Taskmaster The Podcast - Ep 145. Susan Wokoma - Series 16 Ep.6

Episode Date: October 26, 2023

This week we have the incredible Susan Wokoma on the podcast to share all of her Taskmaster highs and lows plus some bts RADA chat! Susan discusses her love for the other Sue and explains why they bonded so quickly. She also reveals which previous contestant she went to for some Taskmaster advice...Watch all of Taskmaster on All 4www.channel4.com/programmes/taskmasterVisit the Taskmaster Store for all your TM goodies!taskmasterstore.com Visit the Taskmaster YouTube Channelyoutube.com/taskmaster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine how lonely it can feel to be facing mental illness or addiction on your own. Now imagine how lonely it might feel during the holidays. That's why CAMH needs your help to light the way forward. Your donation can help us make sure no one is left behind by fueling progress in mental health care and patient experience. Donate now at camh.ca slash giving Tuesday to double your impact with a match donation. That's camh.ca slash giving Tuesday. Hello and welcome to the Taskmaster podcast. It's me, Ed Gamble, as it is every week. So sorry about that. We will of course today be talking about episode 6, series 16 of Taskmaster. What an episode it was. What a lineup this is. We're now over halfway through the series, which is always sad, but don't wish the world away. We've got some brilliant episodes to come. And I guess this week will

be Susan Willkoma. Susan Willkoma, we've done it. We've completed the full lineup. Susan is the last member of the Taskmaster cast in the series to come on the podcast. Always exciting to do that to get the full compliments and she's absolutely brilliant. I'll be asking her all about training at Radha, I'd imagine, losing her mind laughing during tasks, etc. But she is absolutely fantastic. Can't wait to talk to her. Go and watch the episode if you haven't already. But this will be a fun episode. This is the Taskmaster podcast and we will be discussing episode 6 of Series 16 with Susan Warkheimer. Welcome Susan to the Taskmaster Podcast. Woo!

Hi, I think that was me doing my own audience. Hi, hi Ed. I love the audiences very positive. That's good. As a you and Taskmaster, I've got to say, absolutely loving watching you on the show, and I think quite often you react, I think in to say, absolutely loving watching you on the show. And I think quite often you react, I think in the way more people should react, which is when you get the task, you just absolutely lose your mind last. Yes, why not? I'd listen, I had the reason why I did this was because

I really, really wanted to just experience walking into a room and having no idea what was going to happen next. Like, I signed up to regress. I said, I signed up to just park all rational thought and feeling to one side, which I now realise I should have kept a bit of that, but I just wanted to have fun and play. I was in, I mean, baby donggaries. Come on. Like everyone knew what was what and I got what I wanted. Like every time I read every task, I would just read it.

Look at Alex, he'll be like, you're a weirdo. This is great. Let's go. Wonderful. I do think, yeah, too many people read the tasks and they almost like, I mean, Sam's doing it a lot on this series, so he's like, right, okay, I don't know, I think I'll be good at this actually. It's like, like he does this every day of his life.

Yes. I think he does. Yeah, he probably does, to be fair. Whereas you react in a very human way, quite often just baffled, you find it hilarious, and it's an absolute joy to watch. Oh, thank you. I mean, yeah, none of that is like being put on. It's it is

unbelievably joyful and silly. That's the point. And the whole team do that. They go, we're not here to like embarrass you or humiliate you. The point is to make you laugh. And I'm an easy audience member. So they were delighted. Great. Had you seen much of the show before you signed up? Yes, yeah. I mean, I've got tons of friends who've been on the show. And I kind of, well, I'm not a comedian or anything, but kind of the closest person to me is Daisy May Cooper, because we went to drama school together.

So we've had the kind of sane route into television and comedy. So she was the one that I really picked her brain about it. But yeah, now I've seen all the series and of course I'm laughing, I'm going, if I was doing it, I'd do it like this, I do it like this, you silly Billy, and then I'm there just, just messing it out me wonderfully. No, no big fan, so when the offer came in, I was like, I don't feel like I, I don't feel like I should and therefore I must. Yes, absolutely. Did Daisy give you any specific advice that you can remember that you took into your time on Towsmaster? Um, she genuinely, my main concern was that

because I'm not a stand up and I, and I didn't want to do anything where I had anything prepared or, you know, trying to come up with any quips or anything like that and she was just like that's the thing that you just just react to things just be present. I know you can do that. So that's that was the main thing that I think her and their respect to Moan and I spoke to Ashley as well just coming from that standpoint of like I don't I don't want to come in with anything prepared. I don't think you I mean I think you can to a certain degree

for a really good at like crowd work audience work and all of that, but I just decided that I was going to just enjoy myself. Yeah, that's absolutely the best way to do it. And I think because of that, I often, I do enjoy people have come from the world of acting for that specific reason. Was seeing us look absolutely baffled and a little bit embarrassed and scared that we've lost our careers. Obviously, obviously that's a real highlight for me. But also just that with comedians like stand-ups, you often see their personality

because they're trying to show what they're genuinely like on stage. That's like the main aim with a lot of comics. Whereas, obviously, you guys are paid to portray a different person at the tour. They don't want to see us. Is that you? Put that away. We're constantly being other people. But that's what I wanted to do it because I could just turn up and sit down and have a laugh and enjoy myself, which is so great. And also the series that I the series that I think are really successful are the ones where you have really different personalities and you have people who bring you know different things to the table. And I think that our cast

is you know I don't want to blame on Trump it but I think that we're quite brilliant at that that was so different. You've got Sam and Lucy who are vying for people who should be arrested, really. They're vying, they're vying in their own different ways. And then you've got Sue who's just an absolute joy and really, really smart. But you could see her allowing herself to get kind of thrown by some of the tasks.

