Taskmaster #2 Are you a child of divorce?

[Jelly Bean]

I don't know Joanne from anything other than Taskmaster, I'm finding it a little hard to warm to her. All the press interviews about Taskmaster have people like Greg and Alex saying she's SO FUNNY, am I missing something?

I'm finding her hard work too. Her constant little asides are falling flat, and she keeps trying to poke fun at Alex (which I don't mind) like Julian Clary. But Julian was genuinely witty and Joanne's efforts just come across as rude and unfunny.
And I wish someone would give John Robbins a lozenge for that throat.

 

[StephenTJackson]

Having a contestant like John who is clearly a massive fan, has watched the show and really wants to win can be very annoying, but it's working with John because he isn't a twit about it.

And you know every time he comes up with the clever way around, he is genuinely terrified he's missed something and is gonna get disqualified. And I just like how it's being played out in the studio, building the tension, because at some point in the series I'm hoping there is gonna be a pay off, after a long pause and John thinking he's done a good job, Alex is actually gonna say "but" and he's gonna get disqualified from a task.

 

[November_again]

Having a contestant like John who is clearly a massive fan, has watched the show and really wants to win can be very annoying, but it's working with John because he isn't a twit about it.

And you know every time he comes up with the clever way around, he is genuinely terrified he's missed something and is gonna get disqualified. And I just like how it's being played out in the studio, building the tension, because at some point in the series I'm hoping there is gonna be a pay off, after a long pause and John thinking he's done a good job, Alex is actually gonna say "but" and he's gonna get disqualified from a task.

I don't mind competent contestants who find loopholes in general but it's just too frequent in John's case imho. When it's every second task, I just groan because it has very little entertainment value to me. I felt the same about Mae. Even in the creative egg task, I just felt like I was watching a lesser version of Ed's chickpea movie.
Someone who got the perfect balance was Dara to me. Lots of lateral thinking but then there were tasks where he just fully leaned into his role as an entertainer and went for the joke instead of the points.
I'm dreading the day when a task like the "find the ducks" one in 13x01 becomes just 5 people drawing ducks on paper instead of 5 contestants going crazy in a room looking for them.

 

[panda_eyes]

I don't mind competent contestants who find loopholes in general but it's just too frequent in John's case imho. When it's every second task, I just groan because it has very little entertainment value to me. I felt the same about Mae. Even in the creative egg task, I just felt like I was watching a lesser version of Ed's chickpea movie.
Someone who got the perfect balance was Dara to me. Lots of lateral thinking but then there were tasks where he just fully leaned into his role as an entertainer and went for the joke instead of the points.
I'm dreading the day when a task like the "find the ducks" one in 13x01 becomes just 5 people drawing ducks on paper instead of 5 contestants going crazy in a room looking for them.

Completely agree, getting a bit annoyed with John now tbh, it doesn't make great or entertaining TV unlike someone like Sophie or Steve. I really hope John doesn't win.

 

[fishyfishfish]

I still can’t believe Sophie is 36, showed my family the ‘I met your aunt and uncle’ clip and they guessed she was in her 60s!

 

[November_again]

I still can’t believe Sophie is 36, showed my family the ‘I met your aunt and uncle’ clip and they guessed she was in her 60s!

My biggest WTF was Jenny Eclaire (64). I thought she was close to my grandma's age when she's actually my mother's age. I think it's the way she walks and dresses.
I don't think of her as just 10 years older than Mel and Sue or Sally Phillips or the same age as Hugh.

 

[Katykatykaty]

I still can’t believe Sophie is 36, showed my family the ‘I met your aunt and uncle’ clip and they guessed she was in her 60s!

Every time she comes on screen I shout “how is she younger than me?!” and my husband replies “you say this every time, it’s not going to change!” But I just cannot get my head round it. I’d love to see her styled with more typical 30s aged hair and makeup.

 

[panda_eyes]

I watched "Alma's Not Normal" after the recommendation here, I enjoyed it. I googled afterwards and saw that Sophie's flikr account is still about with her "old" hair - I think it suits her better, but perhaps it's easier to be memorable on the comedy circuit with more striking hair?

SOPHIE WILLAN | Flickr

She's 25 in the photo below.

 

[Katykatykaty]

I watched "Alma's Not Normal" after the recommendation here, I enjoyed it. I googled afterwards and saw that Sophie's flikr account is still about with her "old" hair - I think it suits her better, but perhaps it's easier to be memorable on the comedy circuit with more striking hair?

