How to Win Taskmaster, Episode 1 - ALWAYS READ THE TASK! | Taskmaster
What is it that sets Taskmaster champions apart from other contestants? LAH attempts to find out in How To Win Taskmaster.
Lesson 1: Always Read the Task!
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In this Broadcast Award-winning, BAFTA and Emmy Award-nominated entertainment show, Taskmaster tyrant Greg Davies (Man Down, Cuckoo), with the help of his loyal assistant Alex Horne (The Horne Section and the show’s creator), sets out to test the wiles, wit and wisdom of five hyper-competitive comedians.
Comedians that have risked life, limb, and dignity in the hope of making the Taskmaster proud so far include: Frank Skinner (The Frank Skinner Show), Mel Giedroyc (The Great British Bake Off), Romesh Ranganathan (Asian Provocateur), Hugh Dennis (Outnumbered), Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones’ Diary), Rose Matafeo (Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner 2018), and Russell Howard (The Russell Howard Hour). Unaware of what awaits them in each wax-sealed envelope, only one competitor can become the victorious owner of His Royal Task-ness’ golden head and be crowned the next Taskmaster Champion.
The fact that Lolly got disqualified yet still didn't come last in the fishbowls task never ceases to amaze me. That final edit of "without... moving... the fishbowls" gets me every time
0 points was joint-3rd for the task.
to be fair i woud have just tiped it in because its a bow a fishe bowl shoud have a fishe in it so i woud inform that i woud be handeling a bowl and just trow water from 1 bowl to the next
@@a.jvanzanten8445Do you also believe that a car stops being a car when you open the door?
I can predict the second episode title: Do Not Step On the Red Green!
Always move the red spot
Of course not, he'd yell at you in a gravelly Canadian accent.
Poor Joe!
Can't wait 🤣
Your comment is edited, therefore, you are a false prophet.
Alex: "Remind yourself that rainbows usually appear in arch form" There's strength in arches
A full rainbow actually appears as a circle. We just often see just part of it, looking from the ground. Mark's rainbow is slightly curved, which is no less legitimate than a half-circle and I think he's being criticized unfairly for it. What he should be criticized for is using two shades of brown.
Well done! Clever!
I was about to comment that 😊
@@kralevic3297 Also, as Alex mentioned in this video, "Usually appear." Not "always appear."
but then they would be called rain arches and not rain bows. duh
The first and most important key to win Taskmaster is to be a (somewhat) famous comedian in a country where the show is made.
Not necessarily.
Or at least famous enough to tour and get the attention of either the production team or Channel 4.
In other words "To win Taskmaster you need to be a candidate on Taskmaster". Yes that makes sense.
Always thought a "normie" Taskmaster special was necessary. Doesn't need to be a whole series.
They do educational taskmaster for schools and just started doing taskmaster juniors.
Remember to always: 1. Read the task (both sides!) 2. Check under/behind the table 3. Very slowly read "Your time starts now" while you think 4. Try not to panic 5. Read the task again, and maybe one more time to be sure
6. without moving the fish bowls...
You missed a key item. 6. Remind yourself that rainbows always appear in arch form.
7. Do not step on the red green while you throw a potato ine a hole.
8. Panic and create a mayhem.
2. Check under/behind the table Hi Sarah!
James Acaster may not have understood the task, but I quote “my eyes are circles” at least once every week. I couldn’t tell you anything about Jess, Phil, and Rhod’s circles. And only remember Kerry because of her snow realization.
I forgot about Jess' until that recent short of her drawing a wonky circle in chalk while shouting "oh sugar! Come on mate!"
That’s a very good point. James was playing the long game, as did Rhod. They preferred entertaining to points, which is more fun and a better career move.
@@antalkarolyi while true on Rhod, James DEFINITELY wanted to win. He might have been the single most competitive contestant at that point.
rhod won that task by drawing a circle on a globe, right?
@@iliketrains3495 Rhod was definitely just there to try to embarrass Greg
On the subject of a contestant reading the task better than the others, There was a task on Taskmaster NZ where the contestants were asked to make the best desert. Only one contestant read it correctly. The others made desserts.
omg, that's evil...
This is so dumb and I love it. Perfectly in the spirit of Taskmaster.