She's brilliant and then she absolutely egg some of them. you just got to you. You just got to you just has this wonderful hate for Alex which I just like a highlight for me. He really Julian took every task and is stride. He seems gently he seemed gently annoyed by the whole thing. Yeah, just gently just gently always annoyed. No, it's when I saw the lineup announced, I was like, oh, yeah, I had, I've not thought about these people in the same day together. Like, to see them all together is going to be absolutely crazy. So, but also, you say that about Lucy and Sam. And I think I've said this on the podcast before.

I think they're so, like, Sam is willfully odd. Lucy is just from another planet. But I think them together quite often, slightly overshadows the thing that I want to talk about is that you're quite weird. But some of the choices you've got. I've been busted. Yeah, I am a little bit. Yeah. Stint! Yeah, yeah, I'm a little bit, yeah. I'm thinking of, I mean, I think the real, the highlight for me so far is, is chain bastard. Because of all the things that you could have picked, it's often people's first thought, you're like, wow, what's going on in their mind?

You had to pick a nickname, do something, and then pick it in their based on that, and you went with chain bastard, where, yeah. Chain Alex up and started tickling with feathers where did where did what part of your psyche did chainbusters come from Susan I don't know I remember when I brought it up the whole team just crats up I was like what it's What you'd call someone who's very scary right? No, it's not the first thing I think I don't know.

What, okay, in my defense, what happens, right, when you're doing the task days, is that you're doing about 10 in a day. You do like 10 different tasks for five, six days. And so for my brain, about task three, I start slowly losing my mind and just coming up with rubbish. So when chain bars, I was like, yeah, just really want to use a chain, you're a bastard, stick together, let's go.

And they're like, and the thing is as well, that team facilitate that kind of behaviour. No one's going, this will be on television forever. No one's going, merge, you want to think about that? They're like, yeah, yeah. And what else is in your weird mind? You're just dragging, shit out, just dragging it out, and giving it to people. But yeah, not- Well, also, yeah, I mean, on that, the, um, your make a sausage, uh, task, again, classic example of, of when it's set in, I wasn't well. Putting whatever, I mean, whatever you made, it wasn't a sausage, was it? No, it wasn't.

A bed, a bed of underwear. Nickers, frillinickers. Yeah, it was. Yeah. I'm making Alex lick those nickers. Yeah. Do you see, that's where my mind went first. They said, okay, you've got to do some sausages.

And in my head, I think I was like, honestly Alex, lick some knickers. Yeah, just like how do I facilitate that? I was like, mocks and sausages for sure. Just put it on some knickers and put some glitter on it. It's an edible glitter and I was like, lick that, lick it. It was nice of you to pick edible glitter, to be honest. I think you could have just made a meek toxic glitter. And the thing is he would have as well,

because he's weird. Yeah, nearly anything that guy. I do also, before we move on to talking about episode six, specifically, and I said this on the podcast, I think that you're making mischief task, where you created a whole different task for Sam, is a highlight of all of Taskmaster Ever for me. I think it's an excellent stroke of genius. Yes! That was a point where my brain was activated. light of all of Tastmaster ever for me. I think it's an awesome stroke of genius.

That was a point where my brain was activated. That was only in the day. Yeah. That was before 12. No, I really, that was so fun because making mischief, I love pranks and I love doing that sort of thing. So the opportunity to do that and to do it. And I'd never met also the kind of beauty of it is that it was Sam. Because I'd never met Sam before. And then over the course of kind of the studio going, oh my god, it pranked Sam. This is brilliant. Was a highlight for me. That was that's closer to who the girl I know. Yes. The closer the gap, very, very fun. I love it. Pretty 12 o'clock. Pretty name. Pretty 12 o'clock. Yeah.

Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah.

Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah.

Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. Pretty name, yeah. task, the greatest thing that makes quite a loud noise when you shake it. Greg says it's the worst round they've had in 16 series. I don't necessarily agree with him on that. I think there's been some in previous series, some more lackluster price tasks. Okay. And I think there's some highlights here. Did you enjoy the price tasks in general season? No, no. I've got to say, I have listened. I'm a busy bloody woman, right? They're like, oh, get the pinkest thing that exists in the world. I'm like, shatter. I have to say, price task, we're annoying. I don't have time. I do not have time. I'm looking at the others down the line going, you've got kids like, where do you have time to do this?

I barely moisturize and drink water and you're like bringing in, okay, we found it. Prize task can't give it F about. But, right, with this, I have like a weird sensory kind of memory, because I remember as a kid being on like a water bed and it being the loudest thing, and like playing with my siblings and stuff, and then when we got in the studio, we listened to it. I was like, what? What is like, you know, when you're a kid

and everything seems really tall, everyone seems really tall and big. Yes. It was like that. So I was like, okay, yeah. I was actually really excited about that one, and like bringing in a whole bed in the teamwork. This is what I do love about your prize

test country season is they are so earnest and so real like everyone else is doing things like you know putting putting a horn on a can of whipped cream and all of this stuff. Whereas yours are just absolutely straight down the line. It's clearly you've seen the thing and you've gone I've got something like that and you've brought it in. And there's a moment in episode one where you bring it in and you hear the reaction in the studio and you've gone, I've got something like that and you've brought it in. And there's a moment in episode one where you bring it in and you hear the reaction in the studio and you see Greg's reaction and something changes in your eyes where you go, I've got nine more of these. Oh my god. Oh my god, something changes. But I will say, it does come good. All of it. All my rubbish choices comes good later in the series.

