Maisie Adam - Series 20 Ep.6

Hello and welcome to the Taskmaster podcast.

It's me, Ed Gamble, host of that podcast that you're listening to.

We're of course still talking about Taskmaster Series 20.

Delighted today to be talking about Taskmaster Series 20 episode 6.

If you've not seen it, go and watch it, channel4.com.

But I'd imagine most of you watched it at 9pm on Thursday when it was out on channel 4.

We're talking about episode 6.

We are joined by a special guest, the fantastic Maisie Adam.

Maisie Adam is, of course, a contestant on Series 20 of Taskmaster.

She is absolutely brilliant.

Can't wait to talk to Maisie.

A lot of people looking forward to this one because of previous work that myself and Maisie have done together.

I think it's fair to say we have a fun relationship.

We enjoy getting on each other's nerves.

So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens on this episode of the Taskmaster podcast.

So this is Taskmaster Series 20, episode 6, as discussed by Maisie Adam.

Welcome, Maisie, to the Taskmaster podcast.

Well, well, well.

Here we are.

Here we are.

Yep.

Quite a quite

my

why are you starting your watch?

I'm trying to see how long it'll be before you do your impression of me.

I was going to ease into it.

Just get it out of the way, mate.

Just get it out of the way.

Get it out of the way.

No, I'm going to ease into it.

I'm going to see.

I see this now as a task.

Oh, yeah.

And I have to take the longest amount of time possible before I do the impression of you.

Yeah.

But there's a lot of people very excited about

this episode because, you know, obviously we have comedy history.

Yep.

The dip, of course, is.

Oh, God.

Do you know people still shout that at me?

Like from across the street.

Maisie, it's your legacy.

Yeah.

If I ever do a gig in another country, like I got booked for Australia, which I was so excited to finally get.

And people are like, oh, she's a long way from the dip.

That's all the comments were full of.

For anyone who doesn't know, you can probably find it on YouTube.

It was on an episode of Mott the Week, now dead British panel show.

R.I.P.

R.I.P., where Maisie revealed that she grew up in a dip, and then I did, what, 15 minutes of impressions of you saying you grew up in a dip?

Yeah, I was trying to talk about how difficult it is to walk in my village because you go down into it and up back out.

And I just said, yeah, it's a dip.

And you took that to mean all northern people

live in some sort of pit.

It's a dip, yes.

Yes.

Yeah, well thanks for that.

And I did your voice didn't I?

Which I'm not going to do now.

No, but it'll shut it'll rear its ugly head at some point, I'm sure.

Look, Maisie, you're brilliant on the show.

Thank you.

Well done.

Thank you.

Do you know what?

It's very eye-opening to watch, isn't it?

Like to watch yourself back like that.

Because the one thing I've learned is I'm angrier than I knew.

I know I'm competitive, and I think that's something we've often bonded over, we're both quite competitive people.

But

all the comments I've ever read, it only gets compared to the level of anger I have in it to one person, which is you.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm quite concerned for how this podcast is going to go.

I was surprised

by quite how much your competitiveness is also anger.

Yeah.

Because when you look at the lineup before you watch it,

Rhys is the angry one.

Yeah.

And look, he is, no matter what he said to me on this podcast and before the podcast and after the podcast.

Oh, I've listened to it.

It's so funny.

He starts going, yeah, people thought I'd be the angry one, and then you cut to, and he's back going, huh?

Yeah.

He was also the angry one, but his is bubbling.

His is a bubbling sort of.

It's like a really sinister.

I'd love to be his style of anger, of simmering.

And it is controlled at some element.

I mean, really, what I'd love to be is Sanjeev, but that is objectively impossible.

I think the most I could hope for would to be more like Reese, which is

brewing, and it's scary.

It is genuinely.

No, I don't brew.

I'm ready-made.

Your catchphrase in this show is fuck off.

That's terrible.

My mum's so angry about that.

She's had real, like, WhatsApp exchanges about I'm swearing too much on quite a large show.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But everything, Maisie.

I mean, the outfit makes me laugh.

Oh,

like...

It was so bad.

The first episode when it went out and I slipped over there.

Yeah.

And me, as Anya called them, I didn't know Anya called them panties, but I had listened to her episode Pants.

My pants were on full show,

and I forgot I'd not worn because

I was anticipating quite big physical tasks, so I wore big physical knickers.

Big physical knickers, yeah.

That's going to be the title of this podcast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're changing it.

We're changing the whole name of the podcast.

Big physical knickers.

Big physical knickers podcast.

You know, when people get their own clothing lines, lines, yeah.

That'll be that'll be the deal I'll get.

Yeah, you're going to outsell Budo with your big physical knickers.

Big physical knickers.

But I remember watching it in the studio, and when I slipped and hit that gargoyle, I thought, I could have worn better pants than them.

No, but I think big, big physical knickers is the way to go

because

you've got to dress for yourself.

You need your BPKs.

You need your BPKs for Taskmaster.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because if you get a VPL, you want the BPKs.

You want a VPL of a BPK.

Can we talk briefly about your team?

Oh, yeah.

You and Maurice.

Well, I think I totally forgot, which is, as we'll probably discuss,

a recurring theme, me forgetting

throughout the series.

You know, I've had genuinely worried.

I'm surprised you've remembered it.

I've had so many people

get in contact genuinely worried about my memory.

The snakes and ladders thing is sorry snakes and steps is wild.

Yeah.

That you did that and then first of all that none none of you thought well that'll that'll be something later up again yeah because that's obviously how the show works.

I know.

But the fact that you were the one who did not remember doing it, you don't you know.

Even there's one moment where you say, opponents, who are my opponents?

And Alex has to say four other comedians.

Did you forget you were doing Taskmaster?

I just

yeah, and then they were like, I think somebody said like, oh, it's it's Phil's course.

And I thought, well, that's favouritism if Phil's been allowed to design.

Yeah, you thought he'd done the whole course.

Yeah, yeah.

But then, even watching it, I watched it with my husband the other night, and I couldn't remember that I'd forgotten the task.

So, people have been getting in touch going, I really think you should go and get your memory looked at.

And then, also, because of your bloody podcast, where you said, Oh, was Maisie pissed for the whole thing?

Yeah, people are people are either trying to get me memory checked out or trying to stage an intervention.

Either way,

I'm being sent to a clinic.

You do have a very pissed energy.

It's the outfit.

The outfit as well really looks like you've gone on a hen nut.

This Magaluff Northern lady.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not I'd in my head I thought I'd look like Sandy from Greece, but then I had to keep

like adapting the outfit.

I couldn't wear the red high heels.

Yeah.

Because I knew I'd have to be running round.

Yeah, you're big practical shoes.

Wore big practical shoes with my big practical knickers and my synthetic flammable trousers that were too short in the leg but not high up enough in the bum.

No, yeah, yeah.

They were, they were more just

maybe the most ill-fitting item of clothing.

They were mid-leg coverings.

It was so bad.

Yeah, it didn't really have the desired look that

I was going for.

No, I thought it was absolutely perfect.

