New Taskmaster- anyone watching?

[anonacfr]

I know he's controversial but I do love Frankie Boyle...

I agree with JoyDivisionOvenGlovesx

Lucy’s act is wearing incredibly thin now. Reminds me a bit of Lou ‘ooh I’m just sooo kooky’ Sanders 🤮.

Some people try too hard. I watched the first series of the Richardsons, but got a bit fed up with her mixed up persona, sometimes she was the ditzy one, other times quite sensible (I couldn’t stand her ‘pretend’ mother either!)

I’m still enjoying Julian though.

I would call Sue "confidently earnest" I think.

I just watched the bleeped version out of curiosity. They only bleep out the very specific words. All the innuendo and themes and so on are still in there.

Lucy even more annoying on the second watch, such fake ditziness

They will blue explicit images in the bleeped version. Someone had a rude fridge magnet one season and that was blurred. The penis pictures from the other week weren't because they were quite tame I guess. When Sophie Duker brought in her "personal massager" I swear they must have cut stuff or done a second take because there was virtually no discussion of it.

oh interesting. I guess this one didn't have any rude pictures of anything. Julian's 'regret' and any discussion of that had the word bleeped, but they were obviously talking about it, so I can imagine a child would want to know what he said! Otherwise just swearing was bleeped in this one.

I wondered about things like Sophie Duker's food creation, can't remember what it was meant to be about, but she made female genitals. I guess some of those sorts of things would be covered. Or all the wire pictures in this series that were mostly cock and balls type pictures!

I can imagine watchng a bleeped version would just prompt a lot of questioning from children though...

I watch the bleeped version with my kids, they know all the swears so it’s mostly pointless but I do anyway! They could usually guess what is being said but I think they find it funnier with the bleeps because actually saying “fuck” isn’t that funny, but knowing a swear word was said but bleeped out is funnier to a 10 year old somehow.

Oh you must watch that series! Joe Wilkinson and the potato is one of the all-time top Taskmaster moments. Hie thee to a catch up 😄

I’d highly recommend listening to Lucy Beaumont interviewed on the Parenting Hell podcast. She and Jon (interviewed separately) were some of the first guests they had and I found them both hilarious talking about parenting (including struggling to scope with the fact their daughter had a southern accent!) and lockdowns.

Jon went first and Lucy’s interview was in response to his.

Jon - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rob-beckett-and-josh-widdicombes-parenting-hell/id1510251497?i=1000473244144

Lucy - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rob-beckett-and-josh-widdicombes-parenting-hell/id1510251497?i=1000473646996

I loved Alex's "Time Machine" at the start. I think it was how pleased he was with himself and how both he and Greg were trying not to laugh. Just so simple and silly.

Anyone else think it was a slight nod to HHGTTG ?

Still enjoying it but think the NZ lot did the sausage task way better, but they were given a machine though

I have to say, I disagree with the idea that Lucy Beaumont is less dim than she pretends to be. She is certainly attempting to play a part, but she is clearly an idiot, playing the part of an idiot, in the hope that others will think that, because she is playing the part of an idiot, she can’t also actually be an idiot. In her case, I strongly suspect she’s a vacuous idiot all the way down. I can’t stand her.

Fortunately for this series, the rest of the guests are of a higher calibre and manage to make it watchable despite her. Just as well, really!

I'm not convinced you can do comedy and genuinely be a vacuous idiot.

It's come up on the podcast a few times - is she for real? Julian, who struck me as very genuine on the podcast, seemed genuinely baffled by her but came down on the side of her being for real.

I’m not convinced what LB is doing is actually comedy.

Nevertheless, she does comedy and has won and been nominated for awards for it.

There are lots of comedians I don't find funny (and I suspect Lucy would be one of them actually. Frankie Boyle is another. Not my kind of humour.)

Wiki says Her on-stage persona delivers deadpan anecdotes and has been described as "ditzily naïve". That implies it is put on to some extent.

Seeing comedians on things like Mock the Week makes me think that, on the whole, they actually have to be really sharp. Dealing with hecklers too must require a certain level of sharp wittedness.

I guess we will never know!

Seeing comedians on things like Mock the Week makes me think that, on the whole, they actually have to be really sharp.

Is reading words off a script what passes for sharp these days ?

Dealing with hecklers too must require a certain level of sharp wittedness.

All the comics I have heard in interviews had said it's mainly memorising lists of put-downs ....

🤷🏻‍♀️ OK

Dealing with hecklers really isn’t a measure of intelligence. It’s easy enough to learn a few stock responses. Dealing with them well and in a comedic fashion is, of course, much harder, but many comedians don’t actually do that. People are also nominated for, and even win, awards for entirely spurious reasons. That isn’t a strong indicator for anything.

You aren’t obliged to agree with me, but I’m entitled to think there is more abomination than comedy about her.

Off topic I realise, but I saw a fabulous comedian recently called Hayley Ellis. She's the antithesis of Lucy Beaumont - quick, tough, sharp and very, very funny. I recommend anyone seeks her out, she's touring and tickets don't cost a lot.

I agree @LubaLuca Hayley Ellis is fab. She supports Sarah Millican a lot which is where we first saw her and I am hoping she's supporting her next time we see her next year!

Greg and Alex's thoughts on Lucy:

Wow, i never knew a candle in a jar would do that, well done Sue!

I thought Sue and Sam should have got some points! It's disappointing when nobody gets points on a task, especially when they found the secret tricks

Lucy is getting more annoying by the week - she's watched every series, she says, and yet has no idea about tasks like balloon popping from a distance - that kind of thing has been done loads. Or that there would be hidden ways to do stuff

I've seen the candle in the vase thing before but I wouldn't have thought of it at all in this instance. I'd have been sucking it up and spitting too