It's what I was saying. That's good to hear. I'll say it comes good. It's all worth it. It's all worth it. But before that, it's really painful. But yeah, I loved out of... I absolutely loved Sam.

Sam's was like quintessential. As he was describing it, I was like, yeah, yeah, you're strange. Like, when, how, but I'm so, of course, yeah, when how, of course, yeah, yeah, it was, this is what makes me think, surely it's not the worst, the prize round in 16 series, because Sam's bucket loan with San Paper, full to the brim of matches and fire alarms. It's like something an evil genius will come up. It was like the Joker. Ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous. And then you have what was it? I bet. OK, I did feel like Julian is so brilliant when he brought him that tree. I was like, listen, granted, it is quite loud. So that I'll do in the bed. But I was like, how's rubbish?

Yeah, it is. Again, that was a pretty like, you know, he's just, he's clearly busy as well on that day. A busy with that. Yeah, a dreadful of cutlery from the I love white fairy. I mean, he and he is just bringing stuff from his house most of the time. Oh, but that is what is fascinating. Don't you want to go to Julian's house? So much straight off the bat, the bum table. I was like, sorry. Do you can I get a ticket to your

house? Like the mirror, the like penis mural as well. That was yeah. You can basically we can build up a blueprint of Julian's house from this series. I did want to hear why his why his cut ery was from the Isle of White Fairy. I'd imagine you got into it in the studio but they cut it out for time. Do you know what I think I don't think we did. I think Greg was just like, this is rubb, I think he was so offended by the rubbish that we brought. Literally, there's so many times he took off his glasses and was just like, what have we done? And I think by that point, he wasn't even getting into it. He was just like, you know, I'm irritating. Fair enough. Again, I thought, Sue's just quite good, though. The

yeah, Margaret's glass one collection. Three points, but I think I'd imagine it's because I don't know what the truth is in that story. Yeah, no one could work that out. I could work that out, but it was loud. I think it was pretty damn loud. It was loud. She could have just said glass ones in a box. But then that's the thing. That's the thing. Do you just say I've brought a box with you know, some glass ones in it, shake it, it's loud, it wins. But is that funny? Is that interesting? You know, I think at that point Sue as well was like, I've got a story to this. We're all busy. We're all busy.

I know. Lucy brought in, you know, I kind of whipped cream with a hold on the top because she's obviously thought cream horns are funny jokes. So just bring it in at some point. Bring it in. And it does come good in the end of the episode. She does that. Yeah.

With it. So I don't, yeah, I did, even though mine was absolutely cack, I did look down the line. I was like, I feel I'm with my people. Yeah, I feel like Greg saying it's the worst one that he's ever been part of. And I hate to say this season, I think a lot of it was laying on your shoulders. Yes, it was all on my, my broad shoulders. But you know what? You've got to have a badge of some sort. Yeah, I'm not sure it was. It was price tasks.

It was one point for you. Two points for Julian, three points for Sue, four points for Lucy, and five points for Sam. Sam, I've got a bucket. Why, lined with sandpaper? OK. Full to the brim of matches and fire alarms. I mean, that is full to the brim.

This is going to be a hell of a noise, right? Here we go. The worst round. TASK, Master. Hey, listen, my granddad gave me this, that he was in the Hindenburg. Yeah. Task one, speaking of Sam, he absolutely hated this. Avoid the rubbish robots.

You may not remove your blindfold at any point, and at least one of your knees must be touching the floor throughout. Longest time untouched by a rubbish robot wins, your time starts when the rubbish robot starts. Yeah. Now, how did you feel about this task? Because Sam absolutely hated it and Lucy seems to love it. I think that's what the inside of Lucy's brain looks like.

Just random rotten like a bin's. Yeah, possibly. She loved it. I think there was something about taking away a sense that made her feel like free. Yes, free, free and more focused as well. Well, focus, weirdly. How did you, how did you feel about it? I quite, I quite enjoyed it. I mean, that, when we did that, well, when I did it, it was, I think that my final day doing the tasks actually. Yeah. So by that point, all sense, like there wasn't that rule of 12,

it, I was arriving a mess. And everyone got it. It was just what it is. I was like, yeah, cool ferrets. So, okay, cool, let's do it. But I was so, I was so convinced that I didn't get here. And like I said in the studio, I just don't trust Alex Bytepoint.

I was like, you're saying things, mate. Yeah. I don't, I believe you. I'm in the studio, I just don't trust Alex Bytepoint. I was like, you're saying things mate. But I don't. I believe you. I'm not telling the truth, even though I can't see anything, which was a fair point that Greg, I quite enjoyed that one, but I quite enjoyed it. I did when Sam and Julian both said it was the best.

I was like, Alex genuinely looked quite upset by that. He did look hurt, didn't he? When Sam said it was a dud. Yeah, it's because, and I think he looked quite hurt because he knows that Sam meant it. Yeah. Oh, oh, he meant it 100%. But also, I think it depends what, what your good at on Tarsmas. So Sam, Sam, much to my surprise from episode one has shown that if he thinks about a task, he will think of an interesting way to do it and a work around. Whereas you can't do that with this, you have to pop the blindfold on and you just have to go for it. I mean, he did, you know, he tried to use the weasel to knock the rubbish robot away.

Here's my thought, though, Susan. I don't know if I would have done this because I probably would have panicked and just gone out straight away like Julian. Yeah. It says your knee has to touch the floor. Could you just go up the stairs and just go up to the next level? Oh, yeah.