Well, and don't worry about the memory because when you grow up in the dip, you don't need a much memory because it's a simple life, isn't it?

Do you know what?

I went to F off, and I'm not going to do that.

I'm not going to do that because my mum will be listening to this.

We don't need, we don't need to.

There we go.

Stop the clock.

Six minutes, 35.

Six minutes.

Oh,

we don't need to remember much in Dip.

Of an hour-long podcast.

Six minutes, Gamble.

You swine.

I know everyone down the road.

We don't wear fancy knickers, just big physical ones.

We need big practical knickers.

You take them off at night and your kiddie can go to sleep in them.

Wash them in use, bathwater.

You don't need to do a voice.

No, that's not a voice.

Because that is your voice.

Let's talk about this episode.

Okay.

The prize task is the thing Greg would most like to see Alex wearing a brilliant prize task category.

Yeah.

And I think you all absolutely understood that what you had to put Alex in was humiliating.

Yeah.

Because that's what Greg wants Alex to wear.

I was chuffed to bits with this task.

This is a high point for your prize tasks, I think.

Yeah.

But even though just the way you introduce it, and you can tell you cannot wait to introduce it.

I was on the edge of my seat ready to say that.

The fact that you call it the late lady Diana makes it.

Some people might not know.

Yeah.

Huge shock for some people.

Who's just in?

Yeah.

How does your mum feel about this happening stop swearing and now you brought in the late lady diana's revenge dress yeah it's actually not the first time she's been brought up on this podcast is it i'm sure you brought her up with phil yeah

i can't remember that did you not no oh gosh yeah you even though i grew up in london i can't remember that see it's easy to forget yeah it is yeah thank you yeah um yeah i was chuffed to bits to do the revenge dress yeah it's perfect i think i just knew with alex's frame as well yeah it's not he won't wear it well

do you not think?

No, I don't think.

I think he'd make it pop.

I'd love to see Alex in full drag as the late Lady Diana.

I think that'd be lovely.

Yeah,

I do think there's an I did think as well, there's an element of this chat here that feels very,

you know, that interview she did with Martin Bashir.

You're Martin Bashir.

I'm very much the Martin Bashir of Taskmaster.

UK Panel Show Review Podcast.

Well, in that...

I have to say this early on in this podcast, we very much got on all of us lot.

And then they come into this caravan for a little sit-down with Ed Gamble and it is like the Martin Bashir interview it's very exposing isn't it well you say you all got on but I think this cast has a particular energy where I think 19 they all seem to get on and bonded and I think you're all out for each other's blood I think it's a bit like a dysfunctional boy band that's what I think we're like like we we've all we do all get on but then this into these interviews have been a bit sort of like you know when you watch that boy band one with um Westlife and they're all talking about oh no he always wanted the solos and da da da da.

I think that might have been us a bit, yeah.

Or it's sort of sibling energy amongst all of you.

It's favoritism.

Scrapping sibling energy.

Yeah.

And then it's like I've decided as your father or uncle to take you all away individually on holiday as a little treat when you're all turned 18 or something.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then once you're alone, you can be like, I hate all of them.

No, I loved the ball.

I did love them all.

I just didn't take it.

Blackpool, I'd take you to Blackpool.

You take me to Blackpool.

Oh, big city.

Bright life.

The Black Life of Blackpool.

Pepsi Max big one.

Oh, I like being on roller coasters because it reminds me of being at home when I'm at the bottom of a dip.

Can we move on?

We were back at the dress.

Don't like it at top.

Like it when I go down.

Do you know?

I had a day off on tour between Carlisle and Lancaster.

I just went to the pleasure beach on my own.

Of course you did.

I loved it.

It was so good.

Of course you did.

It was great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's not great, though, is it?

It's an absolute...

No, it was.

Excuse me, Ed Gamble.

It is an absolute treasure.

I went on the Big Dipper, and the bloke at the front of the queue recognised me.

I've walked into that.

I'm really determined not to get angry on this episode because I'm aware that that's the rep I've built.

So I'm going to be really calm on here.

You're doing a great job.

Much like Rhys, he really kept calm as well.

It was an outstanding prize task.

Yes.

It was brilliant.

And it very much deserved the five points.

Everyone had great

well.

They did, but I don't.

Phil got five points with a homemade suit that'll attract predators.

Yeah.

Which is funny, but I don't think it deserved five points alongside the late Lady Diana's revenge dress.

Okay.

Okay.

I liked his backstory with it, though.

I liked the intention of it.

This is your opportunity to really put the boot into Phil here.

I'm not rising to it, mate.

I'm not rising to it.

Look,

I enjoyed it.

I just think we've seen that particular suit with things stuck on it before.

Yeah.

You know, it just reminded me of other things that have been on in the past.

Okay.

Okay.

Is what I'd say.

Yeah.

But it was still very good.

For example, Sanjeev got four points.

I thought if anything deserved another five points, I think it was Sanjeev Sari.

Yeah.

Because of the way he built it up, the way he explained it.

And I really would like to see Alex in Asari.

But he was like, I'll walk five steps ahead.

Yeah.

Not for cultural reasons.

Safety.

Yeah, I think Alex would make that work.

Yeah.

I'd love to see it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I think it properly played into what Greg, what Greg wanted as well.

Anya brings in a versatile hat.

Yeah.

Which she calls it a versatile hat.

A curtained hat.

It was a curtained hat.

I mean,

it was pretty stunning.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I definitely love to see Alex in that.

It's almost not humiliating enough.

No, I think Alex would have quite enjoyed it.

Yeah.

He'd have liked the rasmatase of it.

Also, you're sort of hiding within the hat.

And I think he would have liked to have it.

Yeah, that's so true.

You want to

to really humiliate, he needs to be exposed.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I would have brought in something really horrible.

Wouldn't have been allowed on the show.

You'd have brought in like a bikini, wouldn't you?

Big physical knickers.

Big physical knickers.

That would have been good to see Alex wearing big physical knickers.

Just your full outfit from the show, I think.

Would have really loved that.

And Rhys, this is, look, this is one of Rhys's weaker prize tasks.

I'm sure he would agree.

Yeah.

And definitely not get angry with me

if I said that to his face.

Because Rhys either does the best prize task in the history of the show.

With like incredible craftsmanship,

patience.

Yeah, I mean the house.

Yeah, incredible.

The dolls' house, the haunted dolls' house is one of the best things I've ever seen anywhere.

But this one feels like he spent so long doing that house.

On the way out, he's like, what am I going to do?

Quick grab that.

Yeah, propeller hat.

Yeah.

He's got so much weird stuff in his actual house.

Honestly, I think he told us that he's got like some...

Was it a bookcase, but like a bookcase that you can go behind?

Yeah.

Which is so unsurprising about

Vice.

And he's got a creepy little room with creepy things in it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He'd have like a whole museum room of curiosities.

Yeah.

That's what I want in my house.

Yeah.

He's like a Bond villain.

Yeah.

Inte.

Yeah.

Like he's very, very charismatic, really sort of gentlemanly.

