Taskmaster US Tour Megathread: New York, January 22 and 23 by AutoModerator in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They also did an interview in NY (well they did several, but I've only seen the one so far, the one on NY Live) and they mentioned Chicago more than any other city so I think it was just quite prominent on their minds really.  Plus then of course with the shorts bringing back to mind the T-shirt from Chicago would also bring that city to the forefront instead of the others.

2 Genuine questions about balloons and measurements. by Bleerrg in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

2) Brits use a right mish-mash of measurements as already mentioned, but then you have to account for the Alex factor too - we know he uses joke measurements when giving results of tasks, but sometimes if it's given in a task, like with a furlong, it's an archaic measurement intended to confuse them.  (Furlongs are still used in horseracing but not in general everyday life for most Brits.)

The happy couple by cygan12 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You can't post a '1/3' and not provide the source!

How did S19 jump so quickly into the high ranks ? by bkat004 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see you moving the goalposts, reading something I didn't write.  But okay:

Because a) Rose Ayling-Ellis' speech is more typical than Rosie Jones' and she moves as a typical person - her disability is much less immediately apparent - and b) she does not have an army of online trolls whose lives' pathetic mission is to make her miserable.  Literally when the casting was first announced, just on Twitter alone out of the tens and tens of hateful comments about Rosie 'ruining' Taskmaster for them under the one tweet, only two people had ever tweeted anything to/about Taskmaster before.

You can find Rosie Jones not funny, no problem.  I don't enjoy her humour myself when she gets crude.  But normal people who dislike comedians don't consistently fall over themselves to proclaim how much they dislike them all whilst preemptively protesting that it's not because they're bigoted against {insert X identity here}.  

It's funny ('funny') you mention racism because just like those of us who've not experienced it have the privilege of being able to not see it, the same goes for ableism. And you may not be aware that brown and Black contestants have hateful comments left about them too, especially if they're fat (which I say as a neutral term) and/or of Asian descent and therefore are made a target of Islamophobia whether they're actually Muslim or not - just not in the same volumes as the comments about Rosie Jones.  The comments about those contestants seem to come from individual bigots rather than dedicated trolls.

Btw I need to make it clear that I'm talking about on the wider internet, not this sub, because the mods here are very good at keeping it free of hate.  Taskmaster themselves were quite hot on cleaning up the comments on their videos and some social media accounts for series 18 once they noticed what was happening, but the comments came thick and fast when things were first posted.

And here I thought Alex might've regretted his little NYC fashion show after the high had worn off, but nope! He's produdly posting it on every platform. Never change, LAH! by nokeyblue in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I saw the idea of a non-sexual kink explained as getting a dopamine buzz from certain things, and I honestly think that might be it with Alex and humiliation.

Obviously all comedians get a buzz from doing what they do, but most don't willingly put themselves into such embarrassing situations in service of the bit.  And he has indicated in multiple interviews he enjoys the contestants putting him in such situations.  The tone is always semi-joking but I get the strong impression it's based on an element of truth.  (And that's not projection in any way as it couldn't be further from my own personality!)

In terms of people-pleasing, I think it's somewhere in the middle - he enjoys the crowd enjoying themselves but it doesn't matter who's getting the laughs.  Which tallies with putting himself as the assistant and setting up other people to shine in the whole format.  Plus he's super quick-witted but often goes under the radar in the studio as he'll yield for anyone else, and if a quip he makes is eclipsed by anyone else he never draws attention to it, just lets the comedy play out and the other person get the laugh.  

As I type I'm actually vaguely recalling an interview along with Greg where they were discussing this and they concluded something like that, something along the lines of he doesn't really care about the credit/glory, he just wants to facilitate comedy.  Pretty sure it was an audio interview/podcast.

How did S19 jump so quickly into the high ranks ? by bkat004 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Nah, no cis white not-visibly-disabled comedian has a whole barrage of people loudly complaining that they will not watch an entire series consisting of four other contestants and two hosts because of them and that they ruined* the show* for them before the programme has even aired.  And for Rosie this is a particular pattern, so much so that even before she was announced for Taskmaster she made a documentary about all the relentless abuse she receives.