Oh, but I don't like it when people come up with the gestures like 12 bumps afterwards. That's really not where we're at. Yeah, I know. And I wouldn't have done it at the time. Or there was so many plant pots, just surround yourself with plant pots. That is so completely irritated. That is the really, really good point. Oh, that's all done. Yes, yes, I would have done that, but I wanted to make some good television, so... Yeah, but we all know as well, when you're actually doing the tasks and you read it out, and Alex says the time's about to start, you don't have time to look around and work out a new

web doing it, so I agree that it's very annoying for me to say. That is a really good point. To just put all the pox around, yeah, that's really good. No, I don't think like that. Yeah, no, no, no. Julian makes me laugh so much with how like he'll just, he'll do something, he gets involved. But then if this, I mean, he'd lost the 2.5 seconds because he now, went on all fours in front of the robots straight out. He absolutely did not give a shit that he. No, there is not, I mean, the thing is as well, like with Taskmaster, you can get people on there who, you know, this is going to be like a really big break for them, and you know, this is the moment, you're going to be the break-out star Julian. Come on. Come on.

What does it... what are you going to give him that he doesn't have? He's got a bum table for that stuff. He's got a bum table, like, he doesn't want any in his ship. That is what's so brilliant. Is that your half looking at him going, why did you do this? Yeah. And you just think you just wanted to have a laugh and no stakes doesn't give a shit. But

also he's really brilliant and absolutely. Yeah. And that's what you're saying about the range of different people in the past. You need people who care and you need people who are just there for a laugh, or I don't think Julian's even there for a laugh to be honest. No, I think it's just like, I think it's like,

who minus suit is like, who the fuck are these lot? Tell me. What's going on? Who are you? You've got a weird face to Alex. And he's just like, I'll do it, I guess. I'll grace you, the majesty of my presence. Absolutely. 2.5 seconds straight back in for a cup of tea. Sam, Sam, last in a lot longer, but he only got the two points one and four seconds, tried to come up all the way around it, but he ended up lobbing the weasel, so he got rid of his only weapon.

But as Sue uses the two weasels for protection, it's a good way of doing it one minute, seven seconds, the swiping. Swiping. Swiping. You go with luck, you go with your heart, and you go with luck. Thank you. Oh my God, thank you. I go with my heart. I lead with my heart, which, as we know, from all the stories and love songs is a fucking stupid thing to do.

Not in this instance. Not in this instance. It worked out for you one minute, 56 seconds. Loads of neomiss is that, I mean, it's almost as if you had an understanding with the robots, they were like, we're going to give Susan a break here. Yeah, they were like, look at this, look at this, it's sequence. Oh my god, let's just, I want to be near it. I want to be near it is what the robots were thinking. They'd heard your prize to our selection and they were like, we got it, we got to give this lady a break. Yeah, at least someone's giving me a break, bloody hell. Those robots.

Luce, I mean, Lucy seemed to love this. And again, I think the robots hadn't understanding with her because yeah, they just, they just seemed to avoid her for ages three minutes, 42 seconds. It was unbelievable. I feel like they just saw in there like, oh, master. Master, it is you. You've come! And they just left it to it and just watched it.

I was like, wow, and then I was like, oh, we should probably end this. You have to read, that's ridiculous time. That was a weird time. And you can tell why it was her favorite past because she knew she'd done well at it. That's the thing, that's the thing. Good old Lucy, like I think that she sort of came in

and thought, I'm gonna have a laugh. As soon as she got into studio, she was like, I want to win this thing. You could see it, she wanted to win this thing. And she did, I mean, she was so on the, you know, both ends of the spectrum in terms of like, terrible, honestly, just like, pitiful, but beautiful, wonderful, and then absolutely killing some tasks. It was, I mean, really fun to watch. I've got to say, and this was another example of her just smashing it. I think, because, I mean, all of you are, but I think Lucy is such a unique person

when it came down to tasks where it was like creative and she had to just come up with something that expressed what she's like. Yes. It was always a joy I think we've got one of those coming up a little bit later. Yes. Which lives in my brain. It is my brain. Oh my god. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So it was one point for Julian, two points for Sam, three points for Sue, four points for you Susan and five points for Lucy. Do you think this is what the future's going to be like? Yeah, that is not like what my day to day life is like. LAUGHTER That's quite the favourite test.

LAUGHTER To be fair, there was some genuine moments of jeopardy there. Her tactic was, I'm using my ears, which is quite pleasant. She was listening for where the robots were, which is quite a bit worked. She avoided the robots for three minutes and 42 seconds. Perfect. Thank you.

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In the lab, those in the lab had to recreate your teammates garage scene, you have 15 minutes, your time starts when your teammate calls. In the garage, the contestant had to instruct your teammate or teammates to recreate your garage scene, you may not say any of the words on any of the labels, you may not leave your location, most accurate recreation wins, your 15 minutes, your time has already started. And then of course the people in the garage had to try on all the outfits one at a time and not mention it at all. Let's talk about you and so. So in the history of Taskmaster I don't think there's a team who've got on so well. So pathetic isn't it? We all grow up,. We have friends and family, and we saw each other.

We were like, yay! A silly, what the hell? Did you know each other before? I've never capped eyes on the woman. Never. Don't know her. I mean, I know what the... It was immediate.

Yes, it was. And it was genuine. I think that what it firstly, Susan, is one of the shitest names in existence. So anyone that I mean, it was and it was genuine. I think that what it firstly, Susan is one of the shitest names in existence So anyone that I'm it is no one can tell me a different and so when you meet another Susan There's just an affinity of just like God you've got the name of a librarian like We're just constantly beating stereotypes every day. We wake up. We're like I'm called Susan But I'm interesting like and that is, the weight that we have to have. So there's that, right?