Like,

but

there's an unnerving thing about it.

If there was a movie of Reese Shearsmith, obviously he'd play himself.

But if he wasn't available to play himself,

Christoph Waltz.

Oh, that's a good shot.

You know what I mean?

He's that vibe.

Yeah, like when they did the League of Gentlemen movie.

yeah.

And Jeremy Dyson wasn't in playing himself.

Yeah.

So you've got Michael Sheen to the sex.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like that.

Yeah.

But it was a good, it was a good prize-task lineup.

It was two points for Rhys with his propeller hat, three points for Anya, four points for Sanjeev, and five points for you and Phil.

Sanjeev, what were the you said constrictive

causes embarrassment or pain?

Okay, so if you imagine him wearing this in India,

all those things are covered.

Sanjeev's brought this in.

It's a sari!

Oh my god, our next night out, that, you.

So thought.

I would walk 10 paces ahead, not for cultural reasons,

just for personal safety.

This is wonderful.

You'll look silly in Asari and you'll be in danger.

I mean, I'm excited.

We'll have you another night out.

Task one, cut a single string to cause the greatest effect you have 20 minutes your time starts now you're you're sort of breathing out in quite an exasperated way though Maisie this was only two points for you sadly yeah talk us through the boob the booby trap well I just I thought

I thought I'd go for like a home alone inspired yes kind of yeah uh domino effect or sort of mousetrap style thing yeah yeah that kind of I saw what you were going for definitely yeah it just didn't necessarily get executed the way I'd envisioned.

And instead, it was just sort of a couple of chickens falling over, quite sadly.

And you had to push one of them over as well, didn't you?

Yeah.

Which doesn't help when you're trying to make out that the string's done all the effect.

Yeah, I know.

Pushing something over and then shouting bon appetite at the top of your voice.

I know.

And I hadn't had a good run with my French anyway.

Back to that episode where I just sort of had a breakdown and stood in a bag on a donkey for a bit.

The Magaloof episode.

Yeah, that was a low point watching that.

I watched that with my parents and you could just sort of see the disappointment in their eyes.

But

this one,

this one hurt because the vision in my head was so far away from the reality of what happened.

And the frustrating thing as well, which I'm sure you found as well, but like, and it's not massively surprising, but you are infuriated at the time as well because you have no idea what the others have done and you can't comprehend what other options there might be.

That's the only thing in your head.

You've just got to stick on that track.

Yeah, like what I did seemed to be the most

logical thing to do.

Yeah, and that's mad to think that.

Yeah.

Because yours was.

String up some chickens.

String up some chickens and then push one over and then shout Bon Appetit.

Yeah, yeah.

Surely everyone's going to do that.

That's really root watch.

I did write down, you're like a Yorkshire Macaulay Colkin.

Okay, I'll take that.

Yeah, it's nice.

Yeah, I don't mind that.

I'd love to see a remake of Home Alone with you, innit?

Yeah, it'd be great.

Oh, bloody Elwhere's maising.

Oh, you little Torag, you've...

We've left Maisie and Dick.

And I set up all these big traps to catch the robbers.

None of them work.

No, none of them.

None of them work.

They take everything in the house.

Yeah, and then kill you.

Yeah, yeah.

Mum and dad come home.

It's just my body in the floor, everything else off the walls.

Oh, this couldn't have gone worse.

You bloody Torag.

It was two points for you, Maisie.

Let's talk through what the others did.

Phil takes Alex's watch and puts it under an anvil.

Yeah, this got quite dark for Phil.

Do you think?

Yeah,

I wouldn't have thought Phil would be the kind of person to take the watch and try smash it.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, he's mischievous, isn't he?

But he's not malicious.

No.

I would have expected Phil to do some big, extravagant obstacle course that would have included...

really bonkers stuff.

And actually the sinisterness of just can I take your watch and then make him sit and watch it yeah you know that felt that felt quite out of character for for for phil but it worked it did work but the the watch also worked yeah it's a very strong one it's so alex horn innit to have a strong robust watch it's a wonderful advert for the casion f91w very good very good yeah well it's worked to treat with me timing you today as well yeah there you go you've got them you've got the metal i've got the metal metal one yeah yeah yeah but they are great they are i'd love to sponsor it but i've got that deal with big physical knickers

You can do a collab at some point, I'm sure.

Crossover.

Yeah, well, like a pair of big physical knickers with a Casio F91W built into the crossover.

With a watch built into the gasette, into the gasset.

Just reach out inside your trousers, beep.

Just timing it.

I don't know what's worse to wear a watch on your knickers or knickers on your watch.

Good point.

Do you know what I mean?

I mean, I guess the knickers are still doing their job if

even if there's a watch on them.

Yeah, whereas if you're out at someone's house going, well, we best be going, glancing at your big knickers on your wrist, you're not going to get asked back, are you?

But I think you'd get asked back more in that situation than what time is it pulling your trousers down.

Look at your own gasset.

You're damned if you do, damned if you don't these days.

That's what I say.

Anya, bad stuff from Anya, uses a winch system.

She calls it a winch system.

She just drapes.

Was it a winch system?

Chugging a string at a what do we call that?

The weather vane.

The weather vane.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then puts, I mean, this is so Anya this.

Yeah.

Because Anya, out of all of you, is the person who imagines things in her head that are completely impossible to pull off.

Yeah.

And it's like that in her life as well, quite a lot.

Just putting the paint powder inside.

I mean, it was good for what it was.

Like, I got the idea that you could see the vision.

You could see it was going to look great.

But it was never going to cover the whole house.

No.

Which is what she thought.

No.

Two glasses of powder.

I thought it was going to cover the the whole house are you mad when she said it there wasn't an air of like no no no she means she absolutely thought she was gonna yeah she thought it was gonna look like you know that festival in india where everyone throws the paint and they're all rubbing what she's like she thought it was gonna be like that yeah forgetting the colour run they throw that yeah they don't put it in wine glasses and then over a weather vane over a weather vane with some gaffer tape

um and just two colours yeah two colours yeah no she needed a bit more ambition and also to completely change what she was doing

but apart from that from that, you're really good.

Yeah.

This is such a Reese task.

Yes.

To be able to make a parody of The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe.

And

they shot it beautifully.

They edited it amazingly.

It's so funny.

It's Reese to a T.

Yeah.

Like that mind is incredible.

Torturing Alex for stealing cream eggs from Asda,

doing the weird voice.

It's just like so league, the whole thing.

It's incredible.

And that's what makes me feel even more stupid for sitting there at the time thinking everyone else has probably done something like this.

No way.

Not Richer Smith.

That mind works totally different.

I wonder whether, because, yeah, there's also a possibility that you could do a thing where you cut a string and then it could have an effect, but it doesn't actually need to have the effect on the thing because you just shoot it like a little film, if you see what I mean.

So you could cut the string and then cut to something else happening.

It doesn't have to have actually happened practically.

This is the thing.

This has caught me out a few times now

on Taskmaster:

realizing that you can actually just sort of use

exterior effects.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you're not just left with the chickens in the room.

