‘Series 20,’ Article 1 - ‘Horne’s staying on task’

By Liv Dunleavy

Asst. Arts and Features Editor Welcome to this article! A piece of writing where I shout my love for British people embarrassing themselves at you, and you read it and laugh. Laugh! Recently, my mind, body, and soul have been consumed entirely by the British comedy gameshow “Taskmaster.” A show created by someone who once told the Taskmaster, Greg Davies, that “on a childhood visit to a fruit farm he once sneakily ate so many strawberries that he achieved the holy grail, the 3-foot-long stool.” It's… Little Alex Horne! Formerly known as Alex Horne, the mastermind behind “Taskmaster” has crafted now 20 series of gilded gold goodness that continues to appease the masses. He sits below Greg’s towering throne as the Taskmaster’s Assistant, and their banter is nothing but agonizing! I love it! This series, the 20th series, stars another five funny European comedians willing to tank their own careers for a chance to win some homemade garbage, a heated snuggie, a mixtape cassette from a contestant’s childhood suitor who sounds like he invented the telephone? - and at the end the big winner gets a gold (gilded) bust of what looks somewhat like Greg Davies. I hope they're proud of themselves. But now let’s give a nice big round of mental applause for the contestants of this season, oops, I mean series! Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar are our decadent lineup of decades, showing truly throughout the series what a difference in ages can do to a person’s willpower. Where in the very first task we see not only Ania’s willpower but also her will to live. As she runs freely, chasing Alex for the QR code on his suit, unfortunately not at her top speed, we see her liveliness and silly nature. On the other hand… Sanjeev genuinely could not have been bothered to walk more than a centimeter per hour. If you are unfamiliar with the format of this show let me clear it up before we continue. The show focuses on tasks. Each live “Taskmaster” episode starts with a studio task called a “prize task,” where the contestants bring in something for a given topic, such as “a very soft thing which would be most beneficial for Greg Davies.” After the points are awarded the show continues with usually three to four pre-recorded tasks filmed over the course of months before the live studio filming. The five contestants are made to compete for up to five points during each task according to a set of instructions that, most of the time, are very vague. And let me tell you, you would think it’s a simple task, or you could complete that for sure, but these are very educated people who become seemingly absolute idiots in 5 seconds when Alex blows his whistle. Speaking of idiots, Phil is absolutely unhinged. In the show, Alex usually gives tasks that make the contestants look like fools, so anytime contestants can use their tasks to make him look like a fool, it’s just like giving candy to a baby. Phil takes every opportunity he can to completely embarrass him, by embarrassing Alex, licking yoghurt off his shoe, making him uncomfortable, just a mess honestly. But the thing about “Taskmaster” is Alex probably likes it. Sanjeev Bhaskar, my favorite contestant in this series, did not come here to win. And I respect him for that. Not only did he not win a single episode in the series, he almost did not even win a single task. With the exception of one he didn't even have the will to live enough to even do the actual task, and one team task so - very minimal effort. But if there's anything to learn from Sanjeev, it's less is more. He didn’t win the show, but he won my heart. From eating olives and grapes to race horses, and fingerpainting a lying blue-nosed chef, series 20 was another example of why Alex Horne should probably be investigated by someone? Maybe the police? A psychiatrist? The tasks were incredibly hilarious, the quotes will be part of my vocabulary for the next month, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the pure discomfort of a grown man washing another grown man in a plastic tub while he sucks on his thumb. Nor will I ever forget the cat-like scream of Anya when she purposefully ran away from a balcony she was tethered to. Now then, I ask you all to head over to “Taskmaster’s” YouTube channel and subscribe. You have 60 seconds. Your time starts now. Rating: A+ “All the information is in the article.“