In simplicity. And then also, I think I am a, I am a team person. I am absolutely a team person. And so the fact that I was just so, that first time when I saw her, I was just so delighted that I got to play with somebody else. And then that was kind of the, the delight that we carried on having. And it was, it was like that we carried on having and it was it was like that like even so in between each task when we're doing the team task we go into like a little tiny room where we sort of get ready and rest as they're setting up each task

and it was non-stop. I remember at the end of the day I was so horse because I was just chatting we were just like me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me I don't think anyone who's working for you and you and Sue together would doubt that your text that each other saying that was the best day of my life. So enthusiastic. There's a moment in and I can't remember who said it to who. It was so lovely. It was in the team task where you had loads of different tasks stuck on you. Oh yes, yeah, yeah. And one of you had to look at the other one. And I think you might have said, or was it Sue who said, oh, you don't want to look at me? And then the other ones started going, no, no, no, no, don't you, we take that and we put that in the bin. I can't. I think I said, don't talk to my friend like that. Yeah. I talked about my friend like that. It's like you know each other for 25 years. And it was by that point, maybe 20 minutes. Yeah. Don't talk about my friend like that.

It was lovely. Absolutely. Such, such a good comparison as well to the other. Oh my goodness. It couldn't be any bet. What? What? Good. Yeah. Oh my God. What the hell? Just so awkward. It's what you were saying about Julian clearly just not have a fucking clue. Who? No, doesn't know those two are. No. And even by the end of the day, it felt like maybe he thought they were doing, he was doing like a run through with some production crew.

Couple of runners. Yeah, a couple of runners. There was a, but they, they do find this weird stincredicity as well, where they turn basically into the Adam's family, like everything they do is, like, they're so different. It's beautiful. It is kind of beautiful. I loved watching this task. Yeah, it's a brilliant task. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed it. I like getting instructions. Oh, brilliant. Oh, gosh. And then it's also Sue's voice on

my tell me what you need. Tell me what you need. I love instructions and running around. So I was in bliss. I had no idea that there was a moment when she got really Stressed and I was like, oh, I can't I can't I don't want to lose you here. Like come on. Yeah, I need you. You're the voice of calm Very, very stressed because she kept saying plinth as well. She couldn't not say plinth. I mean, it's a great word as well. She couldn't not say plinth. I mean, it's a great word. But little did she know, Lucy was on the other team and Lucy seemed to take the list on the wall as things that she could say. She should absolutely say. She's like, immediately she's like, right, right. You're like, oh, babe, that was, I was killing myself in this studio. So funny and his great points out she quite often doesn't press the button on the walkie-talkie when she's giving instructions but did press it for the coughing fit.

I think it's that. That's losing. That's not what I'm doing a bit. That's just so funny. So it was just her giving the direction, like, you know, what to do. And Julia just stood there with Sam in a very, I mean, that lab just, it feels more echoey and empty when they're in it. Yeah. To give her just stood there and sign it's going,

hello. She said, go right. Not right. Hi. That was a right. Well, chef's kiss. So, so good. And now this is going to be another one of my annoying points.

I'm sorry. So the people in the lab can leave the room. Yes. To go and get the things. Yeah. Could, could you leave the room and go to the garage and look, look at it. Oh, for goodness sake. Oh, God. Could you leave the room and go to the garage and look at it? I forgot to say. Oh God, Ed, you are proper annoying.

You are... You are... Oh! I'm gonna think about that all day now. I'm in fact, I'm gonna... because none of us did, did we? No, no one did that. I'm gonna text that we got a WhatsApp group, obviously. I'm gonna text the group and be like, guys, do you know what?

I thought that we were all pretty, you know, like we've got different levels of internet, but I'm telling you, well, look, that one. Because it's terrible. So that we all could just gone and had a look. Oh, that's so bad. Oh, that's so bad. That's it. So that we all could just gone and had a look

I Don't know how much it would have helped because you would have had to go on and then try to recreate so I don't know I actually think like everyone Memory I've got a bit it would have been it would have been better And you got a phone you could have taken a photo of it. Oh my god it would have been better. And you got a phone, you could have taken a photo of it. Oh my God. Oh my God. But you see, this is the thing.

I feel like as soon as I start a task, I'm in like a weird taskmaster bubble where phones don't exist. Yes. And you can't leave spaces. That's just how my brain is just like weirdly like, this is the bubble. But of course you can do those things.

I think I only did, only thought of using my phone for something once. Yeah. And one task. But I think that's kind of all right. I think I used my phone once on Series 9. I felt bad about it. It doesn't feel.

It didn't feel. It did not inspire it. It doesn't feel, yeah, I don't know. I really loved like, I'm uncontactable during these hours. I'm having a play. The idea of getting my phone and using it actually, Ed. Actually, Ed. I agree.

No, sorry. Very low vibrational of you to suggest a phone. But you could have left and had a look. Oh, yes, that is a very good, and I'm gonna actually tell everybody that one. one. Yeah, I think you did well anyway. I think everyone did pretty well. Like you're working with what you have, right? So there's no, it's not like they've hidden perfect props for you. No, no, you've got to just make it. I love the fact that I got the duck. There's something about me and the duck, like from episode one, me and that duck. I don't know. Yeah, come on darling, come on.

Come on. Yeah. Really quite fun. I love that. It was just easy. I was like, get the ass. Yeah. Ever look.

You connected with that duck on a level that no one asked it. Yeah, duck is mine. That duck is mine. Obvious highlights of this, the end of the task. Use screaming tits at the top of your voice. I feel like that's just tits. Dets. I don't, I don't, when I, when he plays it, because he said, I really want to listen to that again. I was like, it's not going to be funny.