Yeah.

Do you know what I mean?

But it's always important that there is someone like you who always thinks chicken in the room.

Who thinks that chickens in the room is the height of imagination?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

It's important, Macy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's why Reese's work looks good.

Yeah, yeah.

It's because it's compared to chickens in the room.

You did a really good job here of supporting everyone else.

Sanjeev, finally.

Sometimes I think when it started the series,

I was like, Sanjeev can't be asked, and it's very funny, and he's very funny with it.

Yep.

But then sometimes you get an insight and you think, you're the weirdest.

You're the weirdest dude.

You're the weirdest dude here.

Who brings we twice.

Twice.

Twice.

So much.

Once is too many times to bring your wee in.

Twice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's amazing.

You're so right.

Like, one minute, you're like, are you even bothered?

He's so laid back, he's horizontal.

Yeah.

And then the next one, he's coming up with all these like whimsical, creative, left-field ideas.

And this is incredible.

Cutting the string, and then the table falls just short of the egg.

I mean, which is really funny because obviously in the studio, everyone's going, he's messed that up.

Yeah.

What a great.

That's brilliant.

We love those movies.

I thought that was it.

Yeah.

And then he comes out and all of the stuff rolls towards the egg.

The barrels roll towards the the egg.

And this must have been an accident that they all missed the egg.

Yeah.

Surely he wanted them to hit the egg.

But I think he brings it back by just going, one word.

Yeah.

Existentialism.

Yeah.

He really does.

It was wonderful.

I think Sanjeev is one of those people who whatever he touches could be performance art.

Yes.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Everything he does seems intentional, even though I'm not sure it is.

Yeah.

No, I don't think.

I think he just very good at working around.

Yeah.

Working around the issues because I think something should have hit that egg.

But it's so much better that it didn't.

And he doesn't at no point does he flicker.

He's never going like

I would be like, fucking,

yeah.

He just rolls with it, doesn't he?

He's like, well, that's it.

Existentialism.

Lovely work from Sanjeev.

One point from Anya, two points for you, Maisie.

Phil gets three points, Rhys gets four, and Sanjeev with the big five.

Yeah.

Upon invitation, Alex is going to walk in, pull off that hook, and it's going to tug this horse, which will bring the chicken down.

He'll think, right, that's the chicken out the way.

Surprise, another chicken.

That chicken, still not over.

Third pulet of the day is gonna land ready to eat.

And I'll be waiting, saying, Cheers, there's your seat.

Alex, please enter the restaurant.

The restaurant?

The room.

Okay, here I go.

Hooray!

Bon appetite!

That's an absolute cockfest.

Look at that.

Screw chicken fell over.

Yeah.

And you just cut one bit of string.

That's really good, isn't it?

Absolute cockfest.

Task two, part one, write an autobiographical 10-word story.

You have two minutes.

Your time starts now.

I'd imagine at that point you thought that was the end of the task.

Part two,

communicate your story to the taskmaster.

You may not leave the bridge.

The most accurately communicated story wins.

You have 10 minutes to prepare your performance, then 30 seconds to communicate your story.

Your time starts now.

Maisie, what happened here, mate?

I just didn't get it.

I didn't get it.

Okay, Ed?

I didn't get the task.

What?

Did you have any idea of what...

I think if it had said communicate your life story, I'd have got it.

But it doesn't have to be that.

It's just a story.

Some people chose to do.

Yeah.

Chose to do a story.

Yeah.

It was.

So it's autobiographical 10-word story, which, you know, so it's something from your life that happened to you.

Yeah.

Well, I still think I maybe kept to the brief then and trying to just sort of say, this

Brit keeps telling me the format of the show I'm on.

So if you were writing your autobiography and you were going through your anecdotes from your long and illustrious career in showbiz,

what chapter is this man keeps trying to explain to me the concept of the show I'm on?

Yeah, that probably wouldn't, wouldn't it wouldn't feature.

No.

But

is it autobiographical?

Yes, because it's happening to you.

No, no, I agree with that.

Yeah.

But do you think you could have picked something better?

Yes.

Yes, is the yes.

You grew up in a dip, Maisie.

You could have done.

Maisie Adam Bourne grew up in a dip.

No, because I don't want to encourage those people that shout, hey, up from dip across the road at me.

Dead to do.

I just didn't get it.

And it was one of those, again, where I came out of it thinking, there's got...

Well, I knew I'd messed that one up because it was so you went in angry as well I went in angry I went in angry which didn't help but then I came out of it thinking there's got to have been more to that yeah it can't have been what what I've just done and it wasn't no it wasn't well there was there also sort of wasn't more to it really you just did it badly in a mad way quite badly yeah yeah that's been a bit of a theme hasn't it but again

We need people to do that to make the others look good.

This is so patronising.

I'm just telling you.

This is so patronising.

Someone's got to be.

Yeah, someone's got to be tree number three.

Otherwise, how would the prince and princess look so good in centre stage?

Were you tree number three?

I was tree number three.

Why are you really tree number three?

Yeah, didn't have any lines.

No, I didn't have a really good movement piece in the wind.

Yeah, oh, lovely.

That's really good.

Yeah, yeah, that's lovely.

Yeah, he keeps...

He keeps trying to explain the plot of the show I'm in.

And yes, and you tried to do that and it didn't really come together.

Didn't work.

No.

It didn't work.

I don't, I was quite surprised how frustrated I got at Alex's presence.

In every single day, that's interesting, isn't it?

Because I don't think I was frustrated with Alex.

I found him so irritating.

And I would say that to his face.

In fact, I think I did.

But

when you're having a bit of a nightmare in a task and he's just there with his little clipboard and making his little notes and raising his little one eyebrow, going, you know, and you think, oh, you're so smug.

Yeah, he is smug.

I got annoyed with him quite a few times, actually.

I did threaten to shove a puzzle up his dick.

So, up his dick, up, yeah.

He'd come from down and go up.

Yeah, I guess so.

Yeah, yeah.

I guess, yeah, that's probably the more difficult way of doing it rather than

stretching it and then

I don't have one, but I feel pain.

Piece by piece, like, I'm not putting trying to put the whole thing down there.

Okay, um, it's just very, very, very,

it's just frustrating.

And because he can't, well, I thought he can't help.

I've found out in other episodes that's apparently fine.

Yeah, well, you can always ask him, I think, yeah, turns out, turns out you can just ask him, Oh, can you can you lift up this pig through the assault course?

Can you shift up this baby?

Or can you have your own personal mobile out and have your wife/slash mum ring halfway through, and I can answer it?

That was an accident, to be fair.

That was an accidental

scores or whatever, did it?

Anyway,

let's be calm.

No, you've not been calm for the whole thing, Maisie.

I think let go.

You said you brought some notes with some grievances.

This was before we started recording.

This is what I mean about this cast because I think all of you have turned up with a list of things that

you want to get off your chest.

Yeah, so

episode one with Anya,

she started it.

Look how small I sound.

She started it.