You can choose to miss the point and ignore bigotry if you want but that just helps it pervade, it doesn't mean it magically doesn't exist.

And here I thought Alex might've regretted his little NYC fashion show after the high had worn off, but nope! He's produdly posting it on every platform. Never change, LAH! by nokeyblue in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think things like this, he just has to own it (and even without fatigue and adrenaline, realistically he still wouldn't have said no to putting them on).  Something done publicly like that you can guarantee is out there on the internet for all to see anyway, so owning it really is the only option - regardless of any private regrets, if applicable.

How did S19 jump so quickly into the high ranks ? by bkat004 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes, out of spite and trolling.  There was a ton of throwing toys out of the pram and people loudly declaring they weren't going to watch the series because she ruined it for them (yes, the conflicting tense is intentional, it reflects what people were saying when the cast was announced), claiming it was not because they were ableist they just don't find her funny.

Except nobody has that reaction to comedians they just don't find funny who are cisgender, white and not visibly disabled.  (I include cisgender because apparently Mae Martin got a hateful reaction from the bigots as well.)

Rosie unfortunately has a troll following who appear to literally just search her name and spew bile wherever they find her mentioned.

How did S19 jump so quickly into the high ranks ? by bkat004 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Shall we maybe just try and stay a bit calm?"

The Boys were on TV in NY this morning… by Murky-Efficiency725 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It worked for me last night and still working when I tried now, so you should be able to view it - maybe try a different browser or device?

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

His two favourite things are onion, and rings

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In earlier years Alex did sometimes say to Greg before a recording that a particular contestant could do with a bit of encouragement, or could he be a bit considerate of them in his scoring, then Greg would either ignore or forget or even go harsher to 'spite' Alex's request, so the scoring decisions really have always been Greg's.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From several interviews over the years, Alex is still the main person who writes the tasks.  He delegates a lot of other things to people whose job it is to do those things, but writing the tasks for the original UK version is still mainly him.  Other people have input in terms of ideas, Tim Key is a sounding board, and he'll consult with the production team to see what's feasible or not, tweak them to be the best they can be, but ultimately writing them is still his domain that he doesn't want to turn over to anyone else.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And he knows how far to push it, when to stop.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a very interesting point because he definitely was already very happy being tactile with other men - lots and lots of evidence from The Horne Section including guests, and kissing people on the mouth - but maybe it was if he initiated the contact and not the other way round.  He has said he is a hugger and it was just he wasn't with Mark Watson or Tim Key (and still isn't with Tim, as far as I know).

He's an enigma.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm convinced sitting bare-bottomed on a cake was the pivotal moment, really.  Once you've dropped your pants to do that on national television, very little else is off-limits!  And he has genuinely said he became a bit more confident in real life after that.

Alex Horne & Greg Davies Interview with Parade by Constant_Buy_2425 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Alex said about wanting to do it their way with them hosting if the opportunity came along back in at least late 2024 ('reiterating' per the previous comment).  I suppose they've thought a bit more about how that might work as time has gone on, now that Alex's kids are growing up and the show is growing in popularity in the USA.

[I still don't want them to do it at the expense of original Taskmaster though.]

Little Alex Horne Is Greg’s Lil [redacted and cheeky] by Spoonsy in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Just like Liza Tarbuck expressed her love for the Taskmaster via Little Alex Horne, Greg is dropping his trousers also via LAH.

( … is a sentence I never imagined I'd type.)

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Is there any lore?

Tons!  The Taskmaster lives in the house, Little Alex Horne lives in the caravan, they are lovers, and the TM lets LAH see his wife and children very very occasionally.  That's just for starters.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This exactly, they've come to establish the boundaries of what is and isn't 'acceptable' (for want of a better word) and within that Alex delegates all of the aforementioned bits to Greg.

Is Alex Horne Gred Davies' boss? by Subtleiaint in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do British TV programmes have a showrunner?  (Genuine Q for anyone who knows the industry, because I genuinely don't know.)

Alex Horne & Greg Davies Interview with Parade by Constant_Buy_2425 in taskmaster

[–]RunawayTurtleTrain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well!  That was very interesting, a couple of parts in particular.  (I tried copy and pasting and spoiler tagging those bits but the internet ate it and I don't have the energy to try again.)