I was like, that's hilarious. It's fun. What's wrong with me? I think the whole episode should just be called tits and capital letters. But he's, I think Greg said he's like, sometimes when you start doing a task you just turn it to like a comedy kind of like from a veg seller, you know what? Tits. I'm like, I do. I don't know. Well, it's, we all know you went to Rada. It's your, which, did you realise when you were filming the tasks,

how much you mentioned going to drama school? No, no, and I, the absolutely irritating thing about that is in my everyday life, I barely mention it. I don't mention it. I don't even really mention being an actor. Like, I just get on with my day, but I think there must have been subconsciously something that was going, remind everyone that you're not standing up, remind everyone that you are popping into this world and having a lovely

time, and I decided to do it by mentioning that I went to Rada, but also it's kind of like what's the thing that you can sort of send up for yourself? Like if you're doing something really silly, Rada is kind of culturally this really serious theatrical institution. So for me, I just always had the kind of the juxtaposition of what I'm doing and what I imagined. I would be doing. Yes, absolutely. And I think I think that's absolutely fine. And I bet I bet it doesn't seem that you said it that many times because I think the first time you said it, maybe you said it again that day and in their heads, they weren't right. This is going to be a running thing every time. Every time Susan mentions

Rodin, it's going in the edit regardless. Yeah, and what's in the opening credits? Yeah, it was like, as soon as it was on, I was like, Oh, I haven't had time to mention that. I said, no, you're good. Anyway, but, you know, it comes good in this episode, actually, I was really thrilled. Oh, it comes very good. That's very good. Quickly, before we move on to the next task, I just, the back and forth of Lucy saying,

Lucy saying, oh, and on top of that is an evil thing that you find at a church and Julian genuinely assuming that it was a crucifix. An evil thing from a church. I just, I'm ill. I thought though it is a fence. I thought like, you know, when you, as come say, you know, when you see vampires, they're not real. Yeah. They're not, they're not real.

But you know, you're like, so you like the association of that, an evil, it's sort of in one box, one mind box. So I went in and she said, I was like, yeah, and I was like, no, that's like the good thing. That's like the, that's the prize. That's like the main good thing.

That's why it works against vampires. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For a moment, I was like, oh, that's Julian entering my way of thinking. Mine me, join me, join me. But you've both got three points, which is always funny when teams have been through, you know, a harrowing experience, you know, really put in their effort and then it turns out it doesn't matter. And you may as well have not done the task at all might as well just sat down Red nose entertainer. I could just think of father Christmas, but I don't think he's a red nose entertainer

He's just a red nose man Where was the mannequin? I'm gonna go to all the positions In front of you Clean on the other. Cleared. Ah! Colin! Colin! Colin!

Defalica. And then he's all on the back. We've got the thing at the circus. That looks so afraid of. Obviously it ends to the thing that goes in the back. You put the thing that the avant-garde is, that's evil. Chris, Chris. It's an evil.

I got it. All goes L, The evil. I don't know. All go to the cell, I reckon. So, this is seconds. How long have we got? 10. You've got 10 seconds. You've got 10 minutes, do you? No, 10 seconds.

10 seconds. I'm joking. Right, I'm tells this complete. I think you'd be very pleased. Oh! Oh, oh. So, you'd be very pleased. So, you're about your cough. You want to suck a fisherman's friend. Oh! TASK 3, this is an absolutely brilliant task.

Present a piece called HEADS, Shoulders and EASEN TOES, most powerful piece wins. You have 20 minutes of your time starts now. Bit more of, bit more rather training here. Yeah, I used everything that I got, but I went slightly more. I didn't want to go down the conventional kind of traditional theatrical route. I want to describe something a little bit avant-garde, it's very avant-garde. Was I thinking that at the time? No. No. What I was thinking was, let's have a laugh, let's grab as many things

and not really think about it and shove the words, headshelves, knees and toes, and hope that they edit it and make it look like it makes sense. And they sort of did. They did, it was great. And of course, the duck made another appearance. I know, me in that duck. And do you know what, all of that was before

I met the giant duck. So I duck, me and that duck. And do you know what? All of that was before I met the giant duck. So I ducked. Oh, wow. That was all the giant duck day was the last, was my last day. So this, it was, oh, something's going on. Yeah, something's going on with that duck. I mean, ducks do pop up a lot in Tarsmas. Yeah, fair.

It's not just me. Ducks and pineapples. Yeah. I thought it was great. I mean, have you, have you ever been in anything like this before? Any sort of real avant-garde theatre? Yes, and I fucking hated it.

It was, it was, oh, God, here we go. It was, okay, it was at Rada. Yeah. There we go. And ding! And it was in our, so you do three years training. The third year is when you do your performances for the industry and all the casting directors and agents come and you go, oh God, is it gonna be me?

I'm not gonna end up in Game of Thrones. No, not you. But you do your first public performance in right the end of the second year and we did Antigone, so you know, really brilliant, really brilliant play. I was playing Antigone, boom, I was like, great. Awesome. Come, we got this director, right, who didn't really believe in dialogue. So we're ready, I'm pissed, because this I'm the title character. So we Don't really even dialogue. What? And what he believed in was stamping.

What? Yep. Yes. So we all had to get in a circle and just like stamp to a beat and like undulate our bodies and we're just like stamping like that. Like we're in fucking stomp. With none of that fucking props, it's just exhausted. Oh my god. It's just years, who just wanna be in a Richard Curtis film, with like stomping and sweating. And so we used to do that and he used to like make weird sounds. You'd be like, oh, and we're just going,

oh, we've done check-ups. Where's the text? Right? Oh my god. We did that for weeks, right? And then one day I put my hand, I was like, are we, are we gonna look at the text? And he was like, oh yeah. I was like, okay, so, and we just looked out for three days and then we

went out and we started performing it. And it was the most irritating thing because what he believed was he believed in the state of exhaustion. Exorption allows you to then perform without vanity and without care. So what we had to do before every show was getting a circle and stamp for an hour. What is the character? What if the character's not exhausted? Gluck bitch! So were you just... Everyone was just panting their way through unsegany. I was eyes were drooping. I was like, and the thing is about these experiences, you get like, because in my year we had like quite a few big actors. We had Daisy Maycouple was in IIS, Lee and his Lee who's in, um, am I being reasonable with Daisy and we had, in that company, we had James Norton, who James Norton is now big older.

He was, he was, he was playing the character who was character who his eye could see into the future and was blind. So we had like this thing over his eyes and we'd be stamping and he'd come up to me. I'm antigony as well, I'm busy, right? Busy trying to deal with his shit that's gonna ruin my career before it starts. He'd come up to me and he lifts up his blindfold and he's just like, what, what are you doing?

What, do you feel anything? I feel nothing, Susan, I feel nothing. She'll not feel anything. She'll carry on. Okay. So yeah, that's the one really avant-garde thing that I did and I hated it. So yeah, I don't know what I was trying to do. But you know what? It was all building towards this, the avant-garde. This is it. My moment. Yeah, absolutely. The duck sacrifice scene about the death penalty, of course. Of course.

Yeah, it's saying that it's bad. You really went deep in there. Julian goes with just crayons and pay, but I think Julian went with something where he didn't have to leave his seat, essentially. Yeah, that's basic. The thing is, you could sort of tell what time

of the day certain tasks were, and I bet you that was at the end. That was at the end, or right at the beginning when he hadn't warmed up and he was just giving me some paper. That's a good drawing, it's a good drawing. It's talented. Yeah.

He's very talented. You know, in comparison to the effort everyone else put in, you can see what he got two points. Yes. Soos was great. I mean, Soos is just such a great writer as well, and performer, and she can, she just, you know, create these ridiculous characters.

And it was the dangers of an Earth-free rhymes drawn from real experience. So that, you know, there was some dramatic sort of seriousness to it. And very, very funny, Alex, who'd hurt himself doing head shoulders and knees and toes, and the safe way of doing head shoulders and knees and toes, straight down the line. Great. Now let's talk about the nutters. Well, I'm so great, brilliant, lovely. You did your thing, June and Kupias. Now, let's

get, because honestly, watching these tell like I felt do I do I call someone Who do you want to talk talk about because I'm on to well Lucy? Well, let's talk about Sam first Okay, because yeah, the Studio Sam's was brilliant Sam's was amazing Sam's the case of the insane murder. I loved it The whole thing with the banana. Yeah. I was like, what, that your brain is, but also, I was sitting there like, I don't know, this looks like a young dusting Hoffman to me. I don't know.

Yeah, the guy, the guy can ask. Yeah, he's got chops. And I always like to see Alex acting as well. Yes. Because he always does the same face for everything. And I enjoy that. So of course, this was Sam's character had discovered that his parents had been hacked up,

hacked off their head, shoulders, knees, and toes. And Alex followed up with knees and toes. It was brilliant. And then it just turns into that dialogue between the policeman and the victim. And then the banana just felt like, it's the sort of sketch I probably would have written when I was 18 or I don't know how I'm going to end this. So let's just have someone eat a banana. And then it just

comes back to Sam doing an observation a bit about if you see someone eating a banana at night. You'd call the police, but then they have to say, they are the police. So, yeah, if I call the police and they weren't like notching off on a banana, I'd be really confused. Yeah. When he said it, I was like, yeah, there's sense. Do you think it was powerful though? Because it got the five points.

Do you think it was powerful? I thought it was immensely powerful. The black and white got me, so I'll be straight away. Got the coppers hat. It was all good. The tash, you had the tash. It was intense. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. I know. That was that was my five. That was stunning.

If he'd done more stomping, then I think I would have been on board, you know. Well, okay. You've found it more stomping. Yeah. He wasn't exhausted enough. He wasn't free enough as you should. No. Now, let's talk about Lucy's. The, I mean, what the fuck was going on? Brother Alex, sneaking up on Alex, wearing a duck head, feeding a hula hoop to his tattoo from their 1990s. That bit, absolutely, that bit killed me. Why have to say, in the studio, right? Because you've got to be so mindful like when you're watching everybody's saying, and when what I feel like, I'm not an

interjector, I just, for me, it's free stand up by five, like four other people. I'm just there, laughing it out, right? And, but what happens is I'm, I'm such a ridiculous laugher you may have noticed. And I overheat when I laugh laugh and I get hiccups. I can even laugh. Like a baby.

And what would, there was always a pointless studio where I've laughed so much that I would start hiccoping. So I'd just be in the corner, as everyone's talking to me. And it was like torture. This watching Lucy's set to me off, I was, that yeah painful for me It's the bit which goes what tattoo from the 19

It's just it when you watch some of you guys don't know how she's come up with this it must just be the inside of her brain Spilling out because it was so funny, but so bizarre Troubling troubling yeah even better than that, I think it's the most I've laughed this series, I think, when it went back to the studio and Greg said if you were going to sum up the story, how would you do it? And she panicked and says, Harry Potter. And Greg takes his glasses off and robs his eyes. There we go. That's the Greg.e. And then the duck represents the RSPB. Just brilliant. Oh God, she bit his foot.

I was like, what is wrong with you? Oh my God. She really looked at what Lucy, and I wasn't expecting this from Lucy, she doesn't mind doing some disgusting things for this show. Oh, she's game. She's game for a bit of filth, it's brilliant. Like even even yet, like, yeah, there was so many moments where I was just like, you continually surprise me. Yeah. Which is so, it's so fun when you have people like

that. You don't really, who don't care what they, they look like as they, as they're doing the thing. It's absolutely brilliant. And yeah, we, we loved the brother Alex performance. Very powerful. So it's five points for Sam and five points for Lucy. Four points for Yusus and four points for Sue and two points for Julian. Yeah, two was like fair. That would be an audience favourite. Can I be an audience favourite? The first thing I would absolutely love to the aside of pointing out that Alex is at a tattoo judge in the 1990s. I was so shocked to see.

It was genuinely creepy. Who were you? I was a lady who used to look after me when I was a child. That's a worry. If you were to sum up the whole story from start to finish, as succinctly as you can, what was the story that you just presented to us? How about it?

Let's talk about the live task. Pass the pineapples amongst you for 15 seconds, while the taskmaster shuts his eyes and has a little think. When the taskmaster opens his eyes, he will say if he thinks you're holding a pineapple behind your back or not. If he accuses you wrongly, you will get a point. Most points after three rounds wins.

And here we go. This is where the 30k writer fees come into play. He and the guy. He's right once soon. I want not once, but if this is it, this is the goal, this is the magic, this is the stomping comes to comes together. And yeah, it was, do you know what?

I love this stuff because we were working as a group. Again, I'm a group, I'm a group dude. So just walk on, okay, he's gonna do that, da, da, da. But yeah, I did, to be honest, I didn't go into it thinking, oh, my training is gonna, it's gonna really come, come together. Well, this point, my training is in the bin.

I've accepted, I'm a fake, I will have no career after this. And that's fine, I'll see you on dancing on ice. That's what I've decided. So when I kept foiling him, I was like, oh, I should it. I shouldn't give up. I'm so good. My God, God, she's good. But genuinely, I was like, my God, I'm good. I'm not. I think there's still some some steam in the old going. Absolutely. That's the phrase, isn't it? There's some steam. There's some steam in the

up. That's what they say, Ed. I didn't really, so I'm not really plugged into the acting, but I didn't realise that you say there's some steam. No one says that. No one says that. Just me, man. It was just me. It was fantastic. I mean, everyone else got guests at least once. Yeah. You were clean sheet, 30 grand, 30 grand, baby. Yeah. That's my first, that's the, yeah, that was my first, I won that my, that's my first studio task that one.

Yes, did you enjoy doing doing the studio task? I loved doing studio task. Yeah, because you got the, the jeopardy of the audience. Yeah. They, they absolutely love it. That's so fun, especially when it's like, like I said, when it's kind of teamy, I love it. So that was great. And like, trying to, and then also that when Sam just goes down, well, like, okay, we'll do this.

We'll hide the pineapple and then Sam's like, I'm gonna go and we're like, yeah, sure, me. You do, you do what you want. There's no point stopping. Sam, Sam, you do what you do. He's like, yeah, cool, brilliant. It was just all so quick. It's so, it's so fun.

And you really, yeah, I think Greg's absolutely the end of his tether by the end. Oh, yeah, it's it. When Sam pops out from behind the chair, Sam just looks like a sort of mythical being at that point, just like popping his head around with his groan. I love when he sort of like strikes his face, look face as well.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's big as Greg can't help it. He tried, he really tried to be like, you look a pathetic, but he bloody loved it. He did, he wrote down on, that's what Alex said. He wrote down on one of his cards that he thinks that this is possibly his favorite five. Yeah, that's nice.

I'm sure it's not true. Oh, okay. That was series nine probably. It was five points for you in the live task. Four points for Su, three points for Lucy, three points for Sam as well, and one point for Julian, not that he cares. So in the episode, Lucy wins with 20 points and sprays herself with whipped cream. Sam on 18 points, you on 17 points Susan. joint with Su, of course, best buds for ever. And bad episode for Julian, nine points, meaning Julian's fallen a little bit further behind Sam

in the series. Sam's on 106 now, Julian on 95, Sue on 89, Lucy on 85, and you on 80 points, Susan. But there's still time, that was episode six. Good time man. There's still a lot of points to be had. Thank you so much for coming on the TAS Master Podcast season.

Leisure. I've loved it. It's really nice to look back fondly on all the things that I'm hoping to forget so that I can resurrect my career. I'll talk about it once. No, we'll never talk about it again, Jocke. Look, the career is in healthy form, don't you worry. Absolutely fine, absolutely fine. We always ask our guests to rate their experience

on the podcast between one and five points in the style of the taskmaster. We, of course, hope you've had a lovely time. But what's your point score for the episode? Well, do you know what? Loads of people score very highly because they have a really lovely time and it's a pleasant experience and you're a nice guy

But I feel like if I'm gonna consistently get one points Bringing in shit into the audience. You're gonna get one point Against all my my my heart. Yeah normally leave with my heart Yeah, that gets me I I'm going to give you one point mate because you've got to know how it feels. Fair enough, I completely understand that. Thank you so much, Susan. Oh, good, thank you. Thank you so much, the Susan for coming on the show. That was a really fun episode. I'm sure you'll all agree. Keep watching Taskmaster as if you need any prompts to do that.

all agree. Keep watching Taskmaster as if you need any prompts to do that. 9pm, channel for every Thursday until the series is over, which is always too soon. But for now, we will see you next week with another brilliant special guest, I've been Egg Gamble, this has been the Taskmaster podcast, bye bye. you