She said, I have beef with that about my object.

My object, I was meant to say the interior of the womb, but I said being in the womb.

But the interior of a womb, you've seen it, but you can't describe it.

Right.

That's objective.

But you brought...

That's an object.

But it's still not something you can really bring in, though, is it?

It's still conceptual because you're...

You could bring in a woman.

You brought in a model.

I could bring in a lady.

You could bring in a lady.

And then give away her womb or the whole lady.

It's difficult, isn't it?

It's difficult.

I don't think you can say, can I have your womb for a prize?

I think you...

I don't know.

It depends where you look.

I think you can find those things on offer.

Oh, I don't want to search your history.

Also, got a bone to pick with you.

You said to Anya on episode one, Maisie loves an argument.

She loves being on the back foot.

You do.

Pardon me.

I mean, that's where you.

I don't like being on the back foot.

No, but that is where you operate best comedically.

I'm not a conflicting, conflictuous, argumentative person.

Quite on the back foot in that sentence, weren't you?

Okay.

Right, on to Rhys, who he reckoned he clocked the twins.

Oh, I agree with you here.

I didn't say much to Reese about this at the time.

Yeah, because I'm sorry.

He cowered in the corner.

I saw

as a you.

Right, but um, yeah, I did cower, but he, yeah, he said,

but all he said was that maybe it's not.

But first of all, he did a terrible impression of me as well, which has haunted me.

Yeah.

Can you do one of Reese quickly to balance the odds?

No, no.

I'm determined to do this episode in a calm and collected manner.

Well, it's too late for that.

Why don't you do an impression of Rhys?

I'm not.

No, no, no, it's fine.

But if we may return to this task, the twins one,

he did say,

could it be somebody else?

And he meant the crew.

And I was like, I went back in and was like, is it the crew?

And the crew were obviously like, they can't get him.

He didn't say it was twins.

He didn't say it was twins or that there could be another person in the room.

I was the person that said that.

It doesn't matter.

And I'm very relaxed about it.

It's totally fine.

I agree with you.

And I think everyone else agrees with you.

You that saw that clip from the podcast so you could have bloody said that on the podcast couldn't you i couldn't have done i'm scared of him um

oh ed call me harsh but i don't think they should have got any points on the mascot task no i don't think you should got any points hey

i made a mascot you still don't have a point you stuck a sign on a pre-existing mascot okay

all right i just think it's interesting that it's absolutely fine when uh anya gets that really good look in her um thing where she picked up the phone.

Do you know that task?

I went to bed that night going, I know the number.

I know the number because Lil Wayne rang on the phone.

Right.

And I thought it's 54592963 because that's how you'd type out Lil Wayne on old numbers.

Can we please use that as a clip?

And I don't want to put any context out.

I just want the clip of you doing those numbers

with your eyes shut.

Imagining a phone pass

a big T-phone booth yeah so that's it's awful how these things play on your mind though when you leave the house I went I went back to my hotel room that night being like yeah I've got it yeah I've got it it's Lil Wayne it's Lil Wayne spelt out in numbers I think Lil Wayne was just a red herring though wasn't he that's so stupid that's so stupid um

and you guessed a 40 it was the m40 that that that was fine apparently that was all fine that's a huge thing and that that clip has now gone out online of that being replayed that yes no I saw that and and then deciding to use the photo because that's such a huge thing because they never normally do that, they would never replay a game if it had gone slightly wrong.

Yeah, I was with Anya when it went out, yeah, um, and uh, Anya was like, Oh, they've put out the original one, and we were like, Oh, right, that's interesting.

Um, and it was interesting because neither of us really felt aggrieved by either or

champion for either of them.

Um, we did just agree, me and Anya, that was a shit task,

it was, it was, And I'll be honest, Ed, and I'll say this to the Taskmaster team: if you go on Reddit, the large, the vast majority agree.

Up your game.

It can be fun, but Greg is now at the point where if the mechanic of the task in the studio is Greg guesses whether you're lying or not, he is right almost all the time.

He's worked everyone out too much.

He is incredible at this.

So I think we just need to retire that because Greg's basically psychic.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You need to get Greg on the traitors.

Yeah, I should.

He'd just get, he knows.

He'd be amazing.

Straight away.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

No, he just figured us all out.

Yeah.

Like, immediately.

But yeah, that was my list of grievances.

Just

a few things that you've said

and

a few dodgy points being given.

You know, a few, few.

Yeah, that's fair enough.

It often happens.

I did agree.

I think it was you or Rhys said, come on, Greg, that's your one job.

Like, award.

Yeah.

You know, when he gives, like, everybody else gets three points.

Yes.

he is kinder these days, I think.

Yes, yeah, there's been quite a few of the Taskmaster fans saying that.

Yeah, he's got softer over the years.

Yeah, softer in his old age.

Oh dear,

you said that, like a sort of heir to the throne.

Like you can't wait for him to,

oh dear, not long left for old Greg.

No, I don't think how will I deal with the pressure when I'm in the game?

I don't think I'm in line to the throne, sadly.

I think I take it far too seriously.

He says, hosting the Taskmaster podcast,

buttering up the boys.

I can't do both.

No?

No.

No.

I'm busy enough as is.

The amount of after-show podcasts I do, Maisie.

Yeah, that's true.

That's true.

Oh, my God.

Yeah, it was one point for you, Maisie.

Rhys thinks he's found a clever way around.

Yeah, as you can't remember.

It's the communicate the story.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

You did really well.

Do you feel like you've gone to visit your grand?

Well, we are in a caravan.

Reese thinks he's found a clever way around it and uses the spray to write on the window, but you really can't see what.

I know, I know.

I watched that back and thought, that's really, really clever.

I'd have been angry if that hadn't worked.

If that had worked.

No,

I'd have been angry if I was him.

But if you were him and it couldn't be.

You do that, thinking that's brilliant.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But the story was when I was little, I choked on Monster Munch Crisps.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Listen, I'd read that book.

I'd read that book.

That's got to be in the book.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because I think that is like, that could be the start of his autobiography: being like, I choked on monster munch, a monster nearly killed me.

I became obsessed with monsters.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's the origin story of how you end up with a museum of curiosities in your living room.

Exactly.

Yeah.

It's either that or you become obsessed with crisps, and I'm glad it was monsters.

Imagine how bad inside number nine would have been if it was just this one's about a different flavour of crisps.

Cheese and onion seasoned.

If it was the League of Prawn cocktail.

Oh.

Vinegar Phil.

See, Phil, I thought Phil did this very well.

Yes.

Phil came into his own

this episode, I think.

Preston born, Preston raised, left Preston, failed, returned to Preston.

Yeah.

Lovely.

Yeah.

Really nice.

That's perfect Phil Ellis there.

Yeah, and we already know he's from Preston from earlier in the show because he brought in a photo of him with the mayor.

With the mayor.

So I thought it was great.

It's, you know, self-deprecating, really funny,

but three points.

Yep.

Anya's,

when Alex says, Anya, are you ready?

And it cuts back to Anya and she's on the floor with her legs on the window.