They were also gently mindf***d because there were edible props near the task if I remember correctly
@@Missy-24 Yes, they were provided with bowls of dessert fixings.
@asterix7842 I think they were super sneaky and they weren't all sweets. I seem to remember a palm tree made out of a pickled cucumber.
"It's worse than what we did in the dark" my all-time favourite.
but the witnesses said WOW! so it must be good...I love Mark lol
But the brown in the rainbow made it look so real.
Sally was so supportive of those three ne’er-do-well kids throughout the Series, but Watson shocked her into an honest reaction.
there are many, many moments that stand out. one of the most physically painful laughs ive had in recent memory is mike wozniak's "it's an absolute casserole down there." very gross but very fackin funny. i don't think i could choose an all time favorite moment
the complete disbelief in her voice, absolutely gold
Iain’s sand bucket meltdown is one of the most underrated TM moments in my opinion - always gets me 😂
It's one of many times he took the show too seriously. I think he realised that though, so I don't hold it against him.
Well I've done that Done that. F** it let's do that was well 😂😂😂😂😂 still great Although my favorite was his meltdown regarding the difference in puppets and Muppets.
100% love it!
With how many times this channel circles back to the same clip, I think it's fair to say James DID make the biggest and best circle.
That is part of the point here. It was to "draw" the biggest and best circle, no "make" Also Rhod's covered much of the planet.
5:42 *That's* what we were all waiting for. Alex can't say this is a video to learn how to READ THE TASK and *not* include the compilation of "do not move the fish bowl" 😂
The edit on that one is absolutely on point. Without the constant cut back to her reading it it wouldn't be half as funny.
100 percent 😂😂😂😂😂 @@QuantumHistorian
Mel's camel gap is still one of my favourite interpretations of a task. They way she thinks it over right through to running straight past Alex at the end. Perfection
The "without moving the fish bowls" editing was so simple but so hilariously effective.
Always read the task, unless you're Joe Lycett and you already know what the task is!
This is a fun way to repackage clips! Thanks for always giving us fairly consistent content Taskmaster & Avalon teams.
Agree 💯!!
I want this whole series to just be a roast of James Acaster
Don't we all! What a dream!
Another thing I've noticed through many...M A N Y, rewatches is that anytime a task says "you may not do something" you can usually get away with someone else (often Alex) doing that something.
It's important to remember that The Taskmaster is Capricious, and may or may accept clever readings depending on any number of factors.
This part is extremely important as his rulings and decisions are not remotely consistent. I don’t mind that though because it’s part of the fun of the show, but it’s a curve ball you can’t really predict.
This feels like when teachers would read out the good kids' answer sheets to teach everyone how to write answers well
The nerd in me is so curious to see the numbers that the digital team is pulling down; I'd like to think that posting full episodes the day after has been a big success, & that's why we are getting these web shorts. (& for the record, I even liked the "sponsored tasks" commercials!)
Just sort the channel by most views and looks at the insane numbers on 40+ minute videos.
As a Yank who doesn't get BBC, I'd never have discovered this show in the first place without this channel. Having the digital footprint that this channel does has been outstanding for people like me to find and follow.
Do you have a link to sponsored tasks? I couldn’t find them
I do love me a good clip show. But I'd be THRILLED with some "Behind The Scenes" extras
@@availablegreen Sure! kzhead.info/sun/fZ2un86QgKp9goE/bejne.htmlsi=NIEynpiaVHo5B3fu
Another great example of reading and interpreting comes from Richard Osman in the yoga ball task
Or the one when he goes eat the banana correctly 😂
Yeah, I expected that, it was more on "reading" than the "smallest Gap" one (I mean, that was brilliant, but the yoga balls was really reading the task - and he even read it again)
Underrated moment!! As a linguist myself, I found it delightful!! 😍😍
He helped completely change how people do tasks
Why did you not add Dara's "Wait what, what wait, wait what" example for reading tasks 😂
"Ewwwwwwww... I can't see the coloooors" is one of my favorite moments. God bless you Nish.
Remember. There is strength in arches. Mark Watson should've remembered that.
Read the task and check under the table 😂❤
HELLO SARAH!
Debajo de la mesa
The two things I would always do if I was ever a contestant: look on the back of every task and around every room for any additional information. Check under, around, and inside any table involved in a task for hidden compartments (or ducks).
