Celia Pacquola, Rove McManus, Joel Creasey, Anisa Nandaula, Brett Blake… once again, the Taskmaster, Tom Gleeson, has assembled what he hopes will be the cream of Australia’s comic minds to compete on Taskmaster Australia.
As always, they are given a series of challenges designed to show their quick mental reflexes, their astounding lateral thinking and the kind of problem-solving skills we should all aspire to. And, once again, says the Taskmaster’s faithful sidekick Tom Cashman, he’s met with crushing disappointment.
“These contestants are not our best lateral thinkers,” says Tom, who’s returning to the comedy challenge series that gets more laughs when its participants fail than when they succeed.
“Do not watch Taskmaster expecting to see Australia’s best lateral thinkers.”
But what you definitely will see, he promises, is five of our best comedians having an absolute ball as they take on the tasks set by Tom Cashman and his boss Tom Gleeson
It might not be the showcase of mental might they’d imagined, but it is definitely a lot of fun.
“Yes, but not because they’re good lateral thinkers,” Tom Cashman stresses to TV WEEK.
“No one will be more surprised at what this cast comes up with than good lateral thinkers.”
Except perhaps for the efforts of newcomer Blake, who’s known almost as much for his mullet as for his razor-sharp observations on Australian life. The group are tasked with transporting eggs down the Taskmaster’s driveway without breaking them and Blake’s answer is to make use of a very obvious prop that every other contestant overlooked. It’s a brilliant solution to a difficult problem and one that Tom Cashman has to admit might actually put him in the lateral-thinking bracket after all.
“He’s a newer comedian who’d never watched the show before – something he mentioned constantly to differentiate himself from the others,” Tom says. “Which, to be fair, is good lateral thinking!”
You can catch Taskmaster Australia on 10.
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