Yes.

Yeah.

That was.

But that is so Anya.

Like her brain is so incredible.

Like she thinks of things in such an abstract

way.

She is like perfect for Taskmaster because you've got to go in and read that task and immediately think left field and not go

what I do, which is just sort of do a really bad attempt at it and then storm off.

No, but I think we're close.

I think we are very similar.

I think we're too eager.

Yeah.

It's desperate watching it back.

The first thing that comes into our heads, we're like, I'm going to do this right now.

There's no...

Yeah.

Maybe I shouldn't do that.

Or maybe I should think of another idea.

What's the most creative way of doing this?

We're like, fucking, give me the thing now and I'm going to do the thing.

Do you think if you and I did an escape room.

Never going to happen.

Really?

Can't happen.

It's off the table.

It can't happen.

Really?

I think it could either be like we'd get world record times.

times yeah or

they'd have to close it they'd have to close it yeah because of all the blood yeah yeah yeah I think so I think it would be absolutely horrific yeah

good we should we should do it one day and film it yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean it sounds absolutely horrific for both of our mental health but content is content

but Anya's was

Anya born cats the music that's true.

She is obsessed with cats.

She loves a cat, doesn't Anya?

School, university, trampolining.

If you can dig back in Anya's social media for the video of her trampolining and then falling over somehow, like almost between the gap, between the edge of the trampoline and the actual trampoline, it's very funny.

And you die was the last bit.

But very good.

And Greg pretty much guessed all of it, apart from Cat's the Musical.

Sanjeev.

Again, this is...

I was born Sanjeev, which I remain to this day.

I actually think if Sanjeev did have an autobiography, that would be the first line.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, totally.

Really funny.

And it would probably, his autobiography would start with that line and end with, and at the end of this, I've got one word for you.

Existentialism.

Was this even a book?

Can I just check with the existentialism thing?

Because when the notes that Daisy the producer made just said the word existentialism as you would write it.

Yeah.

And it's a difficult pun to pick up on because they do sound the same.

Was he saying existentialism or was he saying existentialism?

Because it was an egg.

I hadn't thought of that.

I hadn't thought of that.

That is the magic of Sanjeev Bascar, though.

He could have said either, and they'd both be, you'd both stand back going, oh,

because ex and eggs do sound really too similar, almost a bit pun about it.

I think he's just saying existentialism personally.

Surely saying existentialism.

Do you reckon?

I'm going to have to watch this back now.

I really am.

I think Sanjeev is so whimsical, though, like philosophical.

He could just be saying existentialism.

It's a helicopter.

And thought it was a comment.

Oh, yeah.

That's race coming back.

Oh, no.

What are you saying about me?

Oh, I hadn't thought of that.

Oh, God, yeah.

He'll be getting in contact.

Sorry, Reese.

I listened to the podcast of Reese's on a train, and I felt like I was getting told off there and then.

I sort of like shriveled up.

oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

When he went,

when she told me to be calm, why would that make me calm?

I was like, why would that have made him calm?

That's a stupid thing to say.

Oh, no, he's going to be really angry.

I just it is such a, he's got such a good,

like, he goes from zero to a hundred.

Oh, yeah, and he can turn it on and off.

It's so good.

He's like that swan analogy of everything's just nice and gracious on top, and then underneath there's this bubbling boring.

Well, it's the swan analogy if the swan occasionally

flips fully in the water and just kicks its legs in the sky.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

If the swan's doing a synchronized swimming routine, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

One point for you, Maisie, two points for Rhys, three points for Phil, four points for Anya, and five points for Sanjeev.

He kept the story simple, which I think was the goal here.

That's it.

The tale of eldest time.

I'll tell you what's thrown it, and what I think is going to damage it is I couldn't decide what this was.

And in the end, I decided it was a circus tent.

Do you think you've got it?

This is what I've written, really.

Okay, yep.

Child born to circus

runs away, but returns when skint.

I thought that's pretty.

Yeah.

He actually wrote.

Preston born, Preston raised, left Preston, failed, returned to Preston.

Task three.

This task would have absolutely sent me round the loop.

Yep.

Wear the flippers correctly, slowest wins.

Your time started when you entered the room.

And the hidden message at the back of the lab: every time you say flipper, flippers, or flower, your time is halved.

Every time one of your feet leaves the circle, your time is halved.

Every time you laugh, your time is halved.

You must put the flippers on within 10 actual minutes of entering this room, or you will be disqualified.

After reading this, you must immediately return to the circle, and the flippers must must be where they were when you entered the room.

I bloody hate tasks like that.

But Maisie,

what I loved about this is you didn't go in the circle straight away.

No.

So and I thought, brilliant, you've smashed this, Maze, already.

But picking up on, I can't return to the circle.

Yeah.

Because I've not been in the circle, I thought that was great.

Yeah.

That was really smart.

You've been serious?

Yeah.

Okay, good.

It was obviously good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, you've got other points here, though.

I thought you were brewing up then to something.

No.

Great.

And that's worse, isn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah, you feel more uncomfortable.

yeah no i mean it okay great i thought it was good stuff i just

those ones where it's all wordy and yeah and oh then it halves and then it doubles and then you can't say this you can't say that because you can't say anything anymore

oh flippers is it now

it's walk nonsense is what it is back in my day you could say flippers whenever

it was a term of endearment In the dip, we said flippers all day long and people understood.

We didn't.

People knew what you meant by it.

Yeah.

Because they weren't snowflakes.

That's why.

Probably can't say that anymore, can I?

Snowflakes.

Oh, flowers.

But it is, there's something truly just funny in a very simple way of

an instruction saying you can't say flipper, flippers, or flowers, and people

reading it out in front of me.

Because your brain just does it.

Well, and also, I think, can I just say,

well, I think also, yes, can I just say?

There's, you know, you're walking in and there's a camera crew.

So you think, well, I need to read it out because you're a pro.

For the viewers at home.

Yeah, yeah.

For the viewers at home.

Yeah.

You know, if I read it in my head.

Yeah.

Yeah, I might have got five points.

I mean, Anya does, Anya says F-word, F-word, or other F-word, I think.

But then two rules later reads out.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's really difficult to not do it.

Oh.

At least you find the message.

You find the message.

I was shuffled to bits with that.

I thought, brilliant.

Smashed it.

But then you say flippers so many times.

It is halved.

And you put them on in three minutes, 52 seconds, which is obviously way too short to be getting good points.

Yeah.

Can we talk about Anya's clock brain?

Insane.

Nine minutes, 25 seconds.

I think I had a task where we didn't, I had to do something within 10 minutes.

It was inflating and popping balloons.

And I think I did like 850, and I was very proud of that.

But

9 minutes 25 is insane.

Yep.

Yeah.

But that's what I mean.

Anya's got this sort of like, she's so, she's so intelligent, but also very creative.

Yeah.

And like, I don't know how you have both of them.

I'm still working on either.

But

yeah, 9 minutes 25 is good.

I feel like Anya would be incredible at an escape room.