Absolutely fair, however a major part of the comedy of this show is exactly this not happening, so I don't blame any of the contestants
I always check my shoes for ducks!
Or grapes
Oh the things I would give to see the face of that one security guard who checked through the survalliance footage of that clothing store the day after Mel's camel run...
I've got so much respect not just for the cast but the crew as well. The camera work, audio, and editing is always phenomenal. Even after all of these seasons there is so much love put into every single second of the show by everyone involved.
So this is an excuse for a clip show, I'm good with that :)
A brilliant show manages to find a way to repackage content in a brilliant way that feels fresh but familiar. This is such a fun show.
Mark got robbed during the Rainbow task. Only getting 3 points because his rainbow was a little flat, while Sally got 4 points when her rainbow was just a random series of squiggles across the top of the page.
nah, its much funnier that he found a "workaround" and still couldn't draw a proper rainbow
A few years ago I was part of a twitch version of this show called "Task Manager" ran by the twitch streamer Stanz. I ended up in the finale by pure consistency and nearly won... If it weren't for me not properly reading/remembering two of the final tasks given to us. Still, had an amazing time and hope he does it again. That was definitely the best way to do a community version of this show!
i think Ludwig recently said he was going to do something TM-inspired!
@@howbigtheace Yes, his latest show called "Unpaid Intern" is an office themed Task Master show, and crazy enough Stanz is the assistant on that show... Only issue is that it's for famous streamers only. Similar to how Task Master is for famous comedians only. We small people are not allowed to participate.
As wise? man once said - There's strength in arches.
One of my favorites was Joe Wilkinson's "The bridge alone must support the pony"
James definitely had the worst attempt at the circle task, but it was also the funniest.
This is ""Brilliant"" in both the US and UK sense of the word. So glad that this is a thing, and beyond that, a series. The fact that it's Online is amazing as well. ... Glad that US can join in on the fun .... officially.
That last bit of advice is very useful. After all, there's strength in arches.
The best example of reading the task is surely "make the best desert" from NZ series 1.
Next weeks definitely “always look under the table”
"Hello, Sarah"
Or just behind you. (That B. F. "8" painted on the side of the caravan.)
Please never stop. This is the best TV show ever.
What an excellent idea for a series. I'm already looking forward to the next one. Good to have Alex presenting these too.
Remember these simple rules: -Always read the tasks... sometimes, both sides of the task. -For goodness sake, make sure the task is actually complete. Make sure you there is not an extra sponge in your back pocket or a can of soup left in the river. -Make sure you examine your surroundings... their could be a ball of string hidden in a secret compartment or a giant number 8 painted on the caravan, and always look under the table. -You have cameras pointed at you at almost all times... for the love of pickles, DON'T CHEAT. If you do cheat, make sure its hard to confirm, like Dara trying to get grapes out of a fridge with FLIPPERS ON. I am convinced he had to take the flippers off. -Play to your strengths. If you look like a banana, make yourself into a banana. -Remember its a competition... don't go making yourself a cup of tea in the middle of a scavenger hunt. -Do not insult the Taskmaster... like dropping dog poop on his face. -Utilize Alex: Turn him into a water feature, make him do things you cannot do yourself. As a reminder, he takes bribes and will put anything you give him in his mouth.
I love that the title of this video is "How to Win Taskmaster' and then shows a bunch of clips of people not winning at their task
Thank you for any and all extra content. I love TM, whether it's UK, AU, NZ, or the Nordics with subtitles.
There are two types of ways to interpret the task and "all the information is on the task." How most people interpret the tasks is "I can *only* do what is on the task and NOTHING ELSE." When Alex says "all the information is on the task," what he means is "you can do literally anything that the task doesn't specifically say you can't." So unless the task specifically says "You can not do X," you can safely assume you are allowed to do X. The show likes to play with peoples perception of language and desire to follow social norms. So the rainbow task in the dark for example, most people would assume that, since they are put in the dark and given small glowy outlines of paint, brushes, and canvas, that they must figure out which colors are which and paint a picture they can't see. Everything visually sets up that expectation, so most people will not turn on the light, possibly seeing it as against the spirit of the game or just assuming they can't change the environment they were put in and be rude. The task doesn't specifically say you have to be in the dark and it doesn't specifically exclude turning on the lights, so its safe to assume turning on the lights is okay. Probably super obvious, but it is something I noticed about how different people read and interpret the task.
