Everything Taskmaster Live taught us about the show

Last season, long-running hit British series Taskmaster welcomed American comedian Jason Mantzoukas to the series' house, allowing him to create comedic chaos in pursuit of the Greg Davies-head-shaped trophy. Last week, Davies and his assistant (and the show's creator) Alex Horne came to New York City, where they ended their Taskmaster Live On Stage USA tour, which was sold out. But Mashable was there. (Also look for the pair on an upcoming episode of Say More!)

What did we learn? Well, the show began with a Q&A moderated by comedian Josh Gondelman, who presented a mix of his own questions with those from the audience. Below are insights into how Taskmaster gets made, the gripes fans still hold with the Taskmaster's "pettiest" decisions, and a bit of premonition about Horne and a pair of hot pants.

After Gondelman, who did a superb job moderating and keeping up with Horne and Davies' ribald banter, the Taskmaster and his assistant returned to the stage in costume. Their casual street clothes swapped for black suits. Davies sat in a throne. (Horne noted he was not provided one.) Then, they gave the audience a chance to join them onstage. Three tasks were offered, involving figuring out Davies' cellphone number, throwing a paper airplane, and memorizing a very long pattern of colors. The three victors, joined by Saturday Night Live's Alex Moffat and Dropout's Lisa Gilroy, all competed in tasks to win a mini version of the Taskmaster trophy.

It was an incredible show that lasted nearly three hours. Here's what we learned: 

What's the smallest, pettiest decision that the Taskmaster is secretly proud of?

"It started, I suppose, with the potato in the hole," Horne said, as the audience cheered in recognition of the Series 2 Taskmaster episode, in which comedian Joe Wilkinson managed to get a "hole in one" by throwing the potato accurately. However, he stepped on the "red green," and so was disqualified.

Horne said, "I mean, that's a small, petty decision, but it had huge ripples that we still are greeted with today."

Davies concurred, "I still get people sending me shitty messages. People are still angry about it, and it was what...a decade ago?"

In terms of controversial calls, Horne also mentioned the Mark Watson bonus point that was denied in Series 5. The comedian was tasked with texting the Taskmaster every day for the next five months. Watson missed one day. He was not awarded points because of this failure, causing a stir among fans. Horne noted at the live event that the one day Watson missed was because he was on an island, where there was no cell phone (or mobile) reception.

"He did not fulfil the brief," Davies said sternly on stage. He added that another Taskmaster contestant, who he wouldn't name, once bellowed at him, "Your judgments are unfair. ASK MARK WATSON!" 

What would Greg and Alex wear if they were competing on the show? 

Horne answered quickly, saying, "Little denim shorts for me. Nothing else."

To this, Davies quipped, "Little denim hot pants? If he was wearing that, I would just wear a smile." (Unexpectedly, this became foreshadowing for the game portion of live event. But I'll get to that.)

More sincerely, Davies later answered, "You know what I would wear? A caftan. I'll say this, if it were up to me, and it was more socially acceptable, I would only wear a caftan. I like the freedom it affords me. And I think it would make me — um, uh — good."

"What happened to that sentence?" Horne teased. 

"Sometimes it's good to go general," Davies shrugged. 

Is the Taskmaster surprised by the contestants' series-long outfit choice? 

The audience member who asked this question was especially curious about the "Phil Wang" look, referring to when said comedian turned up to the Taskmaster house in Series 7 wearing a yellow bodysuit with a black stripe down the side, reminiscent of Bruce Lee's Game of Death costume. (Which, yes, was later referenced in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill with the tracksuit worn by Uma Thurman's heroine.)

Anyhow, to this query, Davies said, "Do you want a serious answer to that? Yes, I have seen the costumes [ahead of the taping in front of a studio audience] because I will have a look at some of the longer videos before we do the studio show. Because if I don't, then we miss loads of funny things that they said due to the audience making noise. So, I won't pretend like I don't see some of them. But I only see them like, the day before, and we [meaning he and Horne] don't discuss them. I don't plan what I'm going to say. So… in a long-winded answer to your question, I did see Phil Wang's [outfit] previous [to taping]."

