The task where the contestants have to conceal themselves in a phone box. Sinha has a minor breakdown and decides to use members of the crew to cover him up. It doesn’t work. 68 Christmas tree wrapping 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 The task where the contestants must fill an egg cup with their own tears. Tim Key takes a no-nonsense approach: watching Elliot’s audition from ET while cutting onions. Classic. 97 Flagging

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. It was so fun being with them all. It’s such a great group. I obviously love the show, and like so many shows it adapted really well, probably better than most, during the pandemic, but I was so pleased that we had a studio audience and that we were sat really near each other. Other comedians have a kind of gung-ho attitude – and that’s something that initially made Horne quite wary. “In series past, I wasn’t completely sure we’d be able to cope with Johnny Vegas. I’ve done shows with him before, and he’s always the funniest person – I was always worried about having a flavour that’s too strong in the mix over 10 episodes.” Equally though, the varied tasks in the show means that you get to see a different aspect of the personalities of normally bombastic comics. “My mum had seen Vegas before and wasn’t his greatest fan. But now she is, because she saw how artistic and fragile he is. So we do try to show all the different sides of people. They can’t help but show all their colours.”Did you enjoy your experience on Taskmaster or was it stressful ? You seemed to be unravelling at one point. To go the extra mile with your virtual event, have Little Alex Horne join and take the reins of your very own Taskmaster experience. For Level 2, we’ll send you: The task where the contestants have to make the biggest mess and then clean it up. Katherine Ryan decides to go metaphorical and tells her sister her husband has been cheating on her. For a television show. I’m sweating just thinking about it. 40 Name that animal

The subject of how different comedians take different approaches is an interesting one – the key is authenticity. “Andy [Devonshire, the director]’s main advice is always ‘You don’t have to try to be funny when you’re doing the tasks because that’s not funny.’” But everyone said, “Just enjoy it – it’s the best experience you’ll have in your career.” And it has been the best experience I’ve had in my career. And I have mostly enjoyed it. And like a lot of other manic regrets in life, I could vicariously rant at future Taskmaster contestants about what they need to do, often probably with no prompt or request whatsoever. I remember someone telling me, about stand-up, when I was on Live at the Apollo, to just take a moment to enjoy it – so that’s what I did with this. My brother’s a big fan and I talked to him about it. I said, “I’m quite worried that it might be a bit humiliating.” And my brother said, “Yes, but that’s your thing, isn’t it?” It’s testament to how wellTaskmasterputs groups of people together. I was a fan of all of their work beforehand, but Mae was the only person I’d met more than once before so it was really exciting to get to hang out together. In fact, Mae had the very thing that I envy most, which was a very logical, calm, usually brilliant approach while also being so funny along the way and doing little skits and stuff. The task where the contestants are told that when they hear a siren, they have to stop whatever they’re doing, put on a boiler suit by the door and lie down on the floor. Closely followed by the task where contestants have to tie themselves up as securely as possible … and then that siren goes off. Acaster’s face as he hears the siren, midway through tying his feet up, his whole world crashing around him as he realises what that means – a 40-minute set-up for a glorious punchline. 5 Cheeky textsG: Yes, I think so, because William is more likely to be King and the royal family need to reinvent themselves if they are to survive, and what better place to do it than on Taskmaster? The task where contestants have to guess what the Taskmaster is thinking of – a horse or a laminator. In a remarkable display of telepathy, Brand gets 13 right in a row, terrifying Davies and potentially marking her out as the next Uri Geller. 12 Smile! Regular readers will know this is entirely predictable. “Oh, Bernhardt’s become fixated on the tiniest details of a television show as a coping mechanism for the horrors of reality in the 2020s? Change the record. Call me when he’s had a Frasier-inspired breakdown and thinks he’s Eddie the dog.” If your opening is "We'll have Greg Davies as the host, plus Jimmy Carr will be in it" - great, but do you actually know these people? If not, best leave them out and rely on the strength of your concept, rather than the big names you can only dream of.

The task where the contestants have to play charades across the River Thames. This one gets in mostly because, within minutes, Sara Pascoe gets distracted by a passing dog. 92 Horsing around Greg said, ‘You can’t just bring things from around your house’ and I was like, ‘That’s literally what I thought you were supposed to do’. The pieces all fell into place when Alex met Frank Skinner for lunch. When he said 'yes', it became much easier to get more people onboard too. By the time they started filming, everyone was super excited to be involved. After all, there was no prep for them, no need to be topical, and a lot of fun to be had. If you have any questions about the set-up of the event in advance, we’ll be on hand to answer them for you. Then just log on with your participants at the agreed time and let the fun begin! So I tried that, but there were no loopholes that I could see anywhere, which induced an immediate state of panic.I could vicariously rant at futureTaskmastercontestants about what they need to do, often probably with no prompt or request whatsoever. I remember someone telling me when I was onLive at the Apollo, to just take a moment to enjoy it – so that’s what I did with this. Whether you’re planning a staff social for 200 people or even a special birthday for 5, this event is purpose built for any size audience and guarantees a unique and unforgettable experience. 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.