In social-psychology there's tons of tests like that. Two persons, a fictional bridge between them (can be a drawn line, or a rope on the ground, or so). The tasks says "On my mark, both of you must start walking towards each other and the goal is to reach the opposite side of the bridge without falling off it." 99% of the people would start walking, meet in the middle, comically hug and turn sides.... 1% of the people would start walking, then one of them reverse back to the start, wait the other person to reach their side, then walk over. This 99-1% ratio is the same on TM.
Stirling's breakdown is so underrated as a taskmaster moment 🤣
sometimes when everything goes wrong you just have to mitigate the damage, these are the funniest tasks
What an awesome surprise to find on my KZhead list. Thank you!
I'll need that for the next time I'm on.
This series feels like just an opportunity to poke fun at previous contestants as an example of what not to do and I am all here for it.
I feel like these videos will be crash course for anyone going on Taskmaster without having seen the show
This show has been great for so many years! Keep 'em coming
Greg's stare at James is still one of my favourite funniest moments in all the taskmaster series lmao
Yay! Content for us on the web! Thank you Little Alex Horne!
Hugh Dennis always read the task but that didn't work out for him.
Hugh Dennis read the task and performed to the best of his ablility.
Hugh was pretty good at tasks with explotable loopholes, but he did very poorly in almost every subjectively-judged task. Examples of tasks he nailed were the plastic bag football, treadmill and bunting tasks.
Thursday!
Part 2 has to be "Always look under the table" and as examples have "Make a bridge over the river using only items on this table" and "Turn on the bubble machine"
hello sarah haha
My dream is that a contestant who's a fan of the show just hyper-analyzes every task and finds the hidden clues every time
That contestant would fail on the time constraints. Also can't beat the double bluffing tasks or the skill tasks with pure analysis. Just think of the paint a wolf or paint a horse tasks. Speaking of, a contestant with hyper-analysis would never touch the switch to see what's behind the one-way mirror. Team tasks would be also a nightmare for them. Also - when it comes to subjective pointing, Greg doesn't like these contestants. Keep in mind, it's not a competition in the first place like the Chaser. TM meant to be entertainment.
@@MinekEzQM you seem like you would fail the "have a normal, fun conversation" tasks
Without moving the fish bowls had me on the floor laughing!!!!!!
For some reason the term DIRE CONSEQUENCES from little Alex Horne makes me want to do the opposite of what he says...but that is the challenge of taskmaster.
Another great idea! Can't wait to watch all the tips.
my eyes are circles
"All the information is on the task"! looking forward to the rest of this series of videos.
I love this new format! It's really fun
I love this! Can’t wait for episode 2!
When you think about it this is just a way to make fun of the mistakes that the comdians make and i love it
Mark’s lasagne-shaped rainbow will never not be hilarious
Perfect videos if I get picked for the fan episodes. Coming for you Alex!
Quality musical themes too, btw. Great show!
Win every competition of a Taskmaster with a power of "Hindsight".
Been watching all the international task master shows and they have their own charm but you can’t replace Alex.
Dear Taskmaster and the whole production staff, I dare you to let the general public participate in one televised series of your show.
This is the first time I noticed that the camel is wearing a seatbelt! What a detail.
I didn't realize it until now but I kind of miss cutting back to the contestants for a reaction shot mid-task like they used to do in older seasons. They don't seem to do it as mush now.
Yeah they stopped after series 7
I just watched the 100th episode today, before I saw this video. During the "Sit on a cake" task, Morgana goes first, and she says "is there a secret cake room?". Alex plays poker face. Morgana ends up baking a cake. Desire goes last and she actually finds the Secret Cake Room. And I do expect the editors to show Morgana's reaction to it... but as you said, they don't do that anymore. 😢
This is brilliant!
0. Read the task. 1. Read the task. 2. Read the task. 3. Look at the back of the task. 4. Read the task. 5 Look under and behind stuff. 6. Read the task. 7. Read the task. 8. Remember the task. 9. Read the task.
