty smokin' but I prefer him in smiling and goofy mode, and I think the tache only enhances his hotness, which isn't something I ever thought I'd say about anyone.
For new Wozniak fans, check out his scene in Alice Lowe's film 'Prevenge' (currently on Amazon Prime) – he's only in it for a few mins but is absolutely flippin' adorable.

Finished watching this week’s episode now - did anyone notice the Greg’s head golden trophy spinning around as he intro’d the haunted house task? Confess it was my DH who saw it and rewound to show me!

Yes, the Taskmaster YouTube channel just uploaded a video this evening explaining how they did it:

I had never heard of Mike Wozniak before last week but words just can't express how utterly wonderful I think he is. He and Lee Mack have had me howling with laughter both episides so far. Charlotte is useless but adorable - vibes of Katherine Parkinson.

Did they say something - either on the TV show or on the Taskmaster podcast - about there being a live audience "in a cinema down the road"? The studio bits must be broadcast in real time to the audience, to get the audience laughter.

@BelfastBloke

Did they say something - either on the TV show or on the Taskmaster podcast - about there being a live audience "in a cinema down the road"? The studio bits must be broadcast in real time to the audience, to get the audience laughter.

Yes, it must be quite a logistical challenge to sync it up. I wondered about that too, when Greg said it in the intro to a recent ep.

I wonder if the cast members can hear the audience if it's all synced up and live? It must be v odd doing the studio tasks with no encouragement from the audience if they can't hear them, so I can only assume that it's all cleverly synced and the audience encouragement is piped in to them somehow.

Has anyone ever been in the audience at a record? I'd love to as it looks like great fun, but it's the wrong end of the country for me.

I've been to a few live TV recordings, it is fascinating and also makes you realise how pro some presenters are at keeping it going, playing to a live audience, a camera and all the bits in between.

In outtakes there doesn't appear to be any audience laughter so I think in the studio they're watching everything in silence, which must make things quite hard!

Lee Mack is great with a live audience, works so well for him on Would I Lie To You. Can you imagine Daisy from last series with a live audience? Definitely takes something away from it but think they're doing really well.

www.nme.com/features/taskmaster-mike-wozniak-2911042?amp

@bonfireheart That NME piece is spot on.

I've binged all 4 seasons of Man Down over the past week or so to get my Wozniak fix between Taskmasters and now feel miffed that they didn't tie up poor Brian's storyline by the end of the season 4 (I guess they didn't know at that point there would be no more seasons). I know he's just a daft comedy character but he was so sad during S4, I just wanted the poor bloke to find a little happiness.

Anyway, it's Taskmaster tonight and I am v. excited after they tweeted out that crazy looking 'air violin' pic of Lee and Mike yesterday.

Is anyone else finding the tasks really boring!? I wonder if it’s to do with COVID restrictions and lock down. No 15min to decide what you want to buy, then make it in the afternoon. No help from the crew.

Nah to be honest I'm finding the tasks pretty good still! Which is especially impressive considering how many episodes they've done and how many hundreds of tasks they've had to think of already!

Lee Mack's sugar- and toilet roll devastation! And Mike getting disqualified! Miniature tragedies.

I miss the lack of the Covid restrictions but I still laugh so hard. The salt task was a genius way to gamify the need for them to stay apart.

Lee and Mike both had a shocker of an episode tonight. I love how Mike was absolutely fine with how badly he did though. Zero competitiveness, just having a lovely time.

@Maireas

sausagedog - Lee Mack, Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix and Sarah Kendall. They're a really entertaining group. Wozniak drinks 37 pints of milk per month, Lee is a vegan and drinks none.

'What are you - a calf?'

Greg's line still makes me last out loud - weeks later

I loved the salt/sugar task. Even disqualified, Wozniak didn't mind "I had a lovely day"!
Sarah is excellent and Charlotte is delightful.

The showing of the salt/sugar task was genius. Mike and Lee all smug, thinking they had it in the bag. Then Sarah onscreen sticking her finger in her mouth with a thinky face... Jamal finding the actual bag of salt... Lee crushed. The editors of this show are unsung geniuses.

I actually had noticed that Alex had said of Lee and Mike "they told me they were finished at [time]". Sneaky little weasel.

I love Jamali and Alex’s interactions during the task. He has no patience with him.

I’m getting a weird crush on Mike!

Nothing weird about it. He's a delightful individual all round. The love for him on Twitter after every episode tells me you're not alone.