Yeah, I've done escape rooms with Anya.

But yeah.

She's good and she keeps very calm as well.

Yeah, perfect.

I've not done an escape room.

I've done...

I think she mentioned it, karaoke, where that was, I'm so glad she remembered it.

It was the first time I met Anya.

It was up at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Olga Koch had a birthday party in a

karaoke booth and there was about 20 people in there.

But

just one person kept using the microphone and singing every song and then the song would finish and she'd just queue up another per another song, this person, and just and would just burst into another ballad.

I'd never met Anya before, so we were just sort of looking at each other being and we just had to sit, sit, sit, whilst this woman did a one-woman concert.

Is she a comedian?

No, I think she's a producer.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

Well, sometimes you've got to shine.

I've not seen her since.

She's probably still in that booth doing her own encore.

Sometimes you've got to shine the light on the behind-camera talent.

It was so funny.

And she weren't doing like karaoke bangers either.

Do you know what I mean?

Daisy, was it you?

She wasn't doing like Mr.

Bright side.

She was doing just sort of

Anya.

Yeah.

You know.

Oh, can't say that just that, oh my God.

It's terrible.

But Anya does, yeah, incredibly here.

It's very, very good.

Nine minutes, 25.

And it's only halved seven times, whereas you're halved ten times.

What was it, not 0.2 seconds?

0.02 seconds.

0.02.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And Anya's was 4.5 seconds, which wins.

But all the others were disqualified.

Yes, that was a saving grace for me.

You know,

Rhys doesn't see the rules, but makes up the rules.

Yeah.

He creates a ladder of chopsticks.

At what point does he think, well, I can leave the circle.

Yeah, of course.

I'm sure the rules are if I make a a ladder of chopsticks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I think that, again, is Reese's brilliant creativity brain kicking in.

Yeah.

And that just overrides everything.

Yeah.

Because

if you did have them levels of creativity in you, you would think they'll excuse.

Yeah.

They'll excuse it if I'm thinking outside the box like this.

They'll love it if I make a chopstick ladder.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And he takes 16 minutes, 47 seconds because he doesn't know about the 10 minutes rule.

Yeah.

Sanjeev, I think, has good instincts here, though.

Because all he thinks is it's take the longest.

If you don't see those rules, he pushes it as far as possible.

He went full Sanjeev with this.

He went full Sanjeev.

He went for lunch.

I mean, is there anything more on brand than Sanjeev?

Incorporating his lunch into a task.

Just going, I think I'll just go off and have my dinner.

I think he was considering leaving for the day and then just doing it next time.

Which would have been amazing as well, but six hours he left it.

Six hours.

I love it.

He's so good.

Yeah.

He's so good.

He's so brilliant.

I mean, this whole cast.

And again, he'll have walked out of that going,

that's a good idea.

Smash that.

That's a good idea.

But it is a good idea if you don't know about the 10-minute rule, I think.

But isn't that such an insight into all of our brains?

Reese going, if I really go down the creative route, I've smashed it.

Sanjeev, if I go and have my lunch, I've smashed it.

I've had my lunch really small.

I remember doing the task thinking,

the best bit here is that I know how to walk in flippers and people will be impressed by that.

What are you talking about?

So when you wear flippers, you have to walk backwards to the pool.

The pool?

The pool.

When you wear them to the pool.

Why are you wearing them in the pool?

Well, where else are you wearing flippers?

Have you heard of the sea?

Well, would you wear flippers in the sea?

No, but if you're doing like scuba diving, that's why flip.

Why are you wearing them in a pool?

We just used to sometimes swim with flippers.

You used to go top speed in a pool.

I don't know.

That's the only time I've worn flippers is in swimming lessons.

Never go to the same all-inclusive hotel as Maisie.

You're trying to relax.

She was on holiday.

It was swimming class.

You just relax in the pool, and she's shooting up and down next to you,

wearing a big practical swimming shirt.

Just trying to get some laps in before breakfast buffet.

No, just.

But I remember you had to collect them from this big bin, like

inside the pool, not around the back of the bottom.

This is an entire master in my life.

Yeah, in your life, yeah.

This would be in the outer bio.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

The day I learned to flip.

This is chapter two.

You have to walk, and then you have to, you wear, you put them on by the bin, and then you walk backwards to the pool with them, because you can't walk forwards in flippers.

So the whole time I'm doing that task, I'm just thinking, I can't wait to show people that I know how to walk in flippers.

Did you flipping the dip?

Play a jingle.

Play a jingle now.

No.

Well, at least we have the name of my autobiography.

Flipping the dip.

Flipping the dip.

Flipping the dip.

It's better than no holding back.

Isn't it?

That was a revelation to me.

No holding back.

That is mad.

Just sat on that.

I bet she finds out about that through this show as well.

Yeah.

So I could have.

Oh, God.

Of course.

Ring the editor.

Yeah.

Give a call back on it.

Do the paperback, can we?

Yeah.

Do no holding back because my name's Amanda Holden.

So anyway, yeah, I was just focusing on

on being able to show that I could walk in flippers, and I don't even think that made the edit.

I don't think it did, no?

No, because I imagine everybody watched it and thought, it's not really relevant, though, is it?

I'd imagine they cut the bit where you gave a cheat story along how to

smugly reversed out of the lab.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Phil loses his mind.

Lasso's the flippers.

I think Greg refers to him as the Joker.

Yeah.

I think that the lab especially does something to Phil.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, we've already seen him dress up as a baby and try and suckle from Alex.

I watched that episode and then had a dream about it that night and it was yeah and it was just his his head was floating just going baby hungry baby hungry just a floating head going baby hungry so do your dreams often exactly represent something you've done in that in the day when and do you know when i was filming taskmaster in the house i would sometimes go back and and dream about the tasks that's mad yeah just living rent-free in there i think a lot of my dreams are like go through a filtration process where they're not the exact thing that i've done that day yeah yeah yeah yeah but you do something and then you go to sleep and you do the thing in your sleep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I fall over in my big pants in my dreams.

You've got to process what's happened on the day when you're filming Taskmaster.

I love Phil's approach to everything, though.

Yes.

I mean, I absolutely love it.

Gutting for Phil that he did it in 10 minutes and five seconds.

It's so typical that it happened to Phil.

Yes, I think it's true.

Something that close and cruel

can only happen happen to somebody with Phil Ellis's

whole vibe.

Yeah, he's just always downtrodden.

Yeah.

Like, oh, yeah.

Oh, failed again.

The world just laughs at him.

But he laughs back, and that's what I like about it.

Yeah, thinking he's in on the joke with the world.

But he's not.

The world hates you, Phil.

I love him.

Reese, Andrew, and Phil, all disqualified.

You get four points, Maisie, for 0.02 seconds.

Yeah.

And Anya gets four points.

Yeah, that's pretty.

Unbelievable.

In a task where Slowest wins, and I walk away with four points for 0.02 seconds, I couldn't believe my luck that day.

Ah, you.

After reading this, you must immediately return to the circle.

The flippers must be where they were when you entered this room.