OH HELL YES, A NEW VIDEO SERIES!??!?!?! YESSSSS LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I cant express how greaetful and how much I appreciate Taskmaster, I re=watch all the episodes, Bizzarly it has become my happy place, Thank you thank you thank you.
Without moving the fishbowls. That edit was amazing.
Ian's bucket reaction is one of my favourite moments of Taskmaster.
The first time I watched James do the circle task, I was laughing so much I couldn't breathe xD
A nice assembly of clips to highlight the topic! I think Alex is on his way to being an influencer lol
He's beyond influencers. TM is a multi-continent, multi-platform (TV, web, VR, education, merchs) franchise. Well deserved, though.
The Master of Taskmasters- exactly!@@MinekEzQM
Thank you Alex and team!
To be fair to Mark, I have seen rainbows in that form.
When that fails, just tickle Greg's ego.
Or torture Alex Even if it doesn't get you points, you go some revenge on Alex
This will be very helpful for when I never appear on the show.
playing the board game or books ??
@@aussieintexas61 I have the book. Now I have 999 tasks that I can play with no one. :)
Very excited to see this whole series!!
Why? By now all fans knows the rules. - Always read the task carefully and understand it. ("bread in the caravan", Guz sitting on the red chair but not in the right place, Ivo going into the caravan instead of the shed, ...) - Always read the task letter carefully. Both sides. ("TASKM85TER", "if you eat the chocolate", and the black ink messages in the duck hunt or in "Free Alex") - Always look around. (see the "when the answer was in front of them" video compilations) - Suck up to Greg, especially during the prize tasks. (Food prizes, Vem related prizes) Or if you can't, make him laugh. - On this note, humiliate Alex during the tasks. Greg likes that too. - Be smart but stay safe. If you can get disqualified, bet on others will be disqualified, so stay safe and with minimal effort you can sack 1-2 points anyways. - Sleep before the shooting day (see how tired Fern was) - Get lucky with the weather (see how rain made Rose put in minimal effort in the bin or in the egg tasks) - If the tasks sounds simple, always suspect a double-parter ("show me a picture on your phone" "write down obscure animals" ...) - Alex is a trickster (the duck in his tea, the key in his hand at the "Free Alex" task, the multiple grapes in the "Eat the Grape" task, or "What does the switch do" task), so take that into account - Prepare for a "scavenger hunt" task. There is one in each series. (Make the phone ring, Eat the Grape, "CREAMS", "HOP", "Follow the letters") - The help is in the fridge ("Drink coconut", "Chose a letter. Put items with that letter on the tray.") - Be extreme and sexual (or use innuendo) to win Greg's subjective points (Watercooler moment, Chickpea moment) - Banter with full IQ. ... and rules like this. :)
I love how the Taskmaster creators are milking their success. How to win Taskmaster, podcasts, everything! And I love every second of it :D
Im so happy this says "Episode 1" :)
Greg's first reaction there was so much like a teacher. These contestants are really no better than pupils.
Just in case someone decided to read the comments first before watching the video and decided to scroll all the way down to this comment, this is my warning to you: this video contains a lot of spoilers, especially the first few minutes. It reveals who are some of the champions of the later series. It also reveals who is the champion of champion at one stage. To be safe if you have not watched all the episodes to date, it's advised to not watch this video.
This is genuinely something I had to study while preparing for the LSAT. Gotta read the questions.
I appreciate Alex so much. He's incredibly talented and just brilliant! With Greg's presence it's easy to forget that he's the mastermind behind all these. Love his juicy lil brain lol PLUS HE'S SUCH A NICE PERSON Alex if you're reading this, ily
i mean this circle example wasn't just "not reading it" for the fineprint and exploits. It was plain making one up himself. Which could be a fun challenge. Make up your own task, best task and execution wins...
It was also 50% off at baby gap! Made it even smaller Bahahaha!
Imagine the task "Oil up Alex Horne the fastest". instant top 3 video.
Oh I love this!
Yay episode 1
My eyes are circles is one of my favorite lines of all seasons
I legitimately was thinking about the circle task earlier. James saying"My eyes are circles" cracks me up 😂
❤❤❤❤❤ For the algorithm! And because i do truly love Taskmaster!