SOPHIE WILLAN | Flickr

She's 25 in the photo below.

View attachment 2888541

She reminds me of Kate Nash there.

 

[nbt]

Just catching up on last nights and I love that Nick is wearing a Diamond Dogs jumper. I love even more that you can buy it for £25

 

[Katykatykaty]

I have a proper crush on Nick and I’ve no idea why! He is so far from my usual type but I just love him.

John however makes me want to punch him in the face. So irritating!

 

[Willow9999]

I have a proper crush on Nick and I’ve no idea why! He is so far from my usual type but I just love him.

John however makes me want to punch him in the face. So irritating!

Yes. And bloody hell yes

 

[Jelly Bean]

I have a proper crush on Nick and I’ve no idea why! He is so far from my usual type but I just love him.

John however makes me want to punch him in the face. So irritating!

Nick is adorable and so funny. And I love Sophie and Steve.
Joanne tries far too hard to be iconic and sassy and I can't warm to John. But I can't stand him on that podcast with Elis James either as he is completely self obsessed and fascinated by himself.

 

[Katykatykaty]

I’ve found with John that he seems to look arrogant when others mess up the tasks and his video hasn’t been shown yet. It’s as if he’s sitting thinking “well I know I’ve nailed it so I’m clearly better than you and I’m winning!” I just want him to relax and enjoy it, not be all about the win. I stopped watching this week’s when I realised he’d won as I just didn’t care.

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

I’ve found with John that he seems to look arrogant when others mess up the tasks and his video hasn’t been shown yet. It’s as if he’s sitting thinking “well I know I’ve nailed it so I’m clearly better than you and I’m winning!” I just want him to relax and enjoy it, not be all about the win. I stopped watching this week’s when I realised he’d won as I just didn’t care.

John might ‘win’, but Sophie’s the outright winner for me; she’s made this series watchable. Nick is watchable too, I admire Steve’s cleverness, and I don’t care if I never see the other two on anything ever again.

 

[November_again]

I wonder if we haven't seen a team task recently because the chemistry just isn't there. You can see Sophie really trying with everyone in the studio and her and Nick would have been a great and fun and incompetent team, but John and Joanne just seem really cold and unapproachable and Steve might be too quirky and complicated in his task approaches to be a good fit with anyone on this lineup.
And maybe it's just recency bias because last season's teams were so good, but team tasks are almost always highlights of a season and it's very rare that they don't work (Mae, Kiell & Jenny, season 6, Lou and Ian, Richard and Daisy, Alan and Victoria)

 

[Jusa]

I wonder if we haven't seen a team task recently because the chemistry just isn't there. You can see Sophie really trying with everyone in the studio and her and Nick would have been a great and fun and incompetent team, but John and Joanne just seem really cold and unapproachable and Steve might be too quirky and complicated in his task approaches to be a good fit with anyone on this lineup.
And maybe it's just recency bias because last season's teams were so good, but team tasks are almost always highlights of a season and it's very rare that they don't work (Mae, Kiell & Jenny, season 6, Lou and Ian, Richard and Daisy, Alan and Victoria)

I thought we'd seen Nick and Steve in a team of two versus the other 3 when they had the task to draw an animal; I'm sure we've also seen another team task too

 

[November_again]

I thought we'd seen Nick and Steve in a team of two versus the other 3 when they had the task to draw an animal; I'm sure we've also seen another team task too

I meant in recent episodes, not that there weren't any this season. Was the green screen one the last we saw (ep 2?)?

 

[Libertine1975]

The only one I can say I really know of this series is Steve Pemberton as I love LOG, no 9 and Psychoville. He is very clever so I think a series with him and the other LOG cast would have been really interesting to see (even a one of special).

I've warmed to Nick and Sophie (although I still can't believe she is my age). I don't dislike John but I dunno. I'm not gelling with Joanne, she seems like she is trying to be kooky whereas with Sophie it seems much more natural.

 

[Madeofeyes]

I adore both John and Nick. Both very different but I’ve followed their comedy for years. It’s really is a mixed bag this series but i think that helps draw people in sometimes. Like I’d say Steve pemberton is v well known and would draw a big crowd from Inside no9.
i do sometimes feels like it’s the law of diminishing returns and will they be able to keep it up much longer. Tasks can get a bit samey and The thing that seems to annoy viewers is people like John who have watched the eps and looks for the ‘catch’