Yeah.

Do you want to give me the flippers?

We've got to put them back.

What?

So I'm going to start again.

Yep.

Oh, come on, I did the lasso thing.

Okay, I have all my supplies.

How long have you been in this room?

I think probably

seven minutes.

Get them!

Shall I stop the clock?

Yeah.

Stop the clock.

Stop the clock?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm not laughing anymore either.

I'll stop the clock.

So we're leaving with my dignity.

The live task.

Find the age of the mystery person.

Who is Quentin, of course, making his, I think, third appearance in Taskmaster.

I have never laughed so much in a live task as that day.

You must stay in your seat at all times.

You may ask one question at a time, going from oldest to youngest, starting with Sandjeev, of course.

You may only say two numbers each.

The person may only say yes or no.

First person to say the correct age wins.

How long did did this take?

So long.

Yeah.

I think at least 40 minutes.

Wow.

Yeah.

Because we already know.

Mainly because Quentin didn't understand the game.

Oh, yeah.

No idea.

No idea.

Absolutely not.

There was a very confusing question

about

does the second letter...

Coming after the first letter...

I mean, just say S, Phil.

I was just screaming at you, say S.

Yep.

We know that your age starts with S.

Yep.

Does the second letter is does the second letter is let an I?

It is difficult, actually.

Now I've tried it.

But yeah, there was a lot of confusion knocking around, wasn't there?

I'd just love to live in Phil Ellis's head sometimes.

Yeah.

I think I'd want a red button that would immediately get me out.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But it would just be good to see.

It would be an escape room in there, wouldn't it?

I think Phil Ellis's mind is an escape room.

And that he hasn't worked out how to escape yet.

Yeah.

And he's just made peace.

Well, I live here now.

I'd rather live in a brain than Preston.

Oh, God.

So,

yeah,

I mean, Phil's questioning was questionable, but Quentin's answering, man.

Yeah.

Jesus, he had one job.

He had one job.

I thought he was having an existential crisis.

Yeah, when it's yes or no, and Alex has to go, can you try that again, Quentin?

I couldn't breathe.

I had tears like streaming

down my face.

It was unbelievable.

And Anya's question, which also sums up Anya to me, is that is that number got curves?

Is that number got curves?

Just write that down.

Is that number got curves?

Is that number got curves?

And that made perfect sense to her.

Is that number got curves?

Weird to ask about the curviness of a number anyway, but is that number got curves?

When Anya said, is that number got curves?

Some of us went, hmm, good question.

That's the title of the episode as well.

Is that number got curves?

And I saw the title of the episode and went, that'll be Anya.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

There's no one else that could be.

So,

fun fact.

Yeah.

This game is taken from the game show invented on Series 17 by John Robbins, John McNally, and Sophie Willand.

So, yeah.

So then we need to take umbrage.

It works, though, I think.

Well, if you get somebody that's not Quentin answering the questions.

Well, it's better than having to do the other game show that was invented on Series 17, which was Nit Mohammed and Steve Pemberton, which was going through people's poo to work out what they'd eaten.

So I think you'd just be happy with that.

There's something about that game that makes me absolutely certain Phil Ellis would be really good at it.

I'd love it, yeah.

Stand back, I've done this before.

That would be Phil, wouldn't it?

Yeah, it would be.

But he's got no sense of smell, so that wouldn't help.

No, no.

Anya would refuse.

I'd be angry about it.

Rhys would be saying, what's the point?

Yeah.

Phil would be going straight into the poo with all of the confidence and none of the skill.

But Sanjeev would be on hand to go, hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Looks like rice or looks like that that looks like it could be shreddy's.

Yeah.

Phil gets five points in this task.

Somehow, Phil comes out with the points.

We know he's not good at asking questions.

We've seen that from guessing what the number was.

Yeah.

Because he just throws away all his questions so quickly.

When he had a finite amount of questions to ask Alex about the number, he started with like, you're right.

There's one question gone.

Don't, honestly.

What was it where he was like, you may want to rethink your questions?

And he went, why is that?

Yeah.

I think there's a part of him that just wants the world to burn.

So hence the Joker.

But Phil gets 5.0 to everyone else.

Episode scores.

Phil on 16 points.

He wins the episode, which is lovely to see.

Sanjeev on 14.

Anyone on 13.

You on 12, Maisie.

And Reese on 8 points.

And it couldn't have come at a worse time because I had a bad one the last episode as well.

I'm on a bad streak at this point.

You're in a bad streak, but it is.

Look, the whole series is so close.

It feels like it's never been close.

We were so close, weren't we?

Yeah.

What were we all on on the series by that point then?

Anya's on 90, Phil's on 89, Reese's on 85, you're on 83, and Sanjeev's on 81.

I mean, that's insane.

That's insane, yeah.

Do you think you're all equally good or all equally bad?

All equally bad.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're like the opposite of the Avengers.

I think it's just very up and down.

Like,

someone will have an amazing episode.

You've all had amazing episodes and amazing tasks, but then some real lows as well.

Yeah.

I remember episode one thinking, I'm blumbing nailing this.

And Sanjeev, you know, basically

like having a shocker from beginning to end.

I thought Sanjeev's going to be like so far behind everyone after episodes.

And Phil a little bit.

And now they're really coming into their.

We were so, so close.

Like, basically from here on, you know.

We won't reveal that.

Oh, yeah.

Sorry.

No.

It's just

nice to be be so close.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

It's good.

It's keeping it exciting.

It's very, very exciting.

Maisie, thank you very much for coming on the Taskmaster podcast.

I'm looking forward to this bit.

I always ask our guests to

rates their

announcements on the podcast between one and five points.

Please give me a point score for the podcast.

It's one.

It's one.

You've had a five from.

You've had a five and two threes, I believe.

I don't keep, I don't keep track.

Right, well, I blumbing do, and you need a one to bring you down.

Can I give him zero?

I'll give you zero.

You can disqualify me.

No, I'll give you one because you let me come on and air my

notes of grievances.

Yeah.

I'm just checking that there's nothing.

Oh,

I liked that Phil thought that he could, you know, the Lame Duck task.

Yeah.

That he just thought he'd collect the ducks and that would earn him £25 per duck.

Yeah.

Loved that.

Yeah.

That's Phil Ellis.

That's Phil Ellis.

But no, you're on one.

That was the only thing on my notes of grievances.

Thank you, Maisie.

Can I go?

Yes.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Thank you so much to Maisie for coming on the podcast.

Exactly what I'd hoped for, to be honest.

Absolutely brilliant.

Fun.

Maisie's incredible.

The series is incredible.

Keep watching the series.

Channel 4, 9 p.m.

every Thursday.

We will be back next week with episode 7, and we've got a great guest planned.

So stay tuned.

Listen to us straight after the episode.

Be available at 10 p.m., of course.

Watch it on YouTube if you're that sort of person.

It's doing great guns on YouTube.

And you get to to see me suddenly remember that it's being filmed and thinking I should have brushed my hair and worn something nicer.

Alright, bye!