Prince Harry’s ‘Spare’, can move aside, Network 10’s Taskmaster is the latest British product to hit the shores of Australia.
The award-winning comedy, which launches tonight, sees comedians complete a series of bizarre tasks. It’s a HUGE hit in the UK, so will it be a hit in Oz?
Executive Producer Sarah Thornton thinks so. Speaking exclusively to B&T she said: “It’s a really good example of something that can be quite universal because the style of humour is very silly, but also, it’s ultimately about insights into the comedian. And obviously, the cast is Australian.”
“We’ve written all the tasks from scratch for the Australian audience,” she says.
In the UK, a lot of the tasks focus around the well-known Pom-delicacy which is tea, so will Taskmaster Australia see a serving of Australian culture served up?
“There is a yeast spread task, I don’t want to say Vegemite! Which is pretty funny. And there’s a cricket appeal task, which you could probably argue is quintessentially British and quintessentially Australian. But it felt very Aussie”.
One of the unique things about Taskmaster, Thornton says, is that it brings out something different from the usually-scripted comedians.
“Because it’s such an extreme situation, it forces the comedians to be their authentic selves,” she says.
“The desire for authenticity as humans is probably always there, but maybe we need it even more than we ever did before.”
“There’s nothing like laughing at something that feels real and not manufactured,”she adds.
The innocent nature of Taskmaster means that unlike a lot of adult comedy, children can also have a share of the laughter.
“It’s totally family-friendly. My seven year old watched the first couple of episodes. So I think that’s a really nice central part of as well!” Thornton says.
Taskmaster Australia starts on Thursday at 7.30pm on Channel 10