Do Taskmaster contestants have any control of the edit when having to create filmed tasks, like the "Tree Wizard" video? 

Horne explained that while the contestants have creative freedom over the production of challenges — like Romesh Ranganthan's famous "Tree Wizard" video from Series 1 — they are not involved in the edit.

"Suddenly the contestants become both the director and producer of that segment of the show," Horne explained of shoots at the Taskmaster house, "But they never get to see [the final result] before the show. They have to give us the editing control. So the answer is yes, they have full control, but they have to leave it in our capable hands." 

What's Alex Horne's favorite task? 

OK, this wasn't the question. It was actually more about how contestants know what the parameters are for a challenge. ("It's on the card," one audience member yelled in response.) However, Horne took the opportunity to talk about how he enjoys seeing what people come up with, referencing Series 1 twice. 

"We want people to explore all sorts of things. And I think the 'Tree Wizard' task is a good example," Horne said, referring to Taskmaster Series 1, episode 2, "Pie Whisperer," a fan favorite. "Because in that same one: do something backwards, which looks great when you play it backwards. And Roisin Conaty just walked backwards, spitting. It just looked amazing; it looked like a piece of art to me. Put it black and white, and she did it with dignity. They're not always trying to get a laugh. They're trying to create little bits and bobs."

From there, Horne continued, "One of my favorite early tasks was when they had to throw a tea bag into a cup. And I think they're 20 minutes. Actually, this is one where we definitely didn't stop the clock. But Tim Key immediately said, 'I need a dog ball thrower.' And there's a pet shop about eight minutes away, so someone has to go there and back within the 20 minutes [allowed for the task.] We got it, and did it, and that was very exciting for me," adding, "The house is located within a shopping area. And I think that's good." Turning to Davies, he said, "I'm trying to use your technique."

What's the worse things Alex Horne has eaten on Taskmaster. 

Davies joked they do fewer food-related tasks now because "Alex got chocolate cake in his butthole."

Horne rejected that, noting, "That was a tipping point in my life…but it was Liza Tarbuck who had brought in a cake that was not a food task. She made that a food task."

Horne then explained, "We try not to be as irresponsible as we used to. We don't waste as much food as we used to, because people watch the show, and we don't want to send the wrong message. But I do think food tasks are funny. So there are still some, but yeah, just on a slightly smaller scale." 

To that, Horne noted an extra fun fact: "The three worst things I've eaten: bin juice, burnt pornography, quinoa." 

Who do Greg and Alex want to play them in the "eventual biopic of their lives"?

Horne said Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, to which Davies quipped, "That is the journey your teeth are going on."

Then, the Taskmaster answered for himself, saying. "Regardless of when it's made, what age I am at, what age is being played, I will be played by Dwayne Johnson."

Alex Horne looks good in hot pants. 

The first task for the live show contestants was to present the Taskmaster with the worst clothing. Now, the professional comedians had an advantage here as they had three months to prepare, where the fans selected from the crowd had to pester fellow attendees for a spoonbill sweater and a white t-shirt. (The third used her own shoe, which earned her the disdainful nickname "Clean Shoes" from Davies.) 

However, even if they'd had more time, it's hard to imagine a better choice than Gilroy's. She explained how on the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, there's an array of souvenir shops that sell T-shirts and shorts that you can have custom-made vinyl letters printed upon. Full disclosure: I own several such tees from this boardwalk, including one that has a picture of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger and reads "Come with me if you want to lift." Gilroy's choice was funnier. 

She presented a photo of shorts hanging in the shop entrance, and booty shorts that's bottoms read "Mike's Bitch" and "Chris's Property" was a bright red pair with white piping that read "Greg's Lil' Slut." Naturally, she got the five points. Then, Horne was asked to put them on. He ran offstage and returned in the shorts, which were honestly fetching, even paired with a white dress shirt and black blazer. Then, he turned to the audience and bent over to fully display the phrase on his bum: "Greg's Lil' Slut." 

Horne ran back offstage to repants. But thankfully, photo-taking was allowed. 

How to watch: Taskmaster Series 1-6 can be found on Pluto TV. Taskmaster Series 10-19 can be found on YouTube. All series of Taskmaster can be